Page 73 of Take Two

“I really don’t want to hear about any other man you could have had. You didn’t choose them. You chose me, and that’s the way it is.”

“That’s not my point. My point is, I don’t need to schemeto—”

“I know that. Everyone knows that, and I bet even Colt knows that, but he’s being an ass right now. I still don’t want to think about you with anyone else because I’m not letting you go. You know that, right?”

“Of course, I know that.” She lifts my hand from her lap and kisses the back of it. That almost dims the rage inside of me. Almost but not quite. “Egomaniacal jerk,” she says. “I bet if you had voiced any concerns about Vickie, he would have lost his shit,” she says.

“You know it.”

“Two-faced hypocrite. I hope to never see his face again,” she mutters under her breath, but I hear it. I don’t challenge it. She’s entitled to how she feels, and right now, that’s anger. She has every right to it. It would gut me too if I overheard her family talking about me that way.

We don’t speak again until we get inside the house. The short drive did nothing to diffuse my anger. If anything, I’m angrier now than before, but Violet is only here until tomorrow, and I’m not going to waste our short time together being mad. There will be plenty of time for that. Now, I’m content to know that Vickie and Mama are both giving Colt hell for his behavior.

“Why don’t we order some dinner?” I pull her into my arms and kiss her temple. “I have some menus around here somewhere. Choose what you want. I’ll be right back.”

I leave her in the kitchen and run upstairs. My phone’s been buzzing nonstop in my pocket since I got in the car. I pull it out, and there are missed calls from Mama, Vickie, and Colt. There are text messages from all three asking me to come back. I shut the phone off, put it on the nightstand, and sit on the bed.

The door opens, and she sits next to me, putting her hand in the middle of my back. “What we’re not going to do is let this ruin our weekend, okay? We only have a short amount of time,and I don’t want to waste any of it being mad. I’m going to order pizza, and I’m going to mix mocktails. Then we’ll climb into bed and do what comes naturally.”

I easily lift her and put her on my lap. “Sounds perfect.” I stand with her in my arms and say, “Let’s go, but no nasty peach drinks tonight.”

I put her down in the kitchen and she rummages through the menus. She takes one of the peaches I bought for her and takes a bite. She offers me some, but I make a gagging noise.

“Hey, gagging ismyjob,” she says, and we both laugh. That is until I hear a car pull up in the driveway. Violet runs to the window and says, “Are you fucking kidding me? It’s him.”

Of course, it’s him. I’m surprised it took him this long. “Is he alone?” I ask her, and she nods.

“He has balls. I’ll give him that.”

“I don’t have anythang to say to him right now.” The words are barely out of my mouth before the bell rings. Seconds later he pounds on the door.

“Open up, Charlie. Come on.” Another bang is followed by the loud bell.

“Do you hear keys?” Violet whispers just as the front door opens and he walks in. He waves the keys I gave Mama around, and I make a mental note to take them back. In fact, I do just that. I walk to my brother, snatch the keys out of his hand, and put them in my pocket.

“Get out,” is all I say to him.

He holds both hands up while he looks from me to Violet.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “What you heard was a private conversation.”

“So, are you sorry for what you said or that we heard it?” Violet asks.

“Both,” he admits.

“I know what I heard. I said get out,” I say again, louder this time.

“I’m here to bring you two back to the house for dinner. Everyone’s waitin’ on you,” he says. “You two are being so childish right now.”

“I said get the fuck out of my house.” His head jerks back in surprise. Even Violet gasps since my cursing only happens when I’m talking dirty to her.

“Did you just cuss?” he asks in complete disbelief. When all I do is stare at him, he says, “No. Let me explain,” he says while looking at Violet. “I’m sorry you heard that, but I was voicing my concerns about my brother to our mother. That conversation was not about you.”

“Really? I’m confused then because all I heard was how you don’t trust me and that I not only manipulated Charlie but your wife too. To what end though? To be close to you and your baller lifestyle?” She points at him in dismissal before doing an exaggerated eye roll. “Boy, please. Do you know how many rich men I run into in New York City on any given day, but you think I want to—”

“That was me showing concern for my brother. That’s what it was,” Colt says. Then he turns to me and says, “I worry about you, Charlie. All the time.” He takes a step closer, but I put up a hand for him to stop. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, but I’m not sorry for my concerns,” he says.

“Feel free to stop worrying about me. I’m fine. Put all that energy into your wife and sons and stay the fuck out of my business.”

---