This Time Around (23 page)

“Are we still going swimming?” CJ asks, not even lifting her head to look at me.

“That’s the plan,” I reply. She nods her head and continues to play the game on her phone. I pull away from my parents and drive to Liam’s house. I am looking forward to chilling by the pool for a few hours. Work was hectic today and the shift has killed my feet. I turn the radio on and Adele’s ‘Send My Love’ is playing on Radio One. I sing along to the song quietly, not to disturb Miss Connie and her precious game time.

It isn’t long and we are pulling up into Liam’s drive. I love his house, it is a conversion. The owners have done a beautiful job keeping it in with the traditional feel of the building. I leave Hetch in the car, with the windows open, it would be murder trying to get him back in the car. CJ and me climb out of the car and walk towards the house. I hear voices coming from the garden, so I walk around the side of the house and into the garden, but the image before me is not what I was expecting to see. Liam is standing in the garden, in just a pair of jeans that hang low on his trim waist. He is shirtless and he is bare foot. Shock and complete and utter heartbreak tears it's way through my system as I take in one other detail; my boyfriend's hands on another woman. Hands are running up and down his toned back, his spine tattoo winking at me. I dread to think where his hands are placed. I can only imagine on her arse, since Liam is an arse man.

Fucking hell.

My body turns to ice and my heart is barely functioning. It is fighting against the ice to beat again and make me walk away. I hear a faint beep next to me and see Connie standing there, still looking down at her phone. Oh thank fuck that she never gets to see Liam cheat on her mother. I stupidly take one last look and see them now talking but they still don’t see me. I turn Connie with my hands on her head and walk back to the car. We are almost there and away from this messed up situation. After everything we have said to each other, he goes and does this to me. Well fuck him. If he wants to throw us away over some tart, then she is welcome to him. As I reach for the car door, Hetch lets out a God almighty bark, which I am pretty damn sure that people heard him three counties over. Both CJ and I jump out of our skins but climb in the car, just as Liam comes running around the side of the house.

“Bambi. Penny, wait,” he yells, but I start the car and drive away from his house.

“Mum?” CJ speaks up.

“Not now, babe.” I will the tears to stop but my nose is burning and my breathing is getting out of control. I know if I do not gain control, I will pass out with Connie in the car with me. I cannot let this happen again. I blink a hundred times a minute to stop the tears, but it is no good. The image of the woman’s hands on my man's back, no not my man. He is
no
longer my fucking man. I am so freaking done with him. I angrily wipe away the tears; he will get no more of my tears. Well today anyway. I take deep breaths to calm myself. I am very surprised that I make it to Rachel’s house. I pull up the handbrake and turn the car off. I lick my dry lips and take a deep breath. I chance a look at CJ, who has her own tears in her eyes. It breaks my heart to know that she will feel this betrayal just like me.

“Come on, let’s go and see if Aunt Rach has lots of ice cream.” She reluctantly follows me out of the car. I meet her at the front of the car. “I will explain later, okay. I promise.” I kiss the top of her head and we walk to Rachel’s front door. I knock the door, learning my lesson from the last time I came over unannounced. I was surprised that Rachel actually hit it off with Jay Castle at Connie’s party and not Dex. I came over one day and walked in on them in the kitchen, let’s just say that I made sure she scrubbed that worktop with bleach; four times.

Rachel answers the door in no time and her smile fades when she sees my face. Rachel is a beautiful woman. Wavy red hair, about my height and she has curves to die for. I have always envied her looks, but she knows that.

“Con, babe, there is ice cream in the freezer and sprinkles in the cupboard, you know where everything else is. Let me speak to Mum for a bit, okay?” She nods her head and walks into the house with her head hung low.

Bastard, Liam Bradley.

“What the fuck happened? Do I need to cut a bitch?” Her outburst doesn’t surprise me. Since Jodi passed away, Rachel has become fiercely protective of me and Adrian, and all the kids. We walk into her house and sit on the large corner sofa she has.

“I just walked in on Liam and another woman,” I explain.

“As in, they were having sex?” She lowered her voice at the last word, afraid that Connie might hear. I shake my head no.

“I think they must have just finished. They were in the garden, she was dressed and hugging him. He was in just a pair of jeans. No shirt or shoes on. He must have just thrown them on. Shit.” The realisation hits me and I gasp for air. I touch my throat and try to control my breathing. Rachel is kneeling on the floor in front of me and running her hands up and down my arms, calming me.

“In and out. In and out. You got this. Do not let that fuckhead hurt you. I will chop his balls off and feed them to that little dog of his. He will not win. We win.
Always
,” she states. “Say it with me,” she demands.

“He will not win. We always win.” It was our motto all through school and college. We knew that if we had each other, we would always win. We wouldn’t let anyone beat us.

Liam Bradley was
not
going to beat me.

Stepping out of the shower, I dry myself off and step into a pair of jeans. Sans t-shirt. I catch myself in the full length mirror and chuckle at seeing my jeans hang low on my hips. Bambi loves the way they fall. I run one hand over my abs, loving how they affect my girl. All the running and working on the cars has kept me in pretty good shape over the years. Also being a roadie keeps you active, loading and unloading all the band equipment. I shake my head and go to find Knox, I run the towel over my hair drying it as I search for the little guy. Bambi and Connie are picking us up in about an hour, and we are going to spend the day at the pool. I love seeing the kids play and enjoying themselves, being free. Plus, what kind of bloke would I be if I wasn't happy to see my gorgeous girlfriend wear a sexy as sin bikini?

I just need to rein in my dick’s control, it has a mind of its own around her. I let him loose when we are locked behind the closed door but in public, that is kinda frowned upon. I walk through the kitchen and hear Knox talking in the garden. Who the hell is he talking to, out there? I hear a woman’s voice and it isn’t Bambi, I would know her voice anywhere. As I get closer, I see who he is talking to and my body goes rigid. I blink a few times just to make sure I am seeing who I am seeing.

What the fuck is she doing here?

How the hell did she find us?

She lifts her head and offers me a small smile, I don’t return it. I want her fucking gone. Now.

“Dude, go upstairs and stay there until I call you down.” He spins around to face me, confusion all over his face. “Now,” I say a little too harshly.

“Okay.” He runs upstairs without looking back.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I spit at her. Pain flashes across her once beautiful face. Yeah, she is pretty, but I could never have had deeper feelings for her, I never lied to Penny about that. With Bambi I can feel it deep in my heart that she is the one for me. I am done fucking around. This lad right here is settling down. I look Shelly up and down and she does look good. Better than the last time I saw her. She looked like shit after she gave birth to Knox, little did I know she was high as a fucking kite.

“I wanted to talk to you about meeting my son,” she answers sheepishly. She had the cheek to look hurt and embarrassed. She left him, she should feel the hurt of not seeing the boy he has grown up to be. I am damn fucking proud of that boy.

“
My son,
” I grind out. Like fuck is he her son.

“I am clean, Li. I have been for three years. I get that you are pissed and that I walked away. But I would really like a second chance. He should know his mum.” Her voice is strained, like she is trying to hold her emotion in.

“I don’t think you have the right to turn up here and expect me to just let you trot back into his life. He has settled in here, he is happy. Why now?” I ask her, not bothering to hide the anger in my voice.

“My best friend just gave birth to a baby boy and it made me think of Knox. How I missed everything in his life, and it hurt. I was young, stupid and very freaking selfish. I hate what I did to you both.” She takes a deep breath and the first tear falls. “I want a second chance, Liam, please? I know you think I don’t deserve it but, please?” She is sobbing by the time she finishes. Fuck, I hate seeing women cry and a part of my heart is sad for her as she is my son’s mother. I step closer to her and hold the tops of her arms, offering a little bit of comfort. She wraps her arms around me, and my body reacts to her touch, but not in a good way. I feel guilty for letting her touch my skin when I am in love with Bambi, it feels wrong. Her touch makes my skin crawl. Her hands start to move over my bare back but before I can react and tell her to fuck off, I hear a bark that scares the ever loving fuck out of me and Shelly. That bark that lets me know that my girl is here. I step back from Shelly and walk around the house to meet Bambi, but all I see is her retreating car.

“LIAM.” Shelly calls my name from behind me, but I can’t stop my feet from running down the drive to Bambi.

“Bambi. Penny, wait,” I yell after her car, but it is no use. She drives away. My heart sinks into my bare feet and I just stand there, staring at the empty road that carried my girl away. My heart is pounding in my chest, I am scared I might have a fucking heart attack.

What the fuck did she see?

Did she see me touching Shelly?

Oh, fuck.

My past has well and truly come back to fuck with me.

I feel a hand on my back and I recoil from the touch. I don’t want her touching me or anywhere near me for that matter. I spin around and glare at her. She is frowning at me, a look of confusion clear on her face.

“Who was that?” Shelly asks, crossing her arms across her chest, this act used to get my attention every time, but now it pisses me the fuck off. I walk around her and head for the house. I need to get dressed and try and find Bambi. I need to explain what she might have seen

“I asked you a question, Liam? Who was she? Because I don’t want a woman with that kind of temper around my son,” she states.

Well she can say all she fucking wants; she gets no say in Knox’s life. She put a stop to that when she signed all parental rights over to me.

“That woman is my girlfriend. She is more of a mother to Knox than you ever have been. She doesn’t have a temper. Penny is the most amazing woman ever; she is caring and kind hearted. She knocks the socks off any woman I have ever met. She always puts others before herself. We love her and she loves us. I just pray to fuck that she will let me explain what she just saw. We have a history, and I hope to hell that she will listen to me. You have no right to question my relationship. You are not a part of my life.” I pick up my phone and call her.

Nothing. Shit. I dial again but it goes straight to voicemail again. I text Rachel and Connie to see if they have heard from her. I never saw Connie in the car; I just had eyes for Bambi.

I text CJ and wait for her to get back to me. I text Rachel too, she reads my message but doesn’t reply. Shit, I bet Bambi has already talked to her and they are planning on how to remove my balls from my body. My balls are gonna hurt, I just know it. I run upstairs and run into my room and grab my shoes and a t-shirt. While getting dressed I shout out to Knox.

“Knox, we gotta go.” I slip my t-shirt on over my head and run back down the stairs. I come to a skidding halt. Knox and Shelly are talking about his school. That pisses me off.

“Knox, car now. Shelly, leave your number and I will be in touch. We can set up a time and date.” I nod my head in my son’s direction. She smiles sadly and nods her head. I see her jot down her number on a piece of paper, but I am too busy looking at my phone that just beeped in my pocket.

Fucking hell. That means she did see me and Shelly hugging. A pain shoots through my balls at the thought, as now I am going to lose them as a result. Fuck, if I had cheated on her then I would deserve everything they threw at me, but I did nothing wrong. I was comforting the woman who gave birth to my son. I refuse to call her his mum or mother. That title belongs to Penny.

I usher Shelly out of the house and see that Knox is already in the car. I turn and lock my front door and jog to my car. I don’t give Shelly another second of my time. My heart is on the line, right now.

“I can’t wait to hear from you,” she calls out, but I don’t reply. I start my car and reverse out of my drive and head to Rachel’s house. I pray that my balls will still be intact by the end of the day. Knox sits quietly in the back of the car and I am thankful for that. I really don’t know what to say to his questions if he asks. My heart races in my chest, I tap my thumb on the steering wheel, driving like Lewis Hamilton for the next twenty minutes
and get to Bambi in three seconds flat.