Page 23 of Affinity

A loud scoff escaped her as she looked around. “I can’t believe you finally found the grocery store. Is this a sign of the apocalypse?”

A warm hand ran up my back as the smell of cinnamon and apples washed over me. Abbi wrapped her arm around my waist as she circled me. She looked up with a smile on her face, but with guarded eyes. “Hey, there you are. I thought you might have gotten lost.”

Leaning down, I kissed the corner of her mouth. “I’m sorry it took me so long, but I got hung up with—”

“Are you the stupid bitch who was foolish enough to marry him?” Poppy interrupted me with her ugly voice.

Pulling Abbi into my side, I turned us, my gaze heated as it landed on the woman in front of me. “Don’t speak to her like that. Abbi is the best thing that has ever happened to me and is light years better than you ever were.” Lacing my fingers through Abbi’s, I pulled her with me. “Come on, let’s go get the rest of our food. I can’t wait for a real home-cooked meal.”

“Enjoy your lame little life together.”

I could hear the sound of her cackling laugh as we made our way back to the cart Abbi had abandoned. The cart I’d grabbed long forgotten in the wake of my ex-wife.

“When I used to see her in the tabloids, I always thought she looked so nice, but . . . wow, she’s a huge bitch.” Abbi said the last word with a quiet grimace. “Please tell me she wasn’t always like that.”

“I can promise you she wasn’t like that when we met or at the beginning of our marriage.” I stopped a few feet away from the cart I recognized as ours. “Things were good at first, but then I was in Dubai for five months filming a movie. Poppy was upset because she couldn’t come with me, and when I came home . . . ” I hated to think about that time in my life. It made me feel so fucking guilty even though I knew it wasn’t my fault. Leaning down, I spoke into her ear so no one else would hear. “She’d changed so much. She stopped hanging out with our friends and had brand new ones who I’m sure got her hooked on drugs.”

Placing her other hand on my bicep, Abbi rubbed up and down my arm. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. Hopefully, you never have to see her again.”

I would die a happy man if I never saw my ex another day in my life. It made me wonder if I would feel the same way about Abbi when our year was over.

She continued, her voice quiet. “Thanks for sticking up for me.”

Dipping down, our gazes met. “Even though I may not like our situation, everything I said was true.”

Tears sprang to her eyes. “I never know if what you say is true or not, but I’m going to believe you meant that. Thank you, Reeves. Let’s hurry up and finish so we can get out of here.”

When was she going to call me Jenner like everyone else? The only person who called me Reeves beside her was my father, and we all knew what a train wreck my relationship with him was.

My head was in the clouds as I followed her around with the cart. I hoped after this, Abbi would want to do online ordering because it was boring as fuck watching her compare everything on each aisle. I thought it would be a quick in and out. Instead, it was turning into hour two. With how much she was buying, we wouldn’t need to buy food again for the rest of the year.

I thought once we got to the checkout, we’d be out quickly, but I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. First, the cashier was eye-fucking me as she rang up each item, and then when I pulled out my wallet, Abbi tried to snatch my credit card out from between my fingers. Luckily, I had faster reflexes and stuck it into the keypad before she could blink.

“Why did you do that?” Her brows were furrowed as she stuck her hands on her hips a few steps away from the checkout lane.

“Did you really want to spend over four hundred dollars on some groceries?” I tried to do something nice, and she got pissed. Who would have thought?

“Of course not, but I need to contribute something. I’m used to working and paying my own way, and it doesn’t sit right with me that I’m living in your house rent-free, and now you just paid for our food.”

“We’ll figure something out, but for now, let’s look happy. Don’t let go of my hand and keep your head down.”

She rolled her eyes but slipped on her sunglasses before she grasped my hand.

We’d been in the store for too long; even more paparazzi had shown up and were waiting for us. I pulled Abbi in front of me and caged her between my body and the cart to keep her safe. I let the cart clear a path between them, but the second we passed, they closed in around us. It had been a long time since they’d been so aggressive with me, and I didn’t miss it in the least. I almost felt bad for Abbi until I remembered everything she was getting out of this marriage.

Three men with cameras pushed into me, jamming my side into the handle on the cart. I wanted to go full-on Hulk, but I didn’t need the bad publicity or Catherine on my ass after last weekend.

The crowd made a collective ‘oh’ noise before they barraged us with questions.

“How’s the happy couple?”

“When’s the honeymoon?”

“Is the honeymoon phase over?”

“Jenner, how do you like domestic life?”

The questions kept coming along with the flashes as we made our way to the SUV. I opened Abbi’s car door and ushered her inside before I unloaded all of the groceries in the back, so she didn’t have to deal with the paparazzi. They were too pushy, and I didn’t want her scared.

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