The Bad Things (Book 5)

Chapter 11. Jealous

            Hayden avoided me for a week. I figured it had to do with what we talked about. Hayden walked through a lot of his past that night just to share it with me, and I think he knew I didn't look at him the same. When I looked at him now, he struck me as somehow stronger and more impressive than before. I tried to call him and go to his place, but most of the time, he ignored me or wasn't home.

"Hey, Christy. I'm sorry for being late. Traffic was bad, and I had to stop at the courthouse before work," I said.

"No problem. What were you at the courthouse for?" Christy wondered.

Christy took Hayden's spot on the night shift at the coffee shop. We got along really well, and she didn't know about Hayden. Christy was from Texas and didn't know what happened with Hayden's family. She knew I had a boyfriend named Hayden, but she hadn't even seen him.

"I changed my last name," I said.

"Oh. What's wrong with Vasquez?" Christy tilted her head confused.

"Well, it's my married name, or it was. My husband and I went separate ways, and he died shortly after."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Stormy's dad?"

"Yes," I said. "She misses him, but she's doing better than she was when he first passed away."

"That's good."

We went about our night. There wasn't much to do. It was a slow night. We went out of our way to do extra things we wouldn't usually do just, so we had something to do.

I sat on the counter and smiled like an idiot—a memory of Hayden picking me up and putting me on the counter to kiss me flashed in my head.

"Are you thinking about me, bebé?" A husky voice asked.

I gasped and jumped off the counter. I turned to see Hayden. Not just Hayden. Stormy sat on Hayden's shoulders with a wide smile. Hayden had ahold of her hands to keep her balanced.

"Hi, Mommy," Stormy said and giggled at the shock on my face.

"What are you—" I stopped and scoffed. "Why do you have my daughter?"

"She was dying to see me, just like you," he teased.

"Hayden," I said sternly and placed my hands on my hips.

"What?" he laughed. His face grew more serious, and he sighed. "I'm telling the truth. The sitter called your mother, and your mother called Sean, and Sean called me. Sean said that she wouldn't stop crying, and when I got there, her eyes were all red and puffy. I couldn't just leave her there. I thought I would take you both out to dinner."

"I'm working," I said and rolled my eyes.

"Oh? Is that what you were doing? It kind of looked like you were daydreaming," he said and smirked. "I think I know why. That's a dirty thing to think about while working, bebé."

"Hayden," I groaned and facepalmed. "You do realize that you have ignored me for a week."

"Well, not intentionally," he grimaced. "We'll talk about it, okay? I'm sorry."

Curiosity bubbled up inside of me. "What?"

"Mommy, I want food," Stormy demanded. "And I want to stay with Hayden."

I tilted my head and gave my daughter a challenging look. My gaze fell to Hayden.

Hayden put his hands up as if in surrender, and Stormy kept her hands on his neck to keep her balance. Stormy swayed slightly. Hayden grabbed her arms instantly and pointed one of his fingers at me. "You do realize this is your fault. She got all that sassiness from you. Don't blame me for this," Hayden said.