Chapter Thirty
He strode to the bedroom he shared with Kelsey and knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” she called.
“It’s me.”
“Fuck off, Alexander.”
He grimaced. “Can I come in?”
“It’s your room.”
Bracing himself, he pushed the door open, then quickly ducked as a pillow came at him out of nowhere.
Well, not out of nowhere, really, since there was a beautiful, angry brunette standing in the middle of the bedroom, staring at him with daggers in her eyes.
“I deserved that.” He stepped inside and closed the door.
“Oh?” She laughed. “You deserved apillowbeing thrown at you? What did you do? Upset a kitten?”
Alex watched her warily, unsure how to respond to that strange question.
She stomped toward him. “What you deserve to have thrown at you, Alexander Arroyo, is somethingmuchheavier than a pillow.”
His gaze fell to her hands, clenched into fists at her sides, and he remembered the way she knocked Tyler Garcia on his ass in the second grade. It was one of his favorite memories of her, but he was very careful not to smile, lest he wind up like Tyler Garcia.
Her eyes sparked with anger as they flicked back and forth between his. She was so close. All he had to do was reach out—
She took a quick step backwards, staring at the hand coming toward her.
“You don’t get to distract me with those…” She breathed so deeply through her nose her nostrils flared. “With those evil, distracting hands.”
Alex raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah. Your hands distract me.” She huffed. “Or, they did.” She laughed bitterly. “But now that they’ve been all over our bride, they’re going to have to stay far, far away from me.”
Alex’s shoulders fell. “That wasn’t what it looked like.”
Kelsey barked out a laugh. “Really? Because you looked pretty cozy out there with yourex-girlfriend. Should I just assume you have something going on there? Just assume you’re fucking your buddy’s chick?” Kelsey’s lip curled. “Maybe I could just call you a whore and not let you explain.”
“I didn’t call you a—”
“You didn’t have to,” she snapped. “You implied exactly what you wanted to imply. Loud and clear.” She straightened her shoulders, then motioned out toward the kitchen. “And you know what? You’re right. Something did happen with Jean-Luc. But that doesn’t make me a whore. Fucking someone doesn’tmake meanything.”
Alex flinched.
“Have you always felt this away about me?”
“What way?” he dared to ask.
Kelsey’s eyes flashed with anger. “What did you say? Oh, that I’m afree spirit. Have you always felt that way about me?”
Alex shook his head. “I don’t think that way about you.”
She stared at him, her eyes narrowed. “Why’d you say that this morning?”
Alex sighed. “I was upset.”