Gunnar A Motorcycle Club Romance - Nina Levine Page 0,32
comes to having a baby. It’s my body, not yours. Don’t push me on this because you won’t like being childless.”
Before he has a chance to respond, I drain my wine glass, pick up my clutch, and stalk away from him. I shake all the way to the bathroom. From anger mostly, but also a little fear. This marriage is a battle zone I was not prepared for.
I take my time in the bathroom. I need to in order to calm myself down enough to make it through this dinner. When I exit back out into the hallway that connects through to the bar and restaurant, I find Mason leaning against the wall, arms crossed, eyes narrowed at me, still with that pissed off look on his face.
I’m surprised, but only momentarily because my anger takes over. It’s all the emotions carrying over from last night with him, today with Brielle, and this morning and tonight with Joe, all rolled into one that explodes out of me when I spit out, “Fuck you!”
He keeps his ass against the wall and his arms crossed as he lifts a brow and says, “I did that last night and it did fucking nothing for me.”
I take a step closer to him, my whole body lit with the need to fight this battle with him. I might be ignoring most of the battles in my life with Joe, but there’s not one part of me that can walk away from Mason. “That wasn’t the impression I got.”
His nostrils flare. “You misread the situation, princess. I was just showing you what you’re missing.”
“I’m not missing anything.” Lies, lies, lies. They’re littered all through my life these days.
His features darken. “Yeah, you looked real fucking cosy with your husband and that reporter.”
His jealousy sparks feelings in me I’m ashamed to admit I like. “What do you want, Mason? I have to get back to him.”
“Of course you fucking do.” His jaw clenches and he looks away from me for a moment. Then, swinging his face back to mine, he reaches for the neck of my dress. Pulling it down, he rubs his thumb over my skin and settles his eyes on my neck. “I don’t know what the fuck I wanted.”
He lets me go, pushes off from the wall, and strides down the hallway to the restaurant exit.
My heart races as I watch him leave, both wishing he’d come back and that he’d never set foot in my life again.
I spend a little too long staring after him before I come to my senses. I need to get back to Joe, but first, I need to double-check my neck and make sure Mason didn’t expose any of his bite marks. That’s the last thing I need to deal with today.
“You were quiet during dinner,” Joe says on the drive home from the restaurant.
I glance across the car, finding him watching me while he waits for the red light to turn green. Rain gently falls, droplets of water trickling down the windows, providing the soundtrack to a night I wish I didn’t have to live through. “You and Nicholas spent all night discussing business. I didn’t have anything to contribute to the conversation.”
“Chelsea, at any point in the conversation, you could have spoken up. Changed the subject.” The light turns green, and he directs his attention back to the road. “Contrary to what you may think, I want this to be a partnership between us. I want you involved in our marriage and our life.”
I stare out my window. I don’t know what to say to that because everything that’s gone down between us today hasn’t led me to believe a word of this.
After I returned from the bathroom earlier in the night, after seeing Mason, Joe was foul with me. That lasted for half the dinner. I’d expected it, though, after I told him I didn’t want children anytime soon. The second half of dinner wasn’t as bad, but on a scale of one to ten, with ten being him at full asshole level, this dinner rated as an eight. Maybe that’s because I was already in a mood with him going into it, but either way, it was a night I never want to relive. And now I have to get through the rest of the night, fending him off so he doesn’t see Mason’s marks on me.
Joe places his hand on my thigh. “Don’t ignore me.”