Love Song Series Box Set

by Emily Minton

  “Yuck, Uncle Matty’s kissing Momma!”

  They jump apart and turn to us. They both start talking at the same time, but I don’t give a fuck about what they have to say. I bend down and give Jenny a hug.

  “Daddy’s going to head out now. I’ve got to work in the mornin’, so I need to get some rest. Love you, sweet pea.” I release her and walk out the door.

  I walk straight to my truck and drive to Skip’s. I haven’t been to the bar since Julie got back to town, but I need a drink tonight. I sit at my normal barstool. “Give me a shot of Jack. Keep them coming.”

  Chapter 10

  Julie

  After Jase leaves, Matty and I have a long talk. I tell him how I feel, and he surprises the shit out of me by laughing and saying he already knew.

  “I knew you weren’t in love with me. Hell, I’m not in love with you. Don’t get me wrong, I love you, but you’re like my little sister. I did enjoy kissing your sweet ass though,” he finishes with a wink.

  “Then what was that all about then?” I say, motioning toward the spot where we’d been standing when he kissed me.

  “Well, you need to get your ass in gear. You love my brother, and he loves you. It’s time you work your shit out. You were going too slow, so I figured I’d give you a push.”

  He’s right. I do love Jase, and I’m sure he loves me too. “I can’t, Matty. He hurt me too bad. I can’t go through that again.”

  “Do you really think I’d be here if I thought there was a chance he’d do that shit again?”

  “How do you know?” I ask, hoping like hell he has a good answer.

  “I know because I know what it’s like to love a woman you’ve hurt. Believe me. He won’t make the same mistake twice.” I want to ask Matty who he hurt, but I have a feeling I already know. I’m not blind; I’ve seen the way he looks at Kristen. I’ve also seen the pain in her eyes when she looks at him.

  He leans forward and places the palm of his hand on my cheek. “Go find my brother, Jules, and give him another chance.”

  “Yeah, Momma, go get Daddy. Bring him home,” Jenny says as she walks into the kitchen with Bethany close on her heels.

  “Sorry, guys, but I couldn’t keep her out. Although, I have to say I agree with her,” Bethany adds.

  I look around at everyone and nod my head yes. It’s time; It’s time I stop living in the past. I get up and walk to Jenny. Leaning over to place a kiss on her cheek, I say, “Okay, I’m going to get Daddy.”

  It takes me nearly an hour to find Jase. I went to his apartment, Pop’s, Shane’s, even the garage. I am about to give up when I see his truck sitting at Skip’s. I park right beside it and sit inside the car for a few minutes, thinking about what to say. Finally, I decide I’m just going to start with I love you.

  When I walk into the bar, everyone looks at me. Lora, the bartender, and I went to school together. She knew all about Jase and me, so she knows why I’m here. She motions toward the bathroom. When I walk around the corner, Jase is standing there straightening his pants. I wait a second then clear my throat to get his attention.

  “I wanted to explain,” I say in a whispered voice, but stop when I hear the bathroom door open.

  Jase

  I tap the bar to get another shot just as Brittany slides onto the stool next to mine.

  “Ain’t seen you here for a while. Wanna hit the bathroom with me?”

  I look at her for a minute. I know she’s a fucking bitch, but she’s an easy lay. “Why the hell not?”

  Yesterday, even two hours ago, I would have told her to go fuck herself, but now, there’s no reason to say no. I can go to the bathroom, get a quick nut, and be done. It’s not like I’ve got a chance with Julie anymore. I guess I never really did. I tip my chin to her and stand up. We make our way to the bathroom without saying a word. As soon as I close the door, she’s all over me.

  She tries to kiss me, but I turn my head. I don’t kiss anyone but Julie; haven’t since our first date. The only place her lips are allowed is on my cock. She knows the rules. All these bitches do. Brittany gets on her knees and starts to undo my pants. I look down at her, but all I can see is Julie and Matty kissing.

  My stomach starts to roll as soon as she grabs my dick. I pull away and run to the toilet to toss up all the whiskey I’ve drank over the last hour. I stand up and run my forearm across my mouth. I look over to Brittany, still on the floor smiling. “I can’t do this.”

  “Come back. I’ll make you feel better.”

  I shake my head in disgust and walk to the door. “This will never happen again.”

  I open it and step into the hallway. My pants are still undone, and my shit is hanging out. I’m working on my jeans when I hear someone clear their throat. I look up, and Julie is standing in front of me.

  “I wanted to explain,” she says in a whispered voice. I can tell she’s nervous, and her eyes look like she’s been crying. I start to walk to her, but stop when I hear the bathroom door open. I turn around to see Brittany walk out. She looks toward Julie and smiles.

  “Well, look who’s here; the baby momma come to ruin all the fun.” She looks toward me then back at Julie. “You can have him now. I’m finished,” she says then walks away.

  When I look back at Julie, her beautiful blue eyes are full of unshed tears. I want to comfort her, tell her nothing happened, but I know she won’t believe me. Even if she did, she would still be Matty’s, and I would still be alone.

  Julie takes a deep breath and pulls her body upright. “I came to tell you what you saw was a mistake. Matty was just trying to prove a point. He was trying to show me I was still in love with you, and he did. It doesn’t matter now though.”

  Her words send a shockwave through my body. “You love me?”

  She ignores my question. “There has never been, and never will be, anything but friendship between your brother and me.”

  I take a step forward, but she places her hand out to hold me back. “I don’t think you coming to my house every day is a good idea. You can still see Jenny, of course, but we need to work out some sort of schedule. I’ll talk to Mr. Friedman tomorrow and have him draft up a visitation agreement. Until it’s finished, just call when you want to see her. I’ll drop her off at Pop’s.”

  She turns to walk away, but I grab her. “Please, wait,” I beg. “Nothing happened. I couldn’t do it.”

  “Let me go, Jase. I think it’s time we really let each other go,” she whispers then pulls away and walks out of the bar.

  I’ve done it again. I’ve fucked up everything again.

  Chapter 11

  Julie

  It’s been over a month since I caught Jase with Brittany, and I’ve yet to get one good night’s sleep. I dream about them together every night. Last night was the worst though. He was having a threesome. He, Brittany, and Becca were all going at it on the desk at Pop’s shop. When I walked in, Becca looked up and asked me to join them. Thank God, I woke up after that.

  I’m still lying in the bed when I feel a rumble in my stomach. Oh no. I jump out of bed and run to the bathroom. This is the second day in a row I’ve woken up sick. I spend the next ten minutes with my head hung over the toilet. I clean myself up and make my way downstairs to the kitchen. I start to open the fridge, but I freeze when I look at the magnetic calendar stuck to the front of it.

  It hits me in an instant. I run the dates three times before the first tears fall down my cheek. Oh my God, I’m late. This can’t be happening. I run back upstairs to Bethany’s room and barge in without knocking.

  “Bethany, you need to wake up, now,” I say as I shake her.

  “What?” she says sleepily.

  “You need to go out for me. Please! I think I’m pregnant, and I don’t want anyone seeing me buying a pregnancy test,” I blurt out, too scared to even think about what I’m saying.

  With that, Bethany hops out of bed and rushes to get dressed. She turns around to face me, looking panicked. “When did you
sleep with Jase?”

  Shit! She didn’t even have to ask. She just knew it had to be Jase’s. “The night during the welcome home party at Pop’s garage,” I say with my head hung down in shame.

  Bethany comes over to me and wraps me in a hug. “It’s okay. We’ll figure this out. I’ll be back as soon I can.” She lets me go and quickly runs out the door.

  I’m pacing in Bethany’s bedroom when I hear her come back. I look at the clock and notice she was only gone for twenty minutes. She must have sped through town because I know it takes longer than that to get to the store and back. She charges in the room and throws me the bag. I look inside, and there are about five different brands of tests.

  “I didn’t know which one was the best, so I got all of them,” she explains.

  I clench the bag in my hand and rush to the bathroom. One after the other, I take the pregnancy tests. I sit them all on the bathroom counter and go back out to Bethany. We sit side by side on the bed.

  “Five minutes,” I say as I look at the clock.

  She doesn’t respond, just takes my hand in hers and gives it a squeeze. We don’t say a word as we watch the minutes tick by. It feels like we’re waiting for an eternity before it’s time to check the tests. “I can’t look. Will you do it for me?”

  “Yeah,” she replies with another squeeze of my hand.

  Bethany gets up off the bed and goes to see what the results are. She’s only gone for a few seconds before she comes back with a sad smile on her face. “They’re positive, Jules.”

  No, this cannot be happening again. I feel the tears start again. “What am I going to do?”

  “You and Jase will figure it out. You are you going to tell him, aren’t you?” Bethany asks hesitantly.

  “No. Yes. Maybe? I don’t know.”

  “You need to tell him. Jase didn’t get to be a part of Jenny’s life, but he deserves to be a part of this one,” she says with determination.

  “He hasn’t changed, Bethany. He’s still the same bastard he was nine years ago.”

  “Maybe not. He might not deserve to be with you, but he does deserve to know about this child. I agree that Jase is a crappy boyfriend, but he’s a great father to Jenny. No one can deny that.”

  I think about what Bethany says and nod my head in agreement. She’s right that I have to tell him, but I’m not going to do it right now. “Just give me a little time.”

  Jase

  I picked Jenny up from Julie’s today. I was hoping to talk to her first, but she wouldn’t even look at me. I don’t blame her. When Matty told me what really happened, I wanted to kick my own ass. If I’d stayed out of the bar, Julie and I would be together again. I can still see her face when Brittany walked out of the bathroom. I don’t know how I could have fucked up more.

  I brought Jenny to the lake today. She told me she’s been in swimming lessons since she was four, but has never swum in anything except for a pool before. It’s getting a little late in the year to swim, but it’s a warm day, so I figured we’d give it a try.

  I watch her as she dunks her head under the water for the fiftieth time. Coming up, she blows out a long stream of water and smiles. “Did you see that, Daddy? I’m just like a dolphin.”

  I laugh and motion for her to come to me. “You sure are, but now it’s time to be a little girl again. Let’s get out and dry off. It’s time to go get something to eat.”

  “I want pizza,” she shouts as she follows me to the shore.

  “Pizza it is then.”

  I’m just pulling the shirt over my head when I hear a car pull up. I look over and see Brittany climbing out of her car. Shit!

  I reach down and grab our towels from the ground then take hold of Jenny’s hand. “Let’s go get our pizza.”

  Brittany steps in front of us, blocking me from my quick escape. “Hey there, handsome. Fancy seeing you here.”

  “Daddy, who is that?” Jenny says, eyeing Brittany with distaste.

  “Hey there. I’m Daddy’s special friend.”

  Jenny looks at me with a frown. “Daddy, can she not be your friend anymore? I don’t like her. She wears too much makeup. It makes her look like a scary clown.”

  I chuckle, eyeing Brittany. “She’s not Daddy’s friend, baby. She’s just some annoying person that won’t leave me alone.”

  Jenny breathes out a sigh of relief. “Oh, good. Can we go now? I’m really wanting my pizza.”

  “You heard the girl, Brittany. We gotta get pizza.”

  She huffs. “I was wondering if you wanted to get together tonight?” she asks, touching my arm.

  “Don’t touch my Daddy,” Jenny screams at her.

  Brittany instantly drops her hand away. “I can see she’s going to be a problem. Are you going to let her talk to me that way?”

  “Are you serious right now?”

  She nods like a fucking bobble head, shooting Jenny a glare. “This is my daughter. She can speak to you however she wants. If you don’t back off, I’ll let her bite your ankles.”

  Jenny giggles before letting out a little bark and snapping her teeth. “I have sharp teeth.”

  “Fine. You’ll regret this, Jase. Don’t come crawling back to me when your so-called family up and leaves you again,” she says as she saunters off.

  Jenny and I stand there, watching her walk to her car. As soon as she pulls away, I lead Jenny to the truck. I’m buckling her in when she says, “Daddy, why would you ever be friends with someone like her?”

  I run my hand over my face. “I don’t know, baby. I was stupid.”

  “Yeah, I know you were. You made Momma mad. That’s never smart.” She pauses then looks back up. “So, Daddy, how are you going to get Momma to not be mad at you? I want to be a real family, where we all live together.”

  “Oh, baby, I don’t know. I really messed up.”

  “How did you mess up?”

  Shit. How do I explain this to an eight-year-old little girl? “I, um, kissed another girl when I was with your momma before.”

  Jenny narrows her eyes. “Well, I’m glad she left you then. I would have too.”

  My heart feels like it’s being crushed right now. “I’m sorry, Sweet Pea.”

  “Tell Momma you’re sorry. That always works for me, but, Daddy, if you kiss anymore girls that aren’t Momma, I’ll bite your ankles,” she says with a smile.

  Chapter 12

  Julie

  I walk out of the bathroom and notice Becca eyeing me again. I swear she spends more time staring at me than she does working. Ignoring her, I grab a package of crackers out of my purse. I take a bite as I walk past her and make my way to my office. Slumping into my chair, I lay my head on the desk for a minute, but the feeling doesn’t pass.

  Suddenly, the smell of Mr. Friedman’s catfish lunch hits me. My stomach starts to roll, and I know what’s coming. I sprint to the bathroom, barely making it before I lose what little I have in my stomach. God, will this never end? I was hardly ever sick when I was pregnant with Jenny, but I’m sick all the time now. I hope this passes soon. If not, everyone will know I’m pregnant. Climbing from the floor, I flush the toilet and go to wash my face.

  Becca is standing in front of the sink. She gives me a hesitant smile. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I say as I walk past her to throw water on my face.

  “When are you due?”

  I freeze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just have a virus or something.”

  She laughs. “Yeah, the kind that lasts for nine months.”

  Shit! If Becca knows, it will be all over town in a matter of minutes. “I’m not pregnant.”

  She tilts her head to the side and gives me a look that clearly says I’m full of shit. “Does Jase know he’s going to be a daddy again?”

  “No, he doesn’t,” I say, giving up on my lie. “I’m gonna tell him tonight.”

  At least I am now that I don’t have a choice.

  “That’s good. He d
eserves to know. He really is a good man.”

  Hearing her defend Jase pisses me off. “Yeah, I guess you’re a good woman too.”

  “I was hoping we could talk about that, about what happened.” she says timidly.

  “What could you possibly have to say to me? ‘I had sex with your boyfriend, and I liked it? Oh, and I have been chasing after him ever since you left.’ Hell, even now, I hear you and that bitch, Brittany, have been after him still.”

  Becca puts her head down. “It wasn’t supposed to happen. I was going through…” She stops for a second and shakes her head. “He’d just lost his mom. We were drunk, and it just happened. I’m sorry,” she says, and a tear runs down her face.

  “Okay, so that’s the one time. What about all the others? You two apparently cheated a few more times behind my back. What about then?”

  “There’s something I need to tell you about that, but first, I need you to understand how sorry I am. I didn’t really mean for it to go that far.” She pauses and takes a deep breath. “That day you caught us, I was hoping you would. I planned the whole thing. You told me you were surprising him at work for his birthday, so I thought I’d get there first, so you could finally see.”

  “I’m not listening to anymore of this,” I say and try to walk around her.

  “Please. You were my best friend.”

  Her words push me over the edge. I have to get out of here before I lose what little control I have. “Best friend?” I shake my head at her. “You were never my friend, Becca.”

  I don’t give her a chance to respond. I walk out of the bathroom to get back to work.

  Jase

  I’m walking into Friedman Law offices to sign the visitation paperwork. I can’t believe it’s come to this. I wanted to work this shit out between us. I’ve tried to call Julie a hundred times, but she won’t even answer the damn phone. I figured she’d soften up after a few days, but it’s getting worse. I even have to text her when I want to see Jenny.