My hand is slamming the door closed in his face before he can utter another word. I throw my back against it and try to focus on getting air into my starving lungs.
Holy fuck.
Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me, and maybe I can convince myself of that a little while longer, until I start breathing properly again anyway.
But when I push my hands flat against the door and raise my eyes, they meet Seb’s. The look on his face says it all. He was really here. Is really here.
Oh my God.
I run my shaky hands through my hair, trying to think. Trying to slow my heart rate back to a healthy speed.
“Liv, is that who I think it is?” he rasps.
I can’t answer him, but I can’t ignore him either, so I just nod my head. Too afraid to meet his eyes again, I stare off toward the kitchen. Sudden banging on the door has me flinching as it reverberates through every part of my body.
“Liv! Open up,” Zeke yells.
Jesus. His voice. A voice I dreamed about for months on end. Including the cruel words he left me with before his abrupt exit from my life.
It’s really him.
Why is he here?
Seb’s in front of me before I even register his movement. He shifts me away from the door, leaving his hands protectively on my shoulders. I look up at his face. His eyes focus on me, but he clenches his jaw so tight I can almost hear his teeth grinding together.
“What do I do? Do you want him here?” he whispers harshly.
I shake my head, not able to get the words out yet.
More banging ensues as Zeke shouts from the other side of the door. “Come on, Liv, please! I’ll sit out here until you open the damn door.”
Fuck, he’s going to wake up Rose. Seb must realize the same thing as he glances at the door then at the hallway that leads to her room.
“Stay here,” he warns, his eyes pleading with me to do as he says. He removes his glasses and places them on the table. Then before I can protest, he opens the door, and I turn in time to see a startled Zeke step back as Seb closes the door behind him. I don’t know what to do. I can’t think, only feel, as everything around me starts to spin.
Then I hear Zeke growl, “Not fucking likely. And who the hell are you?”
Fuck.
I swing the door open to find them standing on the front porch. It suddenly registers why Seb took his glasses off, as he gets right up in Zeke’s face. Zeke’s eyes fall on me over Seb’s shoulder, and he tries to move around him.
“Liv, who the fuck is this guy? We need to talk—”
He’s cut off by Seb placing a hand on his chest and shoving him back toward the porch steps. “I said leave,” he growls.
I just stand there, stupidly frozen, even though I know this is going to get out of control quickly if I don’t snap out of it. Zeke steps forward and snarls at Seb. “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are.” He stabs a finger in my direction. “But that woman is mine. And that child inside that house is mine. So if you don’t move the fuck outta the way, you’re gonna regret it, asshole.”
My heart thuds painfully in my chest at Zeke’s words but I don’t get a chance to absorb them because Seb’s hands are shoving him back again. Then his fist is flying at his jaw before he’s even straightened up.
Zeke slowly rights himself, panting and holding his jaw for a beat.
“I tried to warn you, fucker.” A nasty smile takes hold of Zeke’s face as he prepares to strike back.
Shit. That has me thawing faster than a slushy in an oven.
“Enough!” I finally yell and run over to them.
Zeke pauses and looks over at me. Christ, I catch a glimpse of Mary out of the corner of my eye watching us through her front window from across the street. Great. Just great.
“Zeke, I don’t know what the hell you’re doing here … just showing up out of freaking nowhere. But you made your choice almost a year ago.” I take a breath and pinch the bridge of my nose to stop the tears I feel forming in their tracks. “Please, just …” I look up at him, and I mean really look at him for the first time since our roles were reversed and I was the one standing on his doorstep all those months ago. He looks different but the same. His hair is a bit shorter, his skin more tanned. The very same chiseled features and hazel eyes. He’s the same man who promised me that he’d love me forever, and the same man who threw that love in my face and left me on my own with our baby.
“Just leave,” I mutter.
I grab Seb’s hand and try to turn us back toward the front door. But he’s still standing like a pit bull ready to attack and doesn’t budge. Zeke eyes our connected hands, which—for some reason I can’t figure out—has me dropping Seb’s and moving back. Confusion and long buried hurt return to the surface. Zeke takes advantage of it, moving in once more.
“Sure. I’ll leave … for now. But I’m not going anywhere.” The way he steps back and sizes up Seb like he’s a predator standing in the way of his next meal and needs exterminating sends a chill up my spine.
I watch as Seb advances. “The fuck you won’t be. Don’t fucking come near her or that baby girl again. They aren’t yours; you made sure of that, dickhead. So why don’t you just stick to what you’re good at and kindly fuck the hell off.”
Zeke’s fist is flying before I can even blink. Blood sprays from Seb’s nose onto Zeke’s face. Then they’re down the steps and on the grass as Seb tackles him to the ground.
Holy fucking shit. Is this seriously happening right now?
“Stop!” I yell, for all the good it’ll do. I scrub my hands down my cheeks.
I’m not dumb enough to get between two grown men of that size in the middle of a wrestling match on my front lawn. Damn it, think Olive!
Seb’s fist connects with Zeke’s jaw again; I cringe in fear as Zeke then manages to roll Seb and gain the advantage. He’s pulling back his fist, about to send it flying, when Mary is suddenly in the front yard with my garden hose, spraying both men while she screeches, “That’s enough from the both of you.” She glares at Zeke. “Zeke Walters, you have an appointment with my knee. But right now, you should get the hell outta here before I call Sheriff Stark on your ass, you good for nothing scoundrel.”
Both men split apart as water sprays them. She’s mainly spraying Zeke, which almost makes me snicker. Mary, dressed in a bright emerald green smock dress and matching heels, keeps the hose pointed at Zeke while he stands with his hands raised in surrender.
“Okay,” he pants, wiping water from his face. “Shit, okay.” He looks over at where I’m still standing at the top of the steps before glancing at Seb, who’s now on his feet and glaring daggers at him.
“I meant what I said.” His eyes meet mine. “I don’t know who the fuck this guy is”—he jerks a finger at Seb—“or what the hell you’ve been doing while I’ve been gone. But we need to talk.” He smirks over at Seb, blood dripping from the cut on his lip. “So I’ll be seeing ya.” He flicks his eyes my way one more time before turning away and walking down my street. To where? I have no freaking idea. I’m stunned stupid, my heart racing at the same alarming rate as my thoughts.
He can’t be serious?
“Y’all okay, now?” Mary asks as she drags the hose back over to the side of my yard.
I try to swallow past the boulder forming in my throat and look over at Seb to find his eyes already on me.
He looks away, wiping underneath his nose. “Yeah, sorry about that, Mrs. Simmons.” He starts stalking toward the steps, stopping to stand beside me once he’s reached the porch.
“Nonsense. That was the most excitement I’ve seen in years. I’ve been waiting to give that boy a piece of my mind and just couldn’t resist.” She waves as she turns to go. “Now, don’t go letting him make a mess of your life again, dear Olive,” she waves her pointer finger at me, “I’ll let you both see to that bloody nose. Bub-bye.” Mary toddles off across the road into her front yard, her heels sinking into the grass with every couple of steps she takes.
I should’ve known that Mary’s neighborhood watch would one day come in handy. But she’s right about one thing. Zeke’s sudden reappearance is mind-boggling. I almost feel sick. What I once wished so hard for now makes me feel like I’ve suddenly landed in a bad dream. I don’t even want to think about the kind of damage he could inflict on everything I’ve rebuilt since he left. Most importantly, my relationship with the man standing beside me.
My heart hurts just looking into his confused eyes, so like a coward, I look away and take his hand.
“Come on, let’s ice that nose.”
He sighs but allows me to lead him through the door and closes it behind him.
I release his hand and head to the freezer, pulling out a tray of ice cubes. I dump some in a dish towel before rounding the counter to where he’s seated on the other side, staring at me like I might disappear.
“I got it.” He takes it from me, wincing a little when he places it on his nose.
“Do you think it’s broken?” I take a seat beside him. Uncertainty and worry drip from my quiet voice.
“I don’t think so.”
We sit in silence for a while as everything that just happened really starts to soak into our shocked brains. He removes the ice after a minute, pinning his eyes on me.
“Liv, that was … He’s …” He closes his eyes and exhales heavily. “Fuck.”
I nod. “I know.” I rub my forehead. “I have no idea what he’s doing here.” An unsettling thought occurs to me. “You … You don’t think I knew anything about him coming back, right?”
He places the ice back over his nose. “Of course not. But shit. What the hell does he think he’s doing? Showing up like this after what he did?” His voice grows angrier. “And what he fucking said …” He laughs humorlessly. “I’ve never felt my blood boil like that in my life.”
I stare down at my hands in my lap, trying to wrap my head around everything that’s happened in the past ten minutes—finding it hard to believe they even happened. Where do we go from here? Will he even stay?
“I don’t think he meant it. I mean he’s been gone for almost a year. Who knows if he’ll even hang around.” I try to shrug it off, knowing I’m only fooling myself. Zeke is steadfast in every choice he makes. The fact that he even came back is not only unexpected, it’s also laughable.
“Why?” Seb asks. I look up at him, not understanding. “Why, after all this time, is he showing up here at your door?”
“I honestly have no idea. I never expected to see him again.”
I feel the threat of tears looming and tilt my head back a little, trying to keep them at bay. Why, after everything that’s happened this past year, is this happening now? When I’m finally happy … when I’ve moved on? God, now that it’s starting to really sink in, I almost want to track him down and scream at him until my lungs give out.
“What are you going to do?”
Isn’t that the million-dollar question? What am I going to do?
I stay quiet for a moment, still looking at the ceiling. “I don’t know. It only just happened.” I sigh and meet his eyes. “But this doesn’t change anything between us. You know that, don’t you?” I hope he can hear the sincerity in my voice. That he can see the truth in my eyes. I meant it when I said I couldn’t lose him. Yes, a part of me is confused as hell over Zeke’s return—okay, maybe a huge part—but what he did can’t be erased. And neither can my feelings for this man sitting next to me.
“Seb?” I prompt hesitantly when he remains quiet.
He nods, sighing as he places the ice on the counter before rising from his seat.
“I know, it’s just …” He looks down at me, searching my eyes hesitantly. “It’s kinda scaring the fuck out of me.”
I stand and reach up to wrap my arms around his neck, brushing my lips gently against his as I talk. “We’ll figure it out. I love you.”
I feel his shoulders slump as he wraps an arm around my waist and brings the other to the side of my head, his thumb brushing underneath my eye where a tear escapes despite my attempts to thwart it.
“You’re mine, Liv. I won’t let him take you from me,” he whispers hoarsely.
“You have nothing to worry about.” My lips latch onto his, cementing my promise.