After Us (Next Generation #6) - J.M. Walker Page 0,15

said hello whenever I’ve called you.”

“Candace.” I rubbed the back of my neck and moved to the couch. “Why are you calling?” Not that I didn’t mind hearing from people now that I was out of jail, but she wasn’t one of them. The bar she owned with her husband, Ronny, was a place for us to get away and unwind.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting that,” she mumbled.

“Yeah, listen, you can’t be calling me anymore.”

“I heard you got out and wanted to see how you were doing, that’s all.”

“I’m fine,” I muttered, not liking how fast the news traveled that I was no longer in jail.

“Life’s biggest lie.” She sighed. “Did you meet your daughter yet?”

The hackles on the back of my neck rose, not liking that anyone outside of my family and friends, knew about Piper and Brynn.

“Lose my number, Candace.”

A cough sounded.

My head snapped up, finding Piper standing at the entrance to the hallway.

“Jaron, you can’t mean that.”

“I do.” I disconnected the call and made sure to block her number. Piper and I had enough shit to work through. I didn’t need an ex causing any issues.

“Who the hell is Candace?” Piper demanded, her cheeks reddening.

“No one important.” I rose from the couch and took a step toward her. “I just blocked her number. I didn’t know she still had mine.”

“Who is she to you?”

“No one, baby. I promise.”

Piper spun on her heel and ran back down the hall. The sound of a door slamming shut jarred through me.

Fuck me.

What the hell just happened?

Piper

Maybe I was overreacting. I knew Jaron had other women before me, but I never expected one of them to be calling him. What did she want?

Did they date?

Was he ever in love with her?

Was she in love with him?

Did he think he wasn’t good enough for her?

Why? Why the hell after all of this time, had he never told me about her?

I left my room to try and make peace. I also didn’t want to be alone and was going to offer to show him his surprise, but when I heard him on the phone and the name Candace was mentioned, I couldn’t help but listen in.

A soft knock sounded on the door. “Piper, let me in.” The doorknob jiggled. “Please, baby. We need to talk. It’s not what you think.”

“You don’t know what I’m thinking,” I muttered, sliding down the wall until I landed on the floor.

“I promise it’s nothing.”

“Nothing? It’s nothing?” I jumped to my feet and unlocked the door before opening it. “How could you say it’s nothing?” I demanded, giving him a shove and glaring up at him. “If I only just got home and another man called me, you would search him out and light his house on fire.”

“Fuck.” Jaron raked a hand through his hair. “That’s not…” He came into the room, shutting the door behind him. “I didn’t know she was going to call me. Her and I…”

“Her and you…what?”

Jaron looked away.

“You had a thing?” My stomach clenched when he didn’t respond. Of course he had other women before me. I knew he did. It wasn’t like I had been a virgin either when we first slept together but knowing that a woman he had a thing with, called him, didn’t make me feel any better.

“I just blocked her number. You and I need to work through us. I don’t want any more issues. You have to believe me.”

I looked at Jaron then. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. Maybe a sign that he was lying. Or some indication that he was going to throw his hands up in the air, say screw it, and leave us.

I slumped onto the edge of the bed. “Did she go see you in jail?”

“No.” He shook his head for added effect. “Not at all. Only my dad came, Cyrus, Sammy, and a couple of the other guys. If she tried to visit, I don’t know about it, but I made it very clear to the guys that no one was to show up unless it was them. I didn’t even see my mom that whole time.”

“That must have been hard,” I said softly.

“It was.” He showed me the screen to his phone. “See? I blocked Candace’s number.”

“You didn’t have to show me. I believed you but thank you.”

“I missed you.” Jaron dropped to his knees in front of me. He covered my hands, placed soft pecks on my knuckles, and rested his head on my lap. “I missed you