“Now you care where I go.” She shakes her head. “You have some fucking nerve.”
“Oh,” I say, opening the water bottle and drinking a sip of the cold water. “I don’t give a shit if you went to join the circus and never came back. I give a shit that you left our son home alone.” I put the water bottle down on the counter, then lean back on it. “That is what I care about.”
“You were here,” she points out, “which means he wasn’t alone. He was with a parent.” She cocks her head to the side, and I see that her hair is a bit messed up. I wonder if she went to meet her trainer. Not that I give a shit. She could fuck him at center ice during overtime, and I would not even blink an eye or care. “This isn’t about Jaxon, and you know it,” she hisses, then laughs bitterly. “So tell me, Mr. Fucking Perfect,” her words dripping with hatred, “is she the reason you’ve been fucking moping around all this fucking week?”
My mouth gets dry, but I refuse to let her see any of my emotions. I stare at her, our eyes locked on each other as she tries to get under my skin, but I won’t let her have any of that. She doesn’t get a piece of that. She doesn’t get to touch what I have with Evelyn. Not now and not fucking ever. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I don’t know if that is the right thing to say to her, but with the way her eyes stare daggers at me, I know it’s not. “That fucking bitch you were giving goo-goo eyes to at the arena. In front of fucking everyone.” She slaps her hand on the counter, and her voice starts to go higher.
“You better lower your voice, Murielle.” My tone comes out tight as my neck starts to get hot.
“You are insane.” She looks at me. “To fuck someone who knows our kid. The backlash from that would be huge. Not to mention how disrespectful it is to me.”
“Disrespectful?” My hands clench into fists while she talks. “You fuck your trainer in my fucking house that I pay for. You fuck him in the gym that my hard work built. You want to talk about disrespect, Murielle? You are barking up the wrong tree.”
“Do you know how it would look if someone caught you two?” she asks, and I look at her. “What do you think they would have said?”
“I don’t know what you think you saw.” I put one hand on the counter and act like she saw nothing. But in reality, I want to kick myself for letting her see that Evelyn has a hold on me. “But nothing was going on. She was talking to me about Jaxon.” I brush it off as nothing.
“Don’t fucking lie to me!” she yells, and I glare at her. “For this whole fucking week, you’ve looked like someone stole your dog. You went to work, came home, ate, and then sat on the couch with Jaxon, and then you went upstairs.” I look at her. “Then I see you with that bitch, and all of a sudden, it clicks into place. So what’s the story? She break up with you? Kicked your ass to the curb when she realized how fucking boring you were?”
I have to choose my words wisely right now to make sure she stops looking at Evelyn. “Did it ever occur to you that I was miserable this week because I’m stuck here in this fucking house with you?” She folds her arms over her chest and rolls her eyes. “Did it ever fucking occur to you that staying here with you is killing me?”
“You are so fucking dramatic,” she hisses. “And don’t think I don’t know that you are changing the subject. The next time I see her, don’t think I won’t have words with her.”
My heart beats so fast in my chest, and my hands itch to throw the water bottle against the wall. “Do it,” I tell her, pretending I don’t care. “I beg you to do it.” I chuckle. “I want you to do it so everyone can see what I get to see every single day. That you’re unhinged and crazy.” I use my finger to do a circle near the temple of my head. “It might just be what I need to get you the fuck out of my life.” I open the water bottle again and smile at her before taking a sip of water.
If looks could kill me, I would die in that room. “Fuck you, Manning,” she hisses, and I smile as big as I can.
“No, Murielle, fuck you,” I say, pushing off the counter and walking out to my SUV. Only when I’m in the privacy of my own vehicle do I let out the breath I’ve been holding this whole time. Only when I’m alone do I let my head hang with defeat.