Nothing Like Us

chapter 31

"Justin..." Jacque's voice pulls me out of a deep sleep.

"Hey..." I roll over and squint up at her "What're you doing here?"

She looks hurt for a second so I quickly smooth it over, running my hand down her arm "I didn't mean it like that, I just didn't know you were coming."

I've purposely been "busy" the last few days while I try to figure things out.

"What happened to your back?" she asks with uneasy concern.

"Oh..." I hesitate and play with the ends of her hair to distract her "Nothing really...I was just..."

Her eyes narrow before I can finish as she pokes at the mark b left on my neck "and what the fuck is that?"

"Oww..." I wince, pushing her hand away "Damn Jacque. Alright..." I pull myself into a sitting position "So.. we kinda need to talk." I feel bad, but I can't say that I really care all that much. "You know how I'm flying my family in today?"

"Yeah..." she nods waiting for me to go on.

"I'm flying them in to meet my daughter." I say, getting right to the truth of it. What other way is there to go with this?

She squints and searches my face "What?"

"When I uhh..." I run my hand over my face "When I ran into b...bobbi...the other day. Well, it's complicated. It's a fucking mess really, but yeah...I have a little girl. Lyric." A smile breaks across my face as soon as I say her name "She's three months old and she's beautiful. She's perfect..."

Her mouth drops open as she stares in silence, and then finally she speaks "You're joking right?"

"No...look." I grab my phone off the night stand and pull up one of the pics I snapped of her "Isn't she pretty? Look at her eyes! They look like mine right? I mean, the color and all..."

I realize she looks shaken and dial it down "It's a lot...I mean, trust me...I know. But..." I can't help but steal another glance at Lyric's face on my phone's screen.

"I can't believe you're just now telling me this!" she snaps, inching away as she begins to cry.

I shake my head "Weren't you even listening? I just found out!"

"When? At lunch? I can't believe you! You just came back in, sat down, had fucking lunch with me and didn't say a word!"

"No..." I correct "I found out later that night when I went over to b's place."

"You went to her place?" she gasps angrily "That night?" she thinks for a moment "You said it was something at the studio!"

"Yeah..." I nod and then shrug "Well..."

She mirrors my shrug "That's all you have to say?"

"Chill the fuck out Jacque." I sigh "I do what I want and you do what you want, simple as that. That's how we do things, remember?"

"Yeah yeah I fucking get it...I've always gotten it. I'll never be your precious fucking b."

I don't bother to argue, which angers her even further "Still doesn't explain those marks on your back or that shit on your neck!"

Again, I remain silent. I'm not gonna lie...no reason to.

"Oh..." she nods "You fucked her didn't you? I can't believe you! No..." her tone softens "Actually I can, I know how much you love her...you never hid it well at all."

"Jac..." I take her hand, feeling genuinely bad that I've hurt her "I'm sorry, but there's so much there with her and me...so much history and that just doesn't go away. It just happened."