to go through with it, but this time it’s different. He knows I’ll never back down, but it doesn’t matter anyway. He doesn’t have the money or the desire to go through with it. Having the girls full time would be considered a burden to him. He’d absolutely hate it. It’s just a way of getting at me, one that he now knows will never work again.”
“Good,” Bull says, running his hand up and down my back as best he can. “I didn’t want to intrude on your business, but you do realize that if he ever threatens you like that again, I’ll beat the living shit out of him.”
“I might just beat you to it.”
Bull grins down at me. “Nothing would make me happier than watching you hand that douchebag his ass.”
“Nothing would make me happier than knowing I was strong enough to actually do it.”
“Angel, I think you’re stronger than you’ve ever known,” he tells me, Shuffling Ryan into my arms before pulling back and heading down the stairs of the porch. He scoops up the girls’ overnight bags in one hand while balancing Coby in the other. “Now what do you say we get out of here, get Ashlee, and head over to the park for a play and ice cream?” He says, making Ryan lose her tiny mind. “Who knows, maybe I’ll even introduce you to my mom.”
“Well, well,” I laugh, opening the door for Bull and following in behind him as Ryan launches out of my arms and clings onto Bull’s leg. “Did this just get serious?”
“Things got serious the second I laid my eyes on you, Angel,” he says as his face splits into a panty-dropping grin. “Now, hurry up. I want to see which one of the girls I can make throw up on the swings first.”
Well … shit.
CHAPTER 20
AMELIA
My eyes snap open as the sudden urge to throw up rocks through me. Kicking the sheets off from around my legs, I dash as fast as I can without falling or crashing into anything in the process. I make it just in time as the contents from my stomach decide it’s time to come and say good morning.
The violent, dry retches that my body is making has me feeling like absolute shit. I wrap my arms around the toilet, resting my head on the seat as I give in to my pity party.
Fucking Zoey and her goddamn shitty cooking.
A wet washcloth is dragged across the back of my neck, and my back straightens just a bit, realizing that Bull must have come in some time during my performance.
Groaning, I lean back against the wall as I pull the wet washcloth off the back of my neck and drag it over my face. “Knocking would have been nice of you,” I say with a dismal smile, totally mortified that he's seeing me in a less than a flattering state. This is the sixth time over the last five days and it’s something I’m really struggling to get used to.
“Angel, I think you need to go see a doctor. This has got to be more than just Zoey’s cooking.”
“Trust me, this is not my first rodeo with Zoey and her chicken enchiladas.” That thought alone is enough to have my stomach churning. “The last time she decided to cook, we were all down for a week,” I say as I throw my head back over the toilet seat and start heaving again.
Bull crouches down behind me and rubs his hand over my back. “I know, but everyone else was only sick for one day, baby. You’re now going on five days straight; I’m starting to get worried it’s something else.”
I shake my head, trying not to look down into the toilet. “What else could it be?”
“I don’t know,” he chuckles. “Knowing my luck, you’re probably pregnant.”
I roll my eyes, turning to look back at the man who hasn’t moved from my side in days. “You’re telling me that you can only handle one baby momma at a time?”
Groaning, Bull reaches around me and picks me up off the floor before carrying me back to the bed. “Don’t remind me,” he murmurs, pulling the blankets right up to my neck and tucking me in like a human burrito.
I start kicking the blankets loose as I can already feel myself heating up. Bull holds out a bottle of water, and I reach out to take it. As I bring the refreshing water to my lips, Bull leans