Chapter Twenty-Seven

Denise

“What is that?” I ask, opening one eye as I hear a distinct noise.

I feel Zack at my back, and he rises beside me. “Is that knocking?”

“I think it is,” Zack says, getting out of bed and putting on a shirt. “I wonder what it is now,” he says, walking out of the door.

Michael comes into the room, jumping into bed with me followed by Jack. “Auntie Denise, you snore,” Michael says, laughing. I look over at the two boys lying next to me on Zack’s side.

“It could have been Zack,” I tell them, and they both shake their heads. Zack comes into the room with a smile on his face.

“So my parents are here,” he says, and my heart stops, but Jack gets up and yells.

“Grandma and Grandpa.” Jack jumps off the bed and looks over at Michael. “Come see my grandpa.” Michael follows him as they run out of the room.

“Oh my god,” I say, throwing the cover off me. “Your parents are downstairs?” I run around the room, trying to pick up all the clothes piled on the floor. “I need you to take all my clothes and put them in the spare room.”

“What?” He laughs. “Why?”

“So they don’t think we slept together with Jack in the same house.”

“Baby,” he says, coming to me and grabbing the clothes in my hands. “Your stuff is going to stay here in my room, where you are going to be sleeping when you are over.” He kisses my neck. “Breathe.”

“How long have we been up here?” I ask him. “Go downstairs or they will think we are getting busy up here.”

“Baby,” he says, laughing.

“Zack, turn around and go downstairs.”

He puts up his hands. “Fine, I’ll go make you coffee.”

“Shit,” I say. “I don’t want to go downstairs by myself.” I look down at myself. “I’m good.”

“Relax, you already met my mother,” he tells me when we walk down the stairs, and I smell the coffee already started. We walk into the kitchen, and Shirley spots me right away.

“Denise,” she says, wiping her hands and coming over to me, pulling me into a hug. “So happy to see you again.”

“Grandma is making waffles,” Jack says, and I spot Zack’s dad standing back at the sink, not sure of coming forward.

“Denise,” Shirley says, “this is Arnold.” I walk to him, putting my hand out, and he shakes it.

“Pleasure to meet you,” I say with a smile, and he just nods at me. I turn and spot Zack, who holds a coffee mug out for me. “Thank you.”

“What do you want me to do?” I turn, asking Shirley who just shoos me away. “We can set the table,” I say, putting my mug down and grabbing the plates. I turn and walk back into the kitchen, and the voices are hush.

“I’m not cold.” I hear Arnold say. “I don’t know her.” Shirley stands in front of him, putting her hand on her hip while Zack sits on one of the stools.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just need some fruit,” I tell them, not making eye contact. “Jack likes to slice up his bananas in the morning and put a blueberry in the middle.” I walk to the counter and grab the fruit, but I’m stopped by Zack, who puts his hand around my shoulder. He pulls me to him and kisses me on the lips.

“I love you,” he whispers beside my ear, and I just nod at him.

“So why the sudden visit?” Zack looks at his parents, and his father’s eyebrow goes up.

“Are you kidding me?” Shirley shrieks. “After the whole web blew up.”

“Mom, since when are you on ZMT?” he asks.

“Your father has that alert thing on his phone, and when there is something with your name, it beeps him.” She turns to Arnold. “I can’t say anything in front of Jack, but that woman,” she says, shaking her head. “That fucking,” she says, lowering her voice, “bitch.”

We all laugh at her, and the fact she is swearing. “And to drag Denise in this is despicable.”

“It’s okay, Mom,” Zack says. “The good news is that because of that NDA that Dad threw in the prenup, she just lost everything that she wanted.”

“Really?” Arnold says. “You didn’t talk to me for a month for that.”

“You owe him,” I tell him, pushing his shoulder.

“Did you guys see the news this morning?” Arnold asks, and I literally hold my breath.

He shakes his head, laughing. “Gotta say it was funny seeing the picture of Chantal with no makeup.”

“Oh my god,” I say under my breath and grab the phone on the counter in front of Zack. Going online to ZMT.

“Zack Morrow’s soon-to-be ex Chantal Morrow is sent to the curb by her latest boyfriend, who is none other than Colton Woods.”

“Holy shit,” I say, showing him the tagline. The picture shows Chantal at the curb trying to flag down a cab, mascara streaks staining her cheeks. I read the article where it says they have been together for over a year; it also mentioned she hasn’t seen Jack since Zack found out and dumped her.

“Well, you know what they say,” Shirley says. “Karma is a bitch.”

I snicker, going back and checking to see if there is anything about me or Zack. “The original story got taken down,” Arnold says.

“Thank god,” Zack says, looking at me.

“Let’s sit and eat,” Shirley says, grabbing the plate of waffles and calling the boys.

We sit down and eat breakfast. I slice bananas for both Jack and Michael, and the two of them eat and rush out to wash their hands so they can play mini sticks.

“Be careful,” I say to them, and they both yell back.

“What time is check-in?” Shirley asks Arnold, and I look at them.

“Four,” he says.

“Check-in where?” I ask them, and Arnold looks at me.

“We booked the Marriott next to the arena.”

“What?” I ask, shocked. “Why would you do that? Zack has a spare bedroom upstairs.”

“Well,” he says, leaning forward. “We,” he says and then corrects himself when Shirley crosses her arms over her chest. “I didn’t know if we would be welcomed.”

“What?” Zack says, and I laugh.

“You’re his parents; of course, you’re welcome,” I say, laughing. “Oh my god.” I stop laughing. “Did you think that I would not be okay with it?”

He looks down and then looks up at me, and I don’t stop. “I’m so sorry that you thought that. I’m very, very close with my family, well, my tribe, I’m close with my tribe, so know that if Zack wasn’t the family person he is, I don’t think I would have fallen in love with him.”

“See,” Shirley says, “told you.”

“Now, if it makes you more comfortable,” I say, “I’ll stay at my place till you guys leave.”

“What?” Arnold and Zack say.

“If my staying here makes you uncomfortable, I will stay at my place.” I smile at him, then look at Zack. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay,” he says, throwing his napkin on the table. I put my hand on his knee.

“It’s not forever,” I tell him. “Besides, you snore.” I try to make light of the situation, but the stinging in my eyes hurts. “I’m going to go check on the boys. They are too quiet,” I say, getting up. I walk out of the room before I make a fool of myself and find the boys in the middle of the battle. “So who is winning?” I ask them, getting down on my knees. “How about we play two on one?” I say, grabbing a stick. Michael goes to Jack’s side, and they give each other high-fives.

They put the foam puck on the floor and are about to take a shot when Arnold comes into the room to watch. I try to pretend he isn’t here, but it’s easier said than done, and the little punks score off me. I point my stick at them. “I was going easy on you.” I laugh, and so do they, and I finally score a goal. I’m so excited I get up and dance a little.

“I need water,” I tell them and go to the kitchen, and I turn and see Arnold there.

“I think I owe you an apology.” He puts his hands in his pockets. “I came in here, and I didn’t give you the benefit of the doubt.”

“I—” I start to talk, but he puts his hand up.

“No,” he says, “all you’ve done since I came in was try to make sure that I knew it was okay to be here, and all I did was wait for the other shoe to drop.”

“I’m not Chantal,” I tell him, and he laughs.

“Oh, honey, I know you’re not. No way would she have sat there and cut a banana for Jack or ate the waffle with syrup, for that matter.” I smile now. “No way would she have gotten down on her knees and played mini sticks with two little boys.”

“I like doing all that,” I tell him.

“My son is finally smiling,” he starts. “He finally found someone who will stand by his side through thick and thin and not cower.”

“Every step that he will let me,” I tell him.

“That, sweetheart, is another reason I need to apologize to you.”

“Forgiven,” I tell him, looking down, and then Zack comes in and just looks at his father and then me. He comes over, standing next to me almost like he’s telling him that he’s on my side.

“You okay?” Zack asks me, and I just put my arm around his waist.

“Yeah, we were just talking about who is going to win tonight,” I tell him, smiling. “I, of course, said you, and your father agreed.”

We spend the rest of the day lounging on the couch till Zack gets up from the couch and puts his hand out for me. “Come with me,” he says, and I just smile, taking his hand as he walks upstairs to his bedroom.

I close the bedroom door and walk to the bed that I came up and made while he spoke with his father and mother. “Are you sure you want to come tonight?” he asks me.

“Do you not want me to come?” I ask him as he pushes me onto my back on the bed.

“Don’t ask stupid questions. It’s just that the press will probably be there”—he kisses my neck—“and I just don’t want you to be”—he kisses the other side of my neck—“on edge.”

“I was thinking”—I say, kissing his neck now while I talk—“that Jack and I”—I kiss his other side of his neck—“could wear matching Morrow shirts.”

“What?” he whispers, and I wrap my legs around his hips as I thrust my hips up. “You’ll wear my jersey?”

“Yeah,” I whisper as he rubs his covered cock up and down my pussy. “Do you want to maybe take a shower with me?”

I close my eyes. “We can’t do this. Your parents are downstairs.”

“Yes, but they are watching a movie,” he says into my neck. “It’ll just take five minutes.”

“Wow,” I say, laughing. “A whole five minutes.”

He laughs and then moves off me, pulling me off the bed and going to the bathroom where he has his way with me.

Michael, Jack, and I hold hands when we walk into the arena three hours later. Michael wears a Horton jersey, and Jack and I along with his parents all wear Morrow jerseys.

“I’m going to take the boys down to the glass so they can see the guys warm up.” I look over at Zack’s parents, who just look at me with a smile.

We walk into the arena and down the steps, and I try not to look around too much. We get to the glass, and the boys start knocking at the players. Phil comes over and gives them a high-five through the glass as a couple of them come over, and they are all trying to give them high-fives. Then Matthew comes over with Max and Zack. I smile at them, and then Max knocks on the window. “What shirt are you wearing?” he yells, and Matthew puts his hand on his stomach, throwing his head back and laughing.

“Changing shirts,” Matthew says, laughing. “You know what that means, right? It means they are having sex,” Matthew taunts him.

“Shut up.” Max points at him, then turns to me. “Go change your shirt.”

“Not a chance in hell,” Zack says, winking at me. “See you later,” he says, and then the three of them skate off, and I go to the boys who walked off to the side. We walk up the stairs and start to walk out when Jack sees Chantal. His hand tightens on me. She doesn’t even pay attention to him. Instead, she only spots me, not even noticing that her son is beside me.

“There she is, the home wrecker,” she says, her voice getting louder as people look around at us. “You think you could come up and take my man away from me?”

I push the kids behind me to shield them from her and her venom but don’t have to because Shirley pushes herself between us. “You have some nerve,” she says, her voice now going from low to high. “Coming here and doing this whole woman scorned when you cheated on my son.”

She rolls her eyes. “So dramatic,” she says, and now I step forward.

“I’m not doing this with you here. I’m not doing this with you ever.” I advance on her, and she suddenly steps back. “Because you see, I have something that you don’t have nor can you buy. I have class.”

She folds her arms over her chest. “Please. You smell like trailer park trash.”

I throw my head back and laugh. “That’s the best you’ve got?” I forward on her. “You’re a sad excuse for a woman. You are so filled with chemicals, you can’t see that you had the whole world in your hand, and instead of holding it and cherishing it, you decided to go for second best.” I shake my head. “I should thank you.”

“He isn’t that great,” she says to me.

“You’re right; he isn’t that great. He’s even better,” I say and then turn around to Shirley. “Take Jack to the lodge. I don’t want her to see him,” I whisper to her, and she just nods her head and turns, taking Michael and Jack. I then turn back to her. “You not only gave away the best man I’ve ever met, but you also gave away the sweetest, most loving, and strongest little boy I’ve ever met.”

“We’ll see about that,” she says, standing her ground.

“Yeah, what you’ll see is me standing by my man while I hold his son’s hand,” I tell her, “with a big smile on my face.”

“Bitch,” she says.

I laugh. “I’ve been called worse. Enjoy the game,” I tell her, walking away with my head high and my man’s shirt on my back.