Page 21 of Entirely Yours
Her shoulders slump and, as angry as I am, I hate that I did that to her. “I should have been more clear, I’m sorry.”
“Yeah,” I reply. “Me too.”
An arrow that hits its mark. She doesn’t reply before turning and walking out the front door.
Two weeks later
I have been dutifully avoiding Julien Bardot for the last two weeks.
I still haven’t quite figured out why I can’t be with him—or at least try—but I’m sure it has something to do with the mommy issues. Or the deadbeat-baby-daddy issues. Or the shattered dreams issues.
One of those, for sure.
In those two weeks I’ve attempted to get the studio in working order, but I’m far from where I wanted to be. I painted the entire place in a light pink color and then decided that felt too on-the-nose. I wish I would have figured that out before the second coat was drying, but I can only do so much.
I’m painting the fourth sample of green on the wall when I hear a knock on the window. I don’t even lookover before yelling, “Come in!” Chloe and Dad have been popping by to help when they can, but most of the time it’s easier to just do it on my own.
The door swings open, the little bell I installed tingling lightly. “Hi, my little chicken!” I call. “Come help me pick out a good color.”
But it’s not Chloe’s voice that greets me. Instead, it’s a voice that sends a mixture of dread and heat low into my belly. “I like the one on the left,” Jules replies. His voice is rough, and I feel it like a tangible stroke down my spine.
I instantly jump to my feet which sends me stumbling sideways. The dizzy spells have gotten more frequent in the last few days, but I refuse to go see another doctor after I just had to go get that tetanus shot done. Jules looks like it physically pains him not to wrap me in bubble wrap and call it a day. He rushes over, taking hold of my elbow to steady me.
“I’m fine,” I mutter, tasting the lie. “Just stood up too fast.”
He pulls a pack of peanut butter crackers out of his pocket and holds them out to me. “Have you eaten recently?”
Obviously I hesitate for too long because he rips the package open, holding a cracker out to me. “I’m fine,” I repeat, even as my traitorous hand grabs the food from Jules.
“Sure,” he replies, already handing me another cracker. I shove it in my mouth and then turn my back to him.
Staring at the wall, I chew and pretend like I can’t feel Jules standing behind me.
Dammit, he’s right. The green on the left does look the best. Another cracker comes into my field of vision, and I snatch it out of his hand.
“Wha’re you dofng heer?” I ask, mouth ridiculously full.
He huffs, clearly unimpressed by my avoidance tactics. “You can’t keep ignoring me forever,” he responds instead of answering my question.
Busying myself with opening the final sample, I paint a few strokes on the wall. “Who says I’m ignoring you?”
“You know, I remember thinking there was no way that Bex wasactuallyclueless when it came to how much of a fool Anders was for her, but maybe it’s just how you all are hardwired.”
“Who the hell are Bex and Anders?” I ask right as the door opens, letting Chloe and my dad in.
“Ohhh, Mama! That’s a bad word!” She skips right past Jules with a, “Hi, almost-Ben,” before continuing over to the wall with assorted paint splotches. Silently she studies them for a moment, finally walking up to the one on the left and saying, “This is the best one, Mama.”
“Good taste,” Jules mutters, causing me to roll my eyes. The last thing I need is someone else on Chloe’s side. She’d eat that right up.
“I think I’ll do the one on the right,” I state.
Dad decides it’s his turn to chime in. “That one looks a bit like puke, darlin’.”
Fuck, he’s right.
“Why are y’all here?” I repeat, looking back and forth between my dad and Jules.
Dad holds up a bag of fast food that I didn’t notice before. “Figured you were hungry.”
