Homewrecker (Into the Flames #1) (21 page)

I snort, biting back the laugh that’s trying to force itself out. Carli-with-an-i tilts her head to the side, thinking about what Lynsey just said like she’s trying to figure out what she means and that makes me want to laugh harder.

I resist the urge to completely ignore them and choose to join in instead. “I’m Kennedy. Welcome to our house, don’t get used to being here.”

“Why?” she perks up. “Are you moving?”

I swing my head back around to Lynsey because I am at a complete loss for words right now. There is no way in hell that someone can be this stupid. Lynsey’s face is bright red as she hides behind her hands. I guess she’s not going to be able to help me here so I shake my head and go back to my drink.

In all the years we’ve been doing these dinners the only person that has ever made an appearance was Ivy, and that was only allowed because they were engaged. It was a rule that no matter who we were with, unless it was serious, they never came to dinner. This is our family; it means everything. I’ve seen my fair share of the women that Dixon goes for, but this has never happened before so I don’t know how to handle it on top of everything else going on.

After everyone has settled in and Gunnar has started grilling, I figure it’s probably time to get up and start bringing the rest of the food out. Standing up, I walk over and wrap my arms around Gunnar. Exhaling harshly, I inhale his scent and absorb his warmth, thinking about all the things I have been missing, the connection between us. I attempt to push back the emotions that threaten to bubble over at holding him, wanting nothing more than to touch him and feel the comfort that I had always found in him, in us. Trying to push past all the bad that has happened lately and forget about Dixon bringing over my replacement, I press my lips to Gunnar’s neck until he turns around and pulls me against his chest. Lifting my face he captures my lips, sliding his tongue against mine. I deepen the kiss, keeping him tight against me as his hands travel down my back and cup my ass. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I know that I need to feel something other than the ache Dixon has caused and the aggravation and hurt I feel toward Gunnar.

Gunnar growls into my mouth and breaks away from my lips. “Dixon, watch the food!”

Grabbing my thighs, he lifts me, forcing my legs around his waist and I keep my eyes closed so I don’t have to look at Dixon as we head inside. Before I know it, I’m being tossed on the bed and my body is covered with the weight of his. His hands slide under my shirt, caressing my breasts over my bra while he continues to kiss me, biting my lip until I whimper. I have no idea what has gotten into him, but I’m not complaining. Maybe the other night did do some good.

I run my hand up his thigh, dragging my nails over the bulge behind the denim causing him to groan. “Fuck, baby, you’re killing me. I want you right now, but...”

“I’m your wife, Gunnar, you can have me whenever you want me.” It’s the truth, as much as I want him to try new things and be open to exploring, I’d never deny him this. Angry or not, fighting or completely content, I’m still his wife and I need to feel connected to him right now.

He flicks the button on my jeans and as soon as my zipper is down and he slides his fingers into me, someone starts banging on the bedroom door. Gunnar shakes his head, pressing it to my chest.

“Food’s ready, assholes,” Dixon yells through the closed door. “Pull it out and get out here.”

“Motherfucker,” Gunnar grumbles, pushing away from me. He grabs my hand, helping me off the bed, and waits for me to put my clothes back where they belong before ripping open the door to meet a shirtless Dixon. “Cock blocker.”

“We weren’t eatin’ without you and the food is gettin’ cold.” He shrugs, watching my hands as I slide them around Gunnar’s bare stomach and up his chest.

“It’s called a microwave, asshole,” I bite out, my lips grazing the back of Gunnar’s shoulder. “I have something other than a hot dog that I want in my mouth.”

“You have a house full of people, you can have a manwich full of dick later when no one will hear the bed banging. Come out, eat with us, and entertain.”

“But I thought that’s why you brought the stripper to the party. Is she not enough entertainment for you, Dixon?”

Dixon turns revealing a set of scratches running down his back. “Whoa,” Gunnar chuckles. “Looks like she’s got claws.”

Dixon smirks, his eyes glancing at me before he looks back at Gunnar again and shrugs. “What can I say? Gotta love a freak in the sheets.”

“Carli looks more like a cheap whore lookin’ to score, but that’s just me.” I shrug. “Who knows, maybe you’ll live happily ever after with your herpes, cheap spray tan, and witty conversations.”

Gunnar laughs, stepping out of my grasp. “I’m goin’ outside before I get stuck in the middle of this conversation since I can’t fuck my wife without interruption. Bring the rest of the stuff out on your way through.”

It’s silent until we hear the sliding door close. “Are you done?” Dixon’s eyes bore into me and he steps closer. Ducking between him and the wall I head down the hall to the kitchen.

“Yeah, Dixon, I’m done,” I say, the tone in my voice final.

“Not what I meant, Sunshine.” Reaching out he grabs my shirt in an attempt to stop me from walking away, but I pull free.

“It might not be what you meant, but it’s what you’re getting. So why don’t you go back out and sit with airhead Barbie before Lynsey eats her alive.”

Grabbing the salad bowl from the cupboard, I set it on the counter before pulling everything from the fridge. I easily rip the bag of lettuce open and dump it in before moving on to shred some carrots. Dixon, who has never helped before, grabs a knife and starts working on the other veggies.

“Why don’t you tell me what’s wrong, Kennedy.”

“Why don’t I shove my fist up your ass, Dixon?” I counter. “I like that idea much better.”

“You know what I’d like?”

Dropping the stuff in my hands into the bowl, I press my palms against the counter and finally look at him. He’s still the same sexy guy that I love to feel fucking me, but it hurts to even look at him, let alone think about that.

“Another blonde bitch with big fake tits?” I ask, peering over his shoulder to where she’s twirling her hair around her finger. Lynsey’s eyes connect with mine, pleading with me to come back out. “I hope she’s as good at fucking as she is at picking up on sarcasm.”

“I’ll show you what a good fuck is,” Dixon responds, ignoring everything that I said.

“How are you going to do that? By calling Gunnar back inside and leaving us alone for a bit?”

His eyes flair and he crosses his arms over his chest. “Nowhere near, Sunshine.” Dropping his arms, he leans closer to me. “I’d bend you over this fuckin’ counter, rip those damn jeans off your body, grab you by the hips and hair, and then I would fuck you ‘til you couldn’t stand. Then you know what? I’d keep fuckin’ you. I wouldn’t stop ‘til you begged me to, and I’m not even sure I’d stop then.”

I start to open my mouth so I can tell him to go fuck himself, but Gunnar slides the door open. “Do I need to separate you two?” he laughs.

Grabbing the bowl full of lettuce and carrots, I slide between the door frame and Gunnar. Reaching up, I wrap my hand around his neck and pull him down to my lips again. I love his mouth, his taste, I love everything about him, even if I know he’s holding back from me. I can get over that at the moment. I’m not sure what I was thinking when I thought I needed what Dixon could give me, because what he gives me only hurts me. The least he could have done was give me a heads up that he didn’t want to do this anymore and that he was bringing a bimbo to dinner to prove it.

Halfway through dinner Carli gets out of her chair and slides onto Dixon’s lap. I’ve tried my hardest to ignore the fact that they were here together and finish eating, but I can’t anymore. Dropping my fork, I push the plate away from me, not able to eat anymore without wanting to throw it back up.

“You know, when you said you wanted me to come to dinner at your married friend’s house, I expected a bunch of kids,” she giggles, twirling a piece of hair around her finger. I swear I think it’s a crank to power her fucking brain.

Twist faster, honey, it’s not working.

I choke on my breath, nearly throwing up what I just ate for a totally new reason. “Dixon’s the only child that’s usually in the house.”

“For now,” Gunnar adds, smiling to himself. “Soon enough the house will be filled with kids.”

My mood suddenly shifts from being mad at Dixon, to being mad at Gunnar again. I stand up, shoving my chair back roughly as I do. “I’m glad you seem to think that you get to make all the decisions. Did you ever think that you might want to ask me how I feel about becoming a stay-at-home housebitch? If you want kids so badly right now, maybe you should push them out and stay at home to take care of them. But I guess since you can’t handle a finger, you wouldn’t be able to handle a whole fucking body coming out of your ass.”

I walk away, not bothering to say anything to anyone else because I know it will come out badly. I don’t even say goodbye to Lynsey and Mark even though I know I won’t be coming back out of the bedroom before they leave. Dropping to the bed, I crawl across it, burying my face in the pillow.

I hate this. Everything is so messed up and I know it’s because of me. My hot then cold attitude is completely uncalled for toward Gunnar and even I know that, but I can’t control it. Everything that has happened to make us fight, and everything that has come out of my mouth to further instigate the arguments, is my fault.

It doesn’t take very long before I hear everyone’s vehicles pulling out and the bedroom door creak open. Slowly, Gunnar slides into bed behind me and wraps his arms around me, causing me to breakdown and sob. I roll over, tucking my face into his chest because what I realize now more than ever is I don’t deserve him at all.

Dropping the rag and spray I’ve been using to clean the store with, I rip my phone from my back pocket and answer it with a growl in my throat.

“If you’re not dying, dead, or giving me a million fucking dollars, I don’t have any reason to talk to you.”

“Kennedy,” Dixon says, his voice sounding completely tortured.

Not able to listen to his excuses with that tone in his voice without giving in, I jam my thumb against the screen to end the call, then pull the back and battery off the phone, dropping the pieces to the counter. He’s texted me for days. Every chance he had that he knew Gunnar wouldn’t be near me, he’d call me, following it up with a text me when I didn’t answer, begging me to talk to him. I couldn’t though. If I had answered him, if I had let him
explain
, I’d break. Grabbing the rag, I get back to work, muttering under my breath the entire time.

“Fuck, I’d be afraid to know how rough your hand jobs are if your dusting scares me,” Lynsey laughs, flinching when I scrub harder.

Lifting my head from the hole I’m scrubbing in the glass, I glare at her. “I suggest if you don’t want the oversized can of antibacterial cleaner shoved up your ass without lube, that you shut your whore mouth and walk away.”

“And I suggest if you don’t want me cock slap you stupid with a Torpedo Driver, you simmer down and figure your shit. Whatever is going on can’t be that bad.” She doesn’t take my silence as a hint for her to leave me alone and keeps going. “Is it Dixon or Gunnar this time?”

“None of your business,” I mutter.

“Well,” she says, shifting her hip to the side and resting her hand there. “Since one of them is about to walk through the door of my store, I think that makes it my business. Now figure your shit out, or leave until you’re done being a bitch.”

I turn my head just in time to catch a glimpse of Dixon before he pulls back the door. Dropping everything, I walk as fast as I can to the door to the back room, stopping short only because I am cut off by both Lynsey and Dixon yelling at me at the same time. I slowly turn around and can feel them judging me before I can even see their faces.

“Whatever the hell this is,” Lynsey growls, pointing between the two of us. “Fix it. I refuse to let your issues fuck all of us up. Shit is so goddamn out of hand around here that I’m about to whip everyone’s fuckin’ asses bloody. Hash it the hell out, and move on. Now.”

Leaving us alone, she heads up to the front of the store and the room around us fills with such a tense silence that I feel it strangling me. Stepping back up to the counter, I press my hands flat on the glass that I just spent way too much energy cleaning, and drop my head.

“Ignorin’ me is not the way to get rid of me, Kennedy. I don’t like it and after all these years you should know that.”

“Oh wow,” I say without lifting my head. “Something else you don’t like. Imagine that.”

“Will you just tell me what the fuck it is that I did wrong so I can fix it?”

Ignoring his question, I raise my head, squaring off my shoulders, and toss one out of my own. “How about you tell me what the fuck was going through your thick skull when you decided that it would be a good idea to bring some size zero whore into my house? I get that I’m not your type, Dixon, I’m not stupid. I have eyes and I see the women that you’re usually with and that’s not me, but did you need to rub that in?”