by Eden Finley
Zombies, zombies, zombies … ah, fuck it, it’s not working.
I slid my phone out of my pocket without looking at it and flicked it to silent.
“So, Cole, how’s your job going? Construction, right?” Dad asked.
He cleared his throat. “Cabinetmaking, actually.”
I took their conversation as an opportunity to text Sara. Quickly glancing down at my phone, but making sure I wouldn’t get caught if someone was watching me, I typed out an SOS:
Dude! Hemsworth is my new stepmother’s ex-husband. WTF. Get me out of here.
I hit send, and then my heart dropped when Cole’s phone chimed in his pocket. Looking down at the screen, I saw I’d sent the text to him. Shit!
“Sorry about that,” Cole said, reaching into his pocket to pull his phone out. “I thought it was on silent.” He quickly looked at the screen and then to me, narrowing his eyes when he read the text and then saw my distraught face.
After he said he wasn’t able to take me home last night and stole my phone to exchange numbers, he’d sent a text later saying he changed his mind. So the last person in my text history was him, and I was used to it being Sara. I didn’t even check it when I started typing.
I typed out another text:
Sorry. That wasn’t meant for you. I’m kind of freaking out here.
His phone vibrated again, but it was now back in his pocket and he ignored it.
I then sent the original text to Sara.
A reply came through seconds later that read:
Sara:
BAHAHAHA!
Thanks, bitch.
“Paige?” Dad’s voice startled me.
“Sorry, what?”
“You okay?” he asked.
“Fine.” I lifted my phone so it was visible. “Sara messaged me about our exam tomorrow. I left my stuff at her house today, so I’ll have to go pick it up if I want to fit in some more studying tonight.” I stood to leave, trying any excuse that could get me out of this dinner.
“After dinner, okay?” Dad said. “And put your damn phone away.”
Dammit. “Uh … okay. I’ll just go put it in my room so I’m not tempted to look at it.” I eyed Cole to let him know what I really meant was “Follow me.”
Reece came out with two plates in her hands. “Food’s here.”
“I’ll be super quick,” I said.
Cole stood. “Is it okay if I go wash my hands before eating?”
A tradie wanting to wash his hands? Yeah, that’s not suspicious or anything.
“I’ll show you where the bathroom is,” I said and started leading him down the hall.
We made it to the bathroom, and I shut the door behind us.
“What are we going to do?” I whispered.
He ran a hand through his hair, giving me a flashback of him on top of me last night. I tried to shake the memory. I can’t be thinking about that right now.
“Well, telling people certainly isn’t a great idea. Who were you texting that to? Because it clearly wasn’t meant for me.” His voice may have been a whisper, but it seemed more like he was yelling.
“My friend from the bar last night. She already knows about you anyway.”
“Sorry. I’m not angry. It’s just … no one can find out about what happened between us, okay? It’s a really long story that we can’t get into right now, but if Reece found out I was out last night drinking, and …”
“Fucking me?”
He cringed, actually cringed. “She can’t know, okay?”
My brow wrinkled in confusion. “Why not? She’s your ex, not your wife. She should have no say in what … or who you do.”
He sighed. “Look, I’m sorry about last night. I should’ve walked away when you first made the bet. But … I …”
I was taken aback by his statement. He regrets sleeping with me. I shook my head in disappointed anger and turned to leave. “Until fifteen minutes ago, I didn’t realise there was anything to be sorry for, let alone before anything happened between us.”
“Paige, wait. I want to explain, but not here. If I promise to tell you one day, will you let this go tonight? Please?”
“Whatever.” Yeah, I did the teenager thing. And immediately hated myself for it.
5
- COLE -
She left me in the bathroom feeling like a complete ass. Did I really say last night shouldn’t have happened?
That’s not how I actually felt. There was a part of me that did, but I didn’t regret spending the night with her. Since she answered the door tonight, all I’d thought about was wanting to do it again, even though our situation was completely screwed up and it’d be wrong.
This dinner is going to be even more torturous than I was expecting.
I quickly washed my hands and made my way back to the dining room. Paige was trying to open a bottle of wine when I sat back in my seat.
As I looked down at my plate of roasted lamb with vegetables, drizzled in gravy that surprisingly wasn’t lumpy, I frowned. “On a scale of one to ten, what are the chances of getting sick if I eat this?”
Paul and Cody started laughing.
Reece glared at me. “Ha, ha. But I’ve actually been taking lessons.”
“You know how to cook now?” It was then I realised Reece and I hadn’t really spoken about our actual lives in the three years we’d been apart. Naturally, our talks mainly revolved around Cody.
“Yes, she does. And she’s great at it,” Paul said, reaching across the table to hold her hand.
Why don’t you just pee on her and get it over with?
“Paul suggested I take a cooking class if I’m going to be a doting housewife.” She smiled her annoyingly fake smile of hers. At least that was still the same.
I found it hilarious that Reece was going to be any type of housewife. She took the odd job here and there while we were married, but she was mostly unemployed and rarely cleaned the house. She always claimed that because of Cody, two seconds after cleaning, it would be messy again, so she didn’t bother. Our dinners usually consisted of me picking something up on my way home or cheese on toast—when she didn’t burn it. The thought of her cooking and cleaning for this giant house almost made me burst into laughter. I managed to hold it in, but my smirk was harder to hide.
Paige finally managed to pop the cork on the bottle of wine, scaring the crap out of all of us at the table with the loud noise. “Anyone want wine?”
“I will, sweetheart,” Paul said.
“Me too,” Reece added.
“Cole?” Paige asked.
Just the sound of my name coming from her lips had my pants tightening. Fuck, this is not good.
Reece glared at me, awaiting my response.
“No, thank you. I’m driving Cody home later.”
“One won’t put you over the limit.”
I got the feeling she was prying, trying to find a reason why I wasn’t meant to be drinking last night, and I had to give the girl props for being subtle, but she needed to let it go.
“Cole doesn’t drink at all, Paige. Ever,” Reece said.
“Oh.”
It pissed me off when Reece said shit like that. I could tell Paige wanted to ask if I was an alcoholic. She opened her mouth to ask but thankfully stopped herself when she looked at Cody.
“I don’t like to drink at all when looking after Cody. It’s the responsible thing to do.” I hoped my tone was clear. Don’t push it, Paige.
That’s what most people assumed when they found out I didn’t drink—that I must be an alcoholic. I wasn’t addicted to it, it wasn’t a fix for me, and it was really easy to say no to. It was when I had such low inhibitions and I didn’t care what I did anymore that there was a problem. That would lead to drinking too much, which would lead to losing control, causing angry outbursts, which would lead to … something not pretty. So I didn’t drink anymore.
Occasionally having one a week when I caught up with friends was the most I’d let myself drink in
two and a half years, but I’d been completely sober for the last six months. Until last night.
“So, Paige,” Reece said as we started eating. “How was your study session last night? You’ve been studying so much lately, you should really take a break every now and then.”
Instantly, I regretted taking a bite of lamb and potato right before Reece asked that question. I started coughing as I tried to swallow the chunk of food that went down the wrong way. Banging on my chest with my fist, I reached for my glass of water. “Wrong pipe,” I coughed out, struggling to breathe.
Paige was watching me with a tight-lipped smile as if she was trying not to laugh. She’s liking this!
“It’s a really hectic time at the moment at uni. But a good cramming session is all I really needed. Just enough to take the stress of my exam away.”
Even through my difficulty breathing, I didn’t miss the double entendre. This girl was definitely going to be the death of me.
“Are you seeing anyone? It must be hard to date when all your time’s taken up by uni.”
Everyone was carrying on as if I didn’t just nearly choke to death. My eyes were watering, my throat stung, and my chest felt heavy, but apparently, we were moving onto Paige’s love life. I wanted to let out a groan of protest but thought better of it.
“No one special. I’ve been told I’m a bit of a man-hater.”
That made me smile.
“Great. Because I had an idea,” Reece said. “Cole …”
“What?” I jumped.
“I was thinking Paige would be perfect for Hunter.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “No way.”
“Why not? They’re both young, hot, single,” Reece continued.
“He’s an underwear model.” Who has to steal condoms from me because he’s a dirty, dirty manwhore. I didn’t add that part aloud, of course.
“So?” Reece asked.
“No way,” Paul chimed in.
Thanks, Paul, I knew I always liked you.
“Uh, don’t I get a say in this? An underwear model sounds hot,” Paige said, her smug eyes meeting mine.
“No,” Paul and I said in unison.
“It was just an idea,” Reece said. “It’s about time he settled down.”
“Love, Paige is only twenty-one. She’s in no rush to settle down,” Paul said. “She can think about marriage after she’s been practising law for a few years.”
Last night while I was trying to delay the game of pool so I could sober up as much as possible before taking her home, I hounded her with question after question. She’d talked about how she was studying law, and now it all clicked into place. She was following in her father’s footsteps. I hadn’t pegged her for a daddy’s girl. Interesting.
“Besides, after what her last boyfriend did to her, I don’t think she’ll be in a rush to trust another man.” Paul’s smile confused me. He’s happy some shithead hurt her?
“Can we not mention him, please?” Paige asked. No, more like begged.
Paul shrugged. “If you ask me, Hamish did you a favour. You’ve never been more focused than you have been this past year.”
With a sideways glance at Paige, I could tell she was uncomfortable. Her eyes were down, staring at her plate, and she shifted slightly in her seat.
I had an overpowering urge to punch Hamish in the face for whatever he did to her. That insane notion startled me, allowing me to break my gaze from her.
Sensing her need to have the conversation steered in a new direction, I spoke up. “How was school today, bud?” I asked Cody. I noticed that Paige’s shoulders relaxed next to me.
“Good,” he replied.
“I need another drink,” Paige said, standing to reach for the bottle in the middle of the table. She leaned closer to me as she picked up the bottle of wine and muttered so only I could hear, “Thank you.”
Her perfume filled my senses, and I swear I could taste her skin. I felt my lips on her neck, trailing down her body … Stop it, Cole!
Dinner went quickly after that, which I was grateful for. Paul wasn’t a total jackass, although I sometimes wondered what Reece saw in him. Anytime he’d reference something, showing his age, she’d roll her eyes at him.
That’s what you get for marrying someone twenty years older than you. Duh.
She also seemed to be trying to be someone else around him. The carefree bogan was nowhere to be seen, and this uptight Stepford wife had replaced her. Then again, I guessed I didn’t really know her all that well anymore.
Paige ended up downing four glasses of wine over dinner, and towards the end, I could tell she was a little lax.
As we were finishing dessert, I turned to Cody. “You ready to go? We should get going so we’re home in time for bed.”
“I’m going to Sara’s,” Paige said, standing.
“Uh … you’ve had four glasses of wine.” The words poured out of me before I could stop them. It wasn’t my place to stop her from doing anything.
“With dinner,” she complained.
She was really showing her age with that comment, and I had to bite my tongue from calling her on it.
“Cole’s right. You’re not driving anywhere,” Paul said.
“Fine. I’ll get Sara to drop off my notes.” She pulled out her phone and started texting, obviously forgetting she was supposed to have put her phone in her room earlier instead of being in the bathroom with me.
My heart rate picked up as I glanced between Paul and Reece, hoping they wouldn’t bring it up or notice. I was probably being overly paranoid, but it still made me nervous. Luckily, it didn’t faze them, and I let out a breath of relief when Paige started talking again.
“She says she can’t drop them off, but if I can get a lift there, I can spend the night and we’ll go to the exam together in the morning.”
“I can drive you,” Reece said enthusiastically, which only made me stiffen in my seat again. I didn’t want those two in a car together. Not until I could explain myself to Paige properly.
“Well, Cole’s leaving now anyway, right? Where abouts do you live? Is it anywhere near Main?”
I had to admit, her innocent tone had improved since last night when she tried to convince me she didn’t throw our game of pool.
“Uh … yeah, not far from there. I can give you a lift if you want.”
“We can’t ask you to do that,” Reece said. Her tone was suspicious, and I didn’t want to push my luck, but I also couldn’t have Paige asking Reece questions about me.
I shrugged. “It’s on the way and it’s no big deal, but if you want to take her, that’s fine.”
I didn’t need to look at Paige to know she was shooting daggers at me.
“We appreciate that, Cole,” Paul said before turning to Reece with a shrug. “It’s on his way.”
“I’ll just go grab my bag,” Paige said, leaving the room.
“How about you go get yours too, squirt,” I said to Cody, and he followed Paige out.
“I’ll get started on the dishes,” Paul said, standing.
“I can do that,” Reece said.
“It’s okay, love. You see Cody off.” He collected the plates and walked out of the room, leaving Reece and me.
“Now, was that so bad?” she asked with a smile.
“No, but it was still weird.” I kept my voice low so it didn’t leave the room. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, and I get things are going to be a little different now … but I don’t think we’ll be playing happy families anytime soon.”
“Why are you trying to make things difficult?”
I ran my hand through my hair. “Really? Because I don’t want to have dinner with your boyfriend?”
“Fiancé. He’s going to be Cody’s stepfather.”
I scoffed. “And you’re going to be a stepmother of a girl who’s practically our age. I’m sorry, but it’s hard to take any of this seriously.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The girl I married would laugh at your life right now.”
“Well, I’m not her anymore. I haven’t been her since you—”
“Don’t say it,” I warned. “I know what I did.”
“We’re ready,” Paige said.
I jumped at her voice, not realising she was standing there. Cody was beside her, their bags in hand. I hoped he hadn’t heard any of that. I hated fighting with Reece in front of him.
“Great. Let’s go.”
The three of us left the house immediately, and I didn’t even bother saying bye to Reece or Paul, but Cody gave his mum a quick hug.
“Go jump in the car, Cody, I need to talk to your dad for a moment,” Paige said when we reached their front gate.
He took his bag and jumped in the back seat of my ute without question.
“Not here, Paige.”
“Then when?”
“What does it even matter? Whatever happened between us last night is over.”
“Except for some weird reason, your ex-wife wants us to be one big happy family, so like it or not, we’re going to be seeing each other. I’ll be there when you pick Cody up and drop him off. Shouldn’t we at least … I don’t know … talk about it?”
“What is it with girls and closure?” I stepped closer to her and lowered my voice. “I fucked you because I wanted to forget that I had to have this stupid dinner tonight in the first place. You were just a distraction. Add that to the fact that you happen to be Paul’s daughter, and I think that’s closure enough.” What the hell is wrong with you? Tell her the truth—you want her in your bed again. “I wish it could be different. Last night was …” I sighed, “I want more of what we had last night, but we can’t.”
“We’re grown adults. We can do what we want.”
I groaned. “Paige, I can’t do this here, I have to get Cody home.”
“Fine.”
6
- PAIGE -
Why do guys always shut down instead of saying what they’re feeling? What is it with us girls that make us want to fix broken guys?
After overhearing the tail end of Cole’s conversation with Reece, all I wanted was to know more. How screwed up is that?
