𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝙴𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑

Ten

Jess

"What the-what's going on here, Jess?" He was a volcano ready to erupt, only holding himself back because there was a child present. There was something funny about that, the way he censored his language for the sake of his child.

I knew the recognition in his eyes the minute he made the connection. They were the spitting image of each other-he'd be blind not to see it. Still, I was blonde. I could've easily said the blue eyes came from somebody else in my family. He didn't need to know.

He knew, and he wouldn't take any excuses. I knew it before I even spoke a word to him.

"It's very late, and I think we should talk about this in the morning..."

"Like hell." His voice was a snarl. I glared at him, jerking my head in David's direction. It didn't do much to calm him, though.

A moment I'd dreaded for years had finally come to pass. Grayson stood in front of us, muscles jumping in his clenched jaw. I was afraid he'd put his fist through a wall if he didn't get answers soon.

"Hey, sweetheart." I looked at David. He managed to pull his eyes away from his father's to look at me. "I think you should go to your room. It's late. You need your sleep."

"Who is this man, Mama? Is he the one who was here before?" He trembled, and his voice quivered. I glanced at Grayson from the corner of my eye. He visibly relaxed, and the tension in the room dissipated just slightly. Enough for me to smile at David with real reassurance.

"No, sweetheart. He's not the one who came in-he's the one who made the man leave, actually. He protected us from getting hurt." I looked at Grayson, cuing him to be cool. David needed to see him as a hero, not as someone to fear.

"Thank you," David said. His voice was a shy little whisper. My heart clenched. My boy was talking to his daddy. Emotion swept over me.

"You're welcome," Grayson muttered. I kissed David's cheek, putting him down before patting his bottom and directed him to his room.

"Now get to bed. I'll see you in the morning, baby." He went to his room slowly, looking at us the entire time. He wasn't a stupid kid, at all. He knew something was up. I waited until the door was closed before I turned to Grayson. He turned to me at the same time.

"What the fuck?" he whispered, teeth clenched, veins popping out on his neck.

"Get in here." I took him by the arm, pulling him down the hall to my room and closing the door behind us. It was time to have it out. I didn't want him to know-God, I dreaded telling him-but there was no way around it.

"What's this all about? Tell me you weren't fucking some other guy while we were together, Jess."

My eyes widened. That was what he thought? That I'd left him for another man? I almost laughed, it was so ludicrous. He didn't know he was the only man I'd ever been with in my entire life. No other man compared to him.

For a second, though, it was a pretty good option. I could tell him I'd been with another man all along. David wasn't his. No, that would never work-I was a terrible liar, for one. For another, he would demand to know who it was. I couldn't make up a phantom man who'd moved to Canada.

I sighed. It was pointless. "No, Grayson. I wasn't sleeping with anybody else while we were together. I was never unfaithful to you. I can at least say that much."

"What, you're saying I was unfaithful to you? Is that what you're trying to say?"

"No, I didn't say it-although, now that you mention it, don't try to tell me some of the whores who ran around the clubhouse weren't throwing themselves at you night and day."