Page 173 of Lost in Love

“No, sorry. Noah can be a handful sometimes,” Madison says, sitting down in the chair I pull out.

I glare at Kip. That’s right asswipe, I’m a gentleman. She wants to divorce me but still, I can treat her like a fucking lady.

Sitting down next to Madison and Noah, Callan sits across from us next to Kip’s son.

Watching Kip talk to my wife, I need a minute to decide my course of action. On the one hand, I can lunge across this table and beat the living shit out of him while taking notes from Noah and yelling, “I am Wolverine.”

Or I could take the mature route andverballybeat the shit out of the pussy-named bastard.

Normally option one would be the most appealing, but because of the stitches currently residing in my hand, I can’t imagine it would feel all that appealing in the aftermath.

Option two it is.

“So, Kit,” I begin.

“It’s Kip. With a p on the end. Not Kit.”

“Yeah, right. I’m not good with names. I was wondering is there a Mrs. Kip?”

I’m thinking the question is innocent enough, but it earns me a narrowed-eye glare from Kip and a pretty forceful elbow from Madison.

Ah, I’ve touch on a sore subject. Score one for me.

“Sara and I are newly divorced.”

Divorced? I mentally laugh and can’t help but wonder if maybe his ex-wife left his ass so she could find a man with a manly name like Stone or Colt or even better… Ridley.

“So, Ridley, why is it this is the first game we’ve seen you at?”

God, he’s a dick.

You know what thought keeps crossing my mind? Not only is he a dick, but I’d like to pull my dick out right now and slap it right on his forehead. Maybe then he’d shut the fuck up.

“I own a custom home building business, and it keeps me really busy. Seven days a week is my usual work week.”

Kip stares at me like I’m crazy. “Yeah, but I can’t imagine you couldn’t get a little time away once a week to come and watch your son play? Right? I mean if it was important to you, wouldn’t you just make the time?”

I want to jab his eyeballs out.

I sit there for what seems like forever but is probably just a few seconds completely stunned by what this asshole just said. Is he really calling me out right here in front of my wife and kids? Of course he is. He knows this is a competition and he’s decided to play to win.

I cross my arms over my chest and shake my head in disbelief. Did this tool talk my wife into a divorce?

Madison won’t even look at me. “Yeah well, I can see how someone like yourself would think that,” I say with a good amount of sarcasm laced in my voice, “but when I say Iowna custom home building company, I mean I build custom homes myself. From the ground up. The entire process. I don’t have a bunch of guys working for me doing all the work. It’s me and my partner putting out a product we take a lot of pride in. I love what I do, but yeah, sometimes it takes me away from my family whether I want that or not.” I stare at Madison as she looks over at me finally. “There’s nothing more important to me than my family and because of that, I will do anything to make sure they’re taken care of even if it means sacrificing my time.”

Take that, fuck face.

Kip shakes his head and stares at me with a smirk on his face. “Yeah, but it’s not just your time you’re sacrificing, is it? I mean sure, you’re putting in a lot of hours but in the end, isn’t the family you say you’re working so hard for the ones you’re actually sacrificing?”

“Kip,” Madison growls, shocked by what he’s saying. “That’s enough!”

Can I knock his teeth in yet? Come on, you’re thinking it too, aren’t you?

“Listen, you piece of—” I go to stand because option one just came back into play when Madison grabs my forearm and squeezes to get my attention. I glance over and see her pleading eyes locked on mine. She’s silently begging me not to do something that will cause a scene. And then her eyes dart to the kids, and Callan’s stare locked on me. I relax beside her.

She’s right. I can’t make a scene in front of him despite me desperately wanting to.

Just then two young girls show up at our table carrying two large pizzas and breadsticks. I never understood the need for breadsticks when you order pizza. Isn’t the crust basically a bread stick? Just seems like overkill to me. Anyway, I decide to let this shit go for the moment and try to enjoy the free food because if asshole thinks I’m paying for this shit, he’s fucking delusional.

---