Chapter 21

 Chris

I don’t know whether to throw up or freak the fuck out and tear my house down. Never, in my wildest dreams, did I think the person standing in front of me when I opened the door would be her…

Shannon. My bitch of an ex-wife.

“Hey, sweet pea,” she says to me with a voice that lets me know she’s not sure she should be here. “How ya been?”

Sweet pea…

She always used to call me that. At first I didn’t like it. It’s just so Southern and corny and didn’t seem to fit me. But it grew on me, because it was her name for me. But now, hearing it come out of her lips, after everything that’s happened between us, makes me want to kill somebody.

I’m not a violent man – and I would never hurt a woman, but I wish I had a bunch of shit I could smash right now or something.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Shannon?” Just saying her name sets my lips on fire. I clench both fists at my side as my heart rate skyrockets. When she speaks, I can smell the booze on her breath.

“I left Brian,” she says, slightly slurring her words. It’s amazing she made it here in the car in this shape.

It hurts to see her again. She used to be so beautiful, but I can tell the years have taken a toll on her. It’s not her age – it’s something else. Maybe just the way she’s been living or the way she feels inside coming to the surface, but she doesn’t look like the girl I fell in love with way back when.

I don’t even know what to say. I never thought I’d see her again – or Brian. Just hearing her voice and his name starts to send my mind back to the old days and makes me shiver. I don’t like that place. It’s filled with bad memories of a man that I no longer feel like I am.

I’ve changed so much since Shannon – from the committed man to the playboy, to the man I now am and want to be for Janelle. Even if I wanted to get back with her, I am not the person she remembers anymore.

“And I care why?” I finally say, my voice filled with venom.

“Don’t you want to know why?” She asks me, pulling aimlessly on her twisted brown hair.

“No, Shannon. I don’t.”

“Because I still love you,” she tells me anyway. I saw that coming a mile away, but her words still claw at my ears.

“Shannon—” I start to say, but she steps right up to me and puts a hand on my chest. Her touch is like a shock to my system – something I never thought I’d feel again, and I recoil like I’ve been stung by a hornet.

“He’s half the man you are, Chris,” she wails, stepping closer to me. I back away into the house, but she follows me inside. “I thought I loved him. But I was wrong…I love…youuuu.”

“No, you don’t, Shannon,” I say, trying to keep my anger from taking over. “You never loved me. You used me. You lied to me. You tried to steal from me—”

“Only because I loved you!”

“That makes no fucking sense, Shannon.”

“I know,” she says, looking at the ground as she moves closer to me. “Nothing makes sense…Brian doesn’t make sense…life doesn’t make sense…”

This is unbelievable. Dealing with sad drunk girls is enough of a pain in the ass without it having to be your ex-wife who cheated on you with your best friend and lied to you about being pregnant with your child.

I have to get her out of here. But Shannon’s the kind of girl who reacts – overreacts when you try to control her in any way. If I try to get her to leave, she might just throw a fit. I wouldn’t put it past her to call the cops and tell her I hit her or something.

Of course, they wouldn’t believe her. The boys around here all know me, what kind of guy I am, and have even come to some of the parties when they were off duty. They know about Shannon and our history, so it’s not like I’d end up in jail or anything, but it’s just more headache that I’d like to avoid.

So then what do I do!?

I guess I could be the one to call the cops, but again, it seems like a big headache. But the way she’s acting now – it doesn’t seem like I’m going to be able to get her to go quietly. Come to think of it, I don’t even know where she lives right now. But that’s not my problem. The cops could deal with that.

Fuck it, I give in. Call them.

I reach for my phone, but Shannon lunges forward and grabs my wrist. She presses her body against mine and looks up at me with total fuck-me eyes.

“Just be with me again, Chris,” she whispers. “Just beeee with me. Even if it’s just one more time. I know – I know I fucked things up with you and you probably hate me…but I need you…”

Her hand slides down my stomach and tightens around my cock. I try to pull away, but she slides her other hand around my waist and clings to me.

“Just beee with me, Chris!” She’s pleading with me and it disgusts me. The bitch that broke my heart and made my life a living Hell is asking me to fuck her again. She doesn’t even have the decency to apologize and tell me she wants me. No, she just wants to “beee” with me. She bails on Brian, gets hammered, drives here and tries to fuck me. Unbelievable.

“Get off me, Shannon,” I say, grabbing her wrist and pulling her arm from my waist. But she’s stronger than she looks and wraps her other arm around me and grabs a fistful of my shirt.

“Don’t push me away, Chris,” she whispers. The smell of liquor on her breath makes my stomach turn. “I need you…”

Shannon shoves her free hand down my shorts and grabs my cock like she owns it. I practically jump out of my skin, but before I can react, she grabs my chin and kisses me.

“What the fuck!?”

I hear a voice screaming from the front door and panic hits me like a bucket of cold water. I tear my lips away from Shannon’s and look.

Janelle is standing in the front door, a look of horror on her face.

“I knew it,” she says as tears begin streaming from her eyes. “I’m such a fucking idiot.”