Page 58 of Rebound

“Eyes off my wife,” Colt says. “Go find another mean woman to love. This one’s taken.”

“You guys want to stay for dinner? The food will be here soon. Johnny will probably want to stay and eat with Jasmine,” he says.

“My brother’s cooking,” Colt says. “But Johnny can stay.” There’s another knock on the door. It’s the food delivery, but Colt’s brother Charlie comes in after him. He’s holding the hand of Colt’s older son, Evan. Charlie is almost a replica of Colt with the same dark curly hair and dark eyes. I find myself blushing when I look up at his face.

“Evan wanted to come play with his brother,” he says, but Evan’s already run off to play with the kids. “I’m Charlie,” he says to me and June Bug. “We met at the adoption party and at the park a couple of weeks ago.” I can feel color creep up my face when he smiles and I notice his dimples.

“Down girl,” Seth says as he watches me. “You’re a married woman now. Stop batting your eyes at Charlie.”

Everyone in the room chuckles, including Charlie who grins so wide I can barely move from my spot. Vickie takes notice and pulls me to the other side of the room.

“Why did you marry Seth?” she whispers. “He’s a nice guy, but he has a bit of a reputation.” She looks over at him, and he’s craning his neck to watch us. I know there’s no way he can hear us from here. I decide not to tell Vickie about our arrangement.

It started off as a transaction, but the world doesn’t need to know that. I look at him again and he’s still watching us. He’s had such a shitty hand in life, and there’s a part of me that yearns to make it better. Despite his first horrible eighteen years, he managed to get out. During all that time, he always had a plan to leave. Whether it was through basketball or an academic scholarship, he knew there was a better life waiting for him.

But his past will never let him go completely. Not as long as his father is alive. Yes, he was a whore, but like he said, he was only with people who wanted to be with him. I have no reason to believe that he lied or manipulated anyone. He’s not the type who would do that.

He’s been good to me since I agreed to form this family. He made my first time memorable, and every other time after that has been amazing. He’s fantastic when it comes to dealing with my grandmother, and he’s financing her care from here on out.

“He’s not that bad,” I say to Vickie. “He promised the whoring is over.” When she gives me a disbelieving glare, I feel compelled to defend Seth. “Yeah, he slept around, but he never lied or led anyone on. He assures me that’s behind him, and I believe it. My mom already threatened to cut it off if he fucks around on me.”“He’s been good to you?” she whispers, and I nod. “Good. If not, I’ll hold him down while your mom snips.” She makes the cutting gesture with her fingers. I look past her, and Seth is still staring at us. He twists his lips and rolls his eyes, so I assume he knows what we’re talking about. He finally looks away and starts to pull takeout containers out of the bag.

The kids go running past us and into the kitchen.

“Hungee,” Johnny and Jasmine say at once. “Eat!”

“Cookie!” Jasmine jumps up and points at June Bug, who runs to his backpack. I’m sure he’s going to look for a sugary snack.

“No cookies until after dinner, June Bug,” I warn, and he stops.

“But Uncle June Bug doesn’t have the constraints parents do. I’m the fun uncle.”

“You’ll be the uncle with a black eye if you get these kids all riled up before they eat,” I warn again. “Back away from that backpack.”

“Whatever,” he says. He still rummages through his backpack, but instead of pulling out junk food, he takes out a paperback book. It’s Vickie’s most recent novel.

He brings it over to her and asks her to sign it. She happily agrees.

“We’re reading this in my book club next,” he says. “It was my pick since you and Layla are friends. I hope it’s better than Pride and Prejudice. That book has me ready to scream,” he mutters. “Elizabeth Bennet has me ready to DNF this bitch.”

“What? You don’t like Elizabeth Bennet?” Vickie asks, clearly outraged by the thought.

“Nah. I didn’t like her from the beginning. I like my women jaded and from the city, not some country mouse with her uppity nose in the air.”

“Really?” Vickie asks. “That’s how you see her.”

“Everyone thinks Mr. Darcy’s the snob but—”

I walk away from them and return to the kitchen. I get the dishes and set four place settings before pulling the two highchairs to the table.

“Did you tell Vickie the reason you’re here is transactional?” Seth asks. His voice sounds almost accusatory.

“I didn’t,” I say. “That’s our business. I told her that we’re together, and you’ve been good to me.” I leave off the ‘so far’ even though it was on the tip of my tongue.

“What did she say about me though?” He almost sounds a little hurt. “I don’t get why she judged me since she’s always going on and on about how people should—"

“She didn’t say anything about you. Even if she did, it wouldn’t matter. I can take care of myself, and we’re already married.” Once I have the table set, I put my hands on his wrists. “This is our relationship. I don’t care what anyone else thinks.”

He stares into my eyes but doesn’t say anything. I feel as if he’s studying me to make sure I’m telling the truth. I hold his stare and look into his clear green eyes. I never noticed how soulful they were before today. He has brown flecks around them. Finally, he nods at me and taps the tip of my nose with his finger.

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