I felt rather than saw her glare and satisfaction raced through me. She wanted to play nice and not go at me for being a dick to both her and Cole. Well, we would see how long her Mother Theresa act lasted. She was definitely about to blow.
"Why are you acting like this?" she demanded angrily. "You know what it's doing to Cole. What it's doing to me, Jasper. I'm sorry for hurting you. Please, please meet us halfway. It's hard seeing you like this."
I laughed unkindly when her voice broke. "Not the tears again. Jeez. Don't you ever run out?"
"You don't deserve him either, you know," she sniffed.
"Don't act like you know what he deserves. You left. Twice. I'm here."
"Yeah, well, it's not like you can actually go anywhere," she retorted, then gasped and slapped a hand over her mouth.
She appeared horrified at having made the reference to my 'handicap.' I pulled into the supermarket parking lot and leaned back casually.
"You have ten minutes," I told her calmly.
Slowly, she lowered her hand and opened her mouth, no doubt to apologise for her comment but I could not take another apology, another sympathetic look. It made me want to break something.
"Don't keep me waiting," I growled at her in my most threatening manner. "Ten minutes or you can find your own way back."
She scowled right back at me, muttered something that sounded like 'asshole' under her breath and scrambled out of the car.
As I watched her walk inside the supermarket, all long legs and angry strides, I felt the beginnings of a smirk form at a corner of my mouth. Amusement stirred within me after months of feeling nothing but bouts of anger followed by numbness. Yeah. It didn't take much to push her buttons. She was a walking emotional disaster and I figured it might be fun to return the favour by making her life hell for a change.
~~~
Chapter 37
Cole
"Everything okay?" I asked Skye as we drove down to a local restaurant one Saturday for lunch.
"Yup. Everything's peachy," she replied but her smile seemed forced.
I decided not to push it. It had been five days since she had moved back in and we finally had a break from our respective jobs to go on a proper date. To my surprise, Jasper, who had not volunteered or agreed to leave the house since his accident, had decided to join us. It was a pleasant surprise for sure. I missed going out with the guy. I missed being on the receiving end of the effort that goes in maintaining a relationship during tough times.
But while Jasper appeared relaxed in the backseat of my car, Skye seemed on edge for some reason. I didn't want to worry about it at that moment. It had been a tough day at work yesterday and I needed a peaceful break. As I rubbed the tension from my neck while navigating through the busy streets, Skye watched me with a concerned frown.
I smiled at her to convey that I was all right but she opened her mouth and promptly declared, "Maybe Jasper should drive since all he does is sit on his ass all day long."
It shocked me enough to cause the car to swerve a little but I quickly regained control. "Skye," I said in a grave tone. "What is going on with you? You know Jasper can't drive yet."
She scoffed at my words but folded her arms and looked away.
"It's probably PMS," Jasper offered from the backseat and I met his gaze in the rearview mirror. His expression was inscrutable. If Skye's words had offended him, he did not show it. But then, Jasper Wells had always had a thick hide. It was only lately that I had seen him give in to his weaknesses.
Beside me, Skye huffed again and glared out the window. I glanced at them both for some time between watching the road and then cleared my throat. "Am I missing something?"
God, I hoped there was something. These two were driving me nuts again. It was almost as if Armaan's words were coming true. They acted like they hated each other and yeah, it was definitely worse. I was not at all interested in playing referee in this trio.
Neither of them answered at first. Then Jasper spoke up again.
"Could be pregnancy. She's been throwing up a lot lately."
"Oh for God's sake," Skye hissed while I tried to wrap my brain around yet another shocking set of words to greet my ears today. "It was just one time! And I ate something weird."
Her glare was a force to be reckoned with but Jasper seemed unperturbed. "I wonder whose it is," he mused.
She turned to look at him incredulously. "I'm not pregnant, Jasper," she stated firmly. “It’s been months. I’d be showing by now.”
He ignored her. "Are you ready to be a father, Cole?" he went on calmly.
"Arrr!" My sweet girlfriend actually growled as she turned back around and dug her fingers into her blonde locks. "Damn it, Cole. I didn't want to say anything but he's getting on my last goddamn nerve. Every single time I'm at home, he's trying to drive me nuts and I'm sick of it."
"You can always do what you do best," my boyfriend quipped. "Leave."
She narrowed her eyes as she looked straight ahead with a mutinous expression. I hid an amused smile under the pretence of rubbing my jaw as I reached the restaurant car park. Okay so Jasper was still mad at her for leaving and she was growing tired of hearing about it. This was kind of entertaining. Jasper was...engaging in conversation, teasing her and it was...hell, it was better than his bitter silence and angry outbursts.
I could not
