Page 142 of Reckless
Rhett:You alive?
Theo:Yeah. Why?
Rhett:It’s been nice knowing you.
Theo:What’s that supposed to mean?
* * *
I’m pacing my room, phone in my hand, practicing what I’m going to say when I call Winter.Sorrywon’t cut it, so I need to figure out how I can apologize for the way I doubted her.
Because I didn’t just toss out a question about the paternity. I questioned her integrity. And that is one thing I’ve never doubted about Winter, no matter how prickly or unapproachable she was.
A knock at my door startles me, and it must be Rhett. He’s probably gotten an earful from his wife by now. I bet he’s coming to knock some sense into me.
“What?” I growl as I fling the hotel room door open. The entire world stills around me and I stop in my tracks.
Winter is standing in the hallway, with a duffel bag slung over her shoulder, eyes narrowed like she might strangle me with her gaze alone.
In contrast, Vivi is smiling at me from her stroller, Peter’s rubber chicken in her hand.
And when I look lower, Peter is attached to the end of a leash, trembling, like always.
“Da!” My head snaps back to Vivi, who is pointing at me. “Dadadadada.”
“Did she just say ‘dad’?”
Winter’s hip cocks out, her pearly-white fingernails tapping on her bicep. “She did, Theo. She said it last night for the first time when she saw you on the TV. And when I tried to call you and tell you about it, do you know what happened?”
I swallow, but it doesn’t help the lump of dread forming in my throat. It feels stuck there, like it’s growing the longer I stand here putting things together.
“It went straight to fucking voicemail, Theo. All. Night. Long.” Her lips thin as she sucks in a deep breath through her nostrils. She reminds me of a dragon.
“Is that why you’re here?”
“No, I’m here because I wanted to kick your ass in person. I haven’t slept because I stayed up all night worrying about you, your stupid handsome face, and your big, talented dick.” One hand waves over the length of my body. “And just your stupid general wellbeing because you fuckingconsumeme.”
My stomach sinks, but I’m frozen in place, hand gripping the door. “Winter, come in.”
“No.”
“You came all the way here, and you’re not going to come in?”
“I came here to see that you were in one piece and alone. And I have seen it.”
Alone. Fuck. My fingers itch to grab her and yank her in here with me.
“Why did you bring Peter?”
“Because he’s part of our family, no matter how much he reminds me of the weird squirrel fromIce Age. And I like it when he sleeps between my feet, so he’s stuck with me now. Just like you.”
“The squirrel fromIce Age?”
“Tell me why your phone went straight to voicemail.”
I swipe a hand through my hair and blow out a breath. “I had a moment, okay? A weak, petty, insecure one. I needed a pity party. You said you didn’t need me. Everyone else was blowing me up. It didn’t feel like I could fix anything, and all I did was make things worse. And I knew you were angry at me, so I figured I’d shut it down for the night.”
“You don’t get to shut it down for a night, Theo!” she shouts. “You got to ditch your phone once before and that really fucking sucked for me. I should have showed up then and demanded you pay attention to me. But I didn’t. So I’m here now, demanding you pay attention to me.”
