So Toxic(Bad Boy Next Door Book 4)(196)

I’m five years old again and I’ve broken the chain off my bike and scraped my knee, and the only one in the world who can fix me is Gee-Gee, because she’s the only one who was always there. Mom worked all the time and she would run Dad off anytime he tried to visit.

Word vomit spews from my mouth. “I’m in love. He’s famous. He’s a playboy. He’s never going to want me for more than—than—”

I push out what I’m really getting at. “I—I’m pregnant. But he won’t want the baby.”

The silence on the other end might as well be thunder booming. I cringe. I wait. Nothing.

“Gee-Gee?”

A deep breath comes through the line.

“Well, sweet girl, it sounds like you backed into that relationship.”

I bite my lip and sniffle as her words sink in.

“I really did, didn’t I?”

“Now, you need to start at the beginning and see if you can’t turn it around. And if not, then he’s not the man you and your baby need, that’s when you wait. God will send the one you need.”

The tears spring up again. I press my fingers over my mouth, but the wail comes out anyway.

I sniff the snot threatening to run down my face and grind out my words between clenched teeth. “But I don’t want another man, Gee-Gee. I want Jackson.”

More soothing sounds come through, but I’m not comforted. As much as she tries, I’ll never be happy. I’ve got a baby with no daddy, and as soon as he finds out I’m going to get pregnant-fat and all unsexy, he’ll drop me like a pair of dirty drawers.

I’m such a colossal moron. How could I have done this to myself? I knew what he was from the moment we met.

Gee-Gee clears her throat. “You still there, Baby Girl?”

My voice is small. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Sweet child, there has to be something good in him if you started any kind of relationship with him. Uncover it and show it to him.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. Now, when do you go back on his show to finish up this bet business?”

I let out another long sigh. But then a tiny spark of hope ignites in my heart.

She chuckles. “God’s in charge, Baby Girl, and He’s good every day.”

I wish I shared her faith. I dab my tears with a tissue as we say goodbye.

I slump at my desk. The one Jack put together—three times. Three times to get it right. But he took the time. He was frustrated. He could’ve thrown up his hands and said forget it, but he didn’t. He stayed and finished it—for me.

That was the day he called us friends. Maybe we can be friends—at the very least. And if so, then I’ll gauge his reaction to my pregnancy before I tell him he’s the father.

I suck in a deep breath and hold it. No. I need to not get ahead of myself. One thing at a time.

Friends.

Try to make that work. And don’t let it crash and burn.





Decode the Man in Your Life

Chapter [3]: Men Are Smarter Than You Think

Correction: Men Are Fucking Idiots





FIFTEEN





I pace the living room.

Bax’s head turns every time I change direction, like he’s watching a basketball game.

I stop and hold my phone up. The words Ronnie Fitz top her photo.

“Should I call? It’s been a week. She should’ve had some free time by now, right?”

He holds both hands up. “Fuck, man. Don’t ask me. My love life’s in the shitter. I’m the last person who should hand out advice on affairs of the heart.”

“Don’t you have some kind of medicine man on speed dial who can give you a love potion or something?”

“What the fuck? I’m Native American, not Druid, or whatever the hell religion uses magic. Voodoo I have no idea, but no—wrong race, man.”

I nod. “Sorry. I’m not a racist fuck; I promise.”

Bax grins, shaking his head. “I know that, Brother. Trust me, if I had a potion, I wouldn’t be sitting here. I’d be getting ready for a beautiful weekend of fucking.”

I huff. “Fucking is what got us into this mess to start with.”

“You know it.” He pushes his fingers through his hair.

“I didn’t do enough to make Ronnie see me as anything but a fuck. I should’ve—hell if I know—what do people do to get other people to actually like them? I’m not sure she ever really liked me.”

“Fuck. I was never interested in getting women to like me. As a matter of fact, women who like me too much are generally a problem. I usually only want them to want me for a couple of hours.”

“I should go have a visit with our man, Dave. Fuck him up. Maybe he’ll quit seeing her.”