Say Forever(6)

Jackson covers his mouth as he slides down the wall and lands on his ass.

I lean down and speak in a low rumble. "You don't swear at my girlfriend, ever again. Got me, hombre?"

"That's assault," Jackson cries through his blood soaked fingers. "I'm calling the cops."

"And telling them what?" I laugh. "That you snorted coke, broke into my house, and threatened my girlfriend? Go ahead. Call the cops. Who do you think they'll arrest?"

Jackson's eyes widen and he crouches even lower, curling up in to a fetal ball on my entryway floor. Can the guy get any more pathetic?

Despite the pain searing my knuckles, I haul him up by the collar. Jackson starts to cry, and he nearly falls to the floor as his feet slide all over the tile. I swear to God, it's like I'm dealing with a fucking kid.

"Now here's what you're going to do." I growl into his ear as he flinches and flattens one side of his face against the wall. "You're going to get the fuck out of my apartment, sober up, and then you can come back tomorrow for your kid."

"I need Tyler tonight," he whimpers. "My dad will freak."

"Then call your dad and tell him to come get him."

Jackson raises a shaky, bloodied hand and points over my shoulder. "He can't know I was with her."

I don't need to look behind me to know he's talking about Karri; the stupid bitch is still chowing down on my food.

I look him dead in the eye and clutch his collar so tight, he makes gagging sounds. "You should have thought about that before you fucked her... again. I hope you wore a condom this time."

I release Jackson with a shove and point the way out the door.

Jackson stumbles over the threshold and pulls his hand from his mouth. He turns to me with a quavering lip. "I think you busted a tooth."

I ball up my hands and take a step forward. "Good. Now get out of my sight before I bust some more." I step into the foyer and watch as he sulks toward the parking lot.

I hear the sound of a fork clanking on top of an empty platter. Karri rushes the door. "Now maybe you'll go to the dentist," she calls out in a sing-song, mocking tone. "Did anyone ever tell you your breath stinks?" She turns to me with a triumphant gleam in her crazed eyes.

My shoulders stiffen as I brush past her and shut the front door. I walk into our bedroom and close the door behind me.


***


Christina

I'm sitting on the bed, holding Ty against my chest when Andrés walks into the bedroom. It's only when I see he's whole and unharmed I exhale a sigh of relief. Though I don't think Jackson could hurt my boyfriend, anyway. I definitely heard a scuffle outside my door, and knowing Andrés, he'd probably had enough of Jackson's shit.

"What happened?"

He looks at me with a smirk before holding up a fist. "Jackson got what was coming to him, that's what happened."

I gasp when I see my boyfriend's knuckles are bleeding. "Andrés, your hand!"

He shrugs. "It's nothing. Do you know how many times I've split my knuckles fixing cars?" He crosses his arms over his chest and winks. "Besides, you don't know how good that felt."

"I bet," I laugh. "I've been dreaming of face punching Jackson for years."

The door opens and Karri sidles in, unannounced and uninvited. Big surprise.

Karri beams down at Tyler and me. "Awww. Don't you make a good godmother?"

Tyler tightens his grip around my neck and whimpers into my shoulder at the sound of his mother's voice.

Andrés looks at my meth-head ex-BFF and scowls. He tenses up when her shoulder brushes his forearm. She smiles up at him as if they're best chums. Doesn't this girl have fucking boundaries?

Andrés takes a step away from Karri. "Do you know how to get ahold of the grandparents?" he asks me.

I point to my phone on the nightstand. "I already texted Jackson's stepmom."

I'd sent Mrs. James a message that Karri and Jackson were fighting over Tyler, and she'd better come get him ASAP. She messaged me back a few seconds later they were on their way out the door.

"What did you tell her? I don't want them taking Ty!" Karri shrieks as she lunges forward.

Andrés pushes her back with a quick thrust of his arm. "You don't have custody," he says in a menacing tone. "This is kidnapping."

Karri flaps a hand at Tyler and stomps her foot. "He's my baby!"

"He was your baby," Andrés says with a clenched jaw. "You lost your rights when you ran off with your drug dealer."

Karri gapes at him like he's grown a second head.

"He's got Celiac Disease, remember?" I ask, scooting away from Karri while clutching Tyler tighter. "Special diet? Do you even know how to feed him? Do you even have a place to live?"