Overtime Read online

  The girl she was before Jordie broke her would have pestered him for the info. But now, it scared her. She knew that she would crumble for him and allow him to wiggle his way back into her life. He would say everything she wanted to hear, get in her good graces, and when she finally thought they were good, marriage and happiness in sight, he’d remind her he only wanted a fuck buddy. That was Jordie. Great man, but allergic to the full spectrum of a human relationship with the opposite sex.

  It was honestly so unfair, but that was him. He almost made her feel weak, and she knew that wasn’t something she could allow to describe her. She was a strong-willed girl, but Jordie was her kryptonite. But maybe if she went in eyes wide open, she’d be fine. She would be able to keep her heart on lock. She had done so well working with him. Mainly, she ignored him and flirted with Liam to reiterate that she was happy without him. Which was all a lie, but he didn’t know that. No one did; they all thought she was pleased as a peach, when really, she was a rotten, hole-filled apple, worms eating away at her soul because she didn’t have Jordie.

  Why did she want him so badly? What was this hold he had on her? And most of all, what would it take to get rid of her feelings for him? Was it because she hadn’t really been with anyone but him? He had been only her third lover, and honestly, he blew the other two guys out of the water. When they were together, sparks just flew in the bedroom. They fit perfectly and that lingered in her heart. The feeling of his body against hers, the way he would look in her eyes… It was all-consuming and she missed it.

  But his rejection still stung.

  It stung so fucking badly.

  She wasn’t sure she could get past that.

  She didn’t know how to. Maybe she did need the closure that Lacey had spoken of. Maybe she did need to talk to him. But could she trust her heart to know his lies? She had no clue and that scared her more than seeing the blood in her panties only three days after finding out she was pregnant. And that not only scared her, it hurt, which was something Jordie continually inflicted on her. She’d be stupid to fall into his bed of lies, but her heart was slow to realize that.

  One thing was for sure, he needed to stay clothed and stop playing with her head. He didn’t want the things she wanted, so why say little things like that? He was obviously jealous of Liam. He wouldn’t even talk to the guy and never had a kind look on his face when Liam was in the room. And that made no sense. Why would he be jealous when he’d had her and had thrown her away? It was all a clusterfuck of fucking crazy, and she knew what she had to do.

  She had to talk to him.

  Really talk to him. Not the snide, angry comments and the roll of her eyes. She needed to give him the chance to speak to her the way he’d been asking to. Then she could let him go. Move out and live her life. Maybe then they could live as civilized people. Or they’d rip each other’s clothes off and she’d feel like shit afterward. Closing her eyes, she let her head fall forward as she shook it. She didn’t know what; she just needed something to change. She felt like she was constantly drowning in the tension and that had to end. It had to. First things first, she needed to get through this visit with her parents. Maybe something would spark with Liam while she watched him interact with her parents?

  One could hope.

  After blow-drying her hair, she headed toward the kitchen to help Lacey with food preparations. Her parents should be getting there soon and so should Liam. Kacey wanted to make sure everything was almost done so that Lacey could enjoy time with her in-laws and she could force some feelings for Liam.

  So pathetic.

  As she entered the kitchen, she saw Jordie go out the back door and her brow rose.

  “Where is he going?” she asked before she could stop herself. He wasn’t her responsibility. It shouldn’t matter where he was going.

  But it did.

  Lacey looked over at her from where she was cutting up apples, a little smile pulling at her lips. “He’s going to church with the Adlers, and then they are gonna do lunch and stuff. Welcoming him home.”

  “Church?” she asked, her face scrunched up. “Like the holy house? Real church?”

  Lacey nodded. “Yeah, he’s been going for a while now.”

  What? Jordie hated church. “Really?”

  Lacey smiled. “Really.”

  “That’s weird.”

  “I think it’s nice.”

  Kacey rolled her eyes; she hated how big a fan Lacey was of Jordie. Even after everything he did to Kacey. Yeah, Lacey didn’t know about a lot of it, but still. It was kind of shitty. She was Kacey’s sister-in-law, best friend, and shit. Shouldn’t she hate him like Kacey tried to?

  Pissy, she slammed down in her chair. “But Ma and Dad are coming in.” She pouted because he always claimed her parents as his. Shouldn’t he want to be here to see them? When Lacey raised a brow, Kacey shrugged. “What? I’m just saying.”

  “You’re pouting. And why? I thought he didn’t matter?”

  “He doesn’t,” she muttered, rolling her eyes again and then looking to see what she could do. There were bags of food everywhere and a list of everything Lacey was making.

  “Sure, he doesn’t, but your parents are coming last minute, and he’s had these plans with them for a while. Elli even invited all of us, but we already had company. He’s gonna skip dinner to eat with us.”

  “Whatever,” she muttered as she started to make a salad. “He isn’t any concern of mine.”

  “Of course not,” Lacey shot back, her knowing green eyes locking with Kacey’s. That was until her phone went off. Glaring at her phone, she picked it up and shook her head, a disgruntled look on her face.

  “Everything okay?”

  “No, Rachel is pissing me the hell off!” she snapped, speaking of her sister-in-law who lived back in Chicago and ran her store there. She frowned as she typed back violently.

  “Just fire her!” Karson called from the other room. Kacey looked back and hadn’t even realized he was lying there with Mena Jane on his chest. She quickly worried that he’d heard her speaking of Jordie, but he would have said something if he had, so she smiled as his face filled with annoyance. “She’s a bitch.”

  “I agree with him,” Kacey said, hooking her thumb toward him. Rachel had done nothing good for Lacey since she married Karson. The chick was hard-set on ruining Lacey’s marriage and even plotted with Lacey’s estranged dad. Lacey needed to add Rachel to the list of people she didn’t talk to anymore, because the chick was a huge bitch. Always so damn demanding and acting entitled to anything that Lacey had.

  It was really annoying.

  Lacey let out a long breath, letting her hands fall against the island. “She’s pissed ’cause I won’t bring Mena up to Chicago. But I just feel like that’s such a big trip for a little bit like her. Also, I know she is setting me up so that my dad can see Mena. I don’t want to see him, and I really don’t want him in Mena’s life. He doesn’t even love Karson, so how is he going to love Mena?”

  Kacey nodded. “True, but I mean, he is a grandpa, and we know my dad would kill anyone who tried to keep his grandbabies away from him. But you are her mommy and you know best,” she added when Lacey glared.

  “I haven’t talked to him in over a year.”

  Knowing when something wasn’t her business, Kacey nodded. “Then forget I said anything.”

  Her phone dinged again, causing Lacey to roll her eyes. “She’s such a bitch! She is calling me selfish now.”

  “Why doesn’t she come here?”

  “Because I won’t let my dad in the house. At least there, I’d go to her house and, oops, he’d just show up.”

  “What did Grady say?” Kacey asked, speaking of Lacey’s older brother.

  “He says he’s staying out of it, but he’d like to see Mena too. I said, y’all are more than welcome to come here, and he said he’d see what he could swing, but Rachel is fixed on me going there.”

  Kacey didn’t know what to say, but even before she