Oxygen Deprived (Kilgore Fire Book 3) (10 page)

This time a man didn’t step out, but a woman.

“Shit,” I whispered softly. “Do you think that’s the ex-wife?”

Naomi and I watched as the woman got out of the car and stared at it for a long time before she turned in a huff. She marched up the front porch steps, purpose in her stride, as she hastily made her way to the door.

She stopped long enough to pound on the door with one dainty fist before she turned around and surveyed the area.

Her eyes scanned the houses in the neighborhood and stopped on my house.

She narrowed her eyes, then started stomping down the steps once again and heading straight for my house.

“Oh, shit,” Naomi scrambled. “Do you think she’s coming over here?”

“She can’t see us, can she?” I asked, looking behind me at the black house then back forward at the woman marching towards us.

“No,” Naomi denied. “But why is she coming over here?”

I studied the woman.

She was cute. She looked almost like me, actually.

I wasn’t
that
cute, though. Not like the woman hurrying toward me.

She had brown hair that stopped about mid back, blue eyes, and she was around my height as well. If someone saw the two of us together, I wouldn’t be surprised if they asked if we were sisters because we looked so similar.

Her sense of style was much better than mine, too.

Where I wore jeans (the same ones I’d had since college, ten years ago) she wore something much nicer. She was wearing black slacks, knee high boots, and a flowy red shirt that made her look like she was going to a party and wanting to impress.

When she hit my yard I really started to freak.

“Maybe she’ll slip,” Naomi said hopefully.

The woman didn’t slip.

In fact, her badass boots found traction in the snow, making it almost elegant to watch as she hurried up the steep hill to my front door.

“The least she could’ve done was use my steps,” I muttered as she walked beside the walk, marring the beautiful blanket of snow I had in my yard with her stupid boot prints.

She made it to the door and knocked, causing both of us to freeze.

She waited for thirty seconds before she knocked again, this time with her fist.

Both of us stayed where we were.

My cat, Urchin, shot past both of us like a missile, scaring the crap out of both of us.

“Jesus,” Naomi gasped. “Do you think she heard that?”

“I can hear you in there. Just open the door, you husband stealing bitch!”

My mouth dropped open and I stared at the door in surprise.
“Did she just call me a husband stealing bitch?” I asked
. “I imagined that, didn’t I?”

Naomi slowly shook her head.

I picked up my phone, the one I’d been staring at for two days since Drew had left my bed, and dialed the number he gave me if I ‘needed anything’ while he was gone.

I’d given mine as well, but where I wasn’t calling him because I didn’t want to come off as sounding needy, he didn’t call me because he was at work.

He’d flat out explained that he didn’t get on his phone while at work. He was a firm believer that phones shouldn’t be used as much as they were, and I couldn’t say I disagreed with him.

Now, though, I called him.

And he answered on the second ring, surprising me.

“Are you okay?” Drew asked immediately.

I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “Yes, but your wife just called me a husband stealing bitch.”

There was a long moment of silence, and then he started to curse. “I’m about five seconds away from my house. Stay put. Don’t do anything rash.”

I hurried to the door and opened it, then came face-to-face with me…only better dressed.

“Can I help you?” I asked Drew’s ex-wife.

“You can keep your hands to yourself,” she said. “And stop talking to my husband.”

I looked at my hands, then back up at her.

“I don’t know what…” I started, but she interrupted me.

“I don’t care what you do or don’t do…with yourself. You just need to keep your filthy hands on your side of the road and stay away from my man,” she hissed.

“Mom,” a girl’s voice came from behind her. “What are you doing?”

“That’s what I want to know, too,” Drew’s voice sent chills down my spine.

His voice didn’t sound unsure like the girl’s, though. His sounded pissed.

Out of habit, I bit my lip and stared at Drew staring at his ex-wife, a look of contempt written all over his face.

My eyes moved over to his daughter, and I smiled at her, even though her frown would’ve deterred lesser people.

I, however, had to deal with my younger brother.

If I could handle Jonah’s surly attitude, I could handle this girl’s.

She had nothing on Jonah.

Thankfully, Jonah wasn’t all that bad anymore.

He was actually quite a sweetheart ever since he’d found his calling in life, or so he called it.

He’d joined the Air Force and was a mechanic who worked on the fighter jets.

He also had Downy’s love and attention now, which was all he ever wanted, and was one of the reasons he acted out as a teenager.

When Jonah was younger, he did everything he could to get his brother’s attention. The moment he got Downy’s attention, everything about Jonah changed. He’s now a completely different person.

“What are you doing?” The crazy woman asked her ex-husband, and my new…
something
. I wasn’t sure what to call him yet.

Crazy bitch, though, had plenty of stuff to call him.

‘Asshole’ and ‘pecker head’ being two of the main ones.

She didn’t look so refined when she was calling him that.

“Umm,” I broke into the woman’s tirade. “I hate to interrupt your eloquent speech, but you’re being quite loud, and there’s a yard full of men over there listening. Not to mention your daughter really doesn’t need to be subjected to that kind of language.”

The woman snapped her head around like a weird alien like creature and hissed at me.

“Did I ask you for your opinion, homewrecker?” She growled.

I blinked, looking from her to Drew and back.

“Did I miss something, Drew?” I asked
. “Did you forget to tell me you were still married?”

“Yes, he did,” the woman said, answering for Drew before he could even open his mouth. “Our divorce isn’t finalized, yet. They’re not recommending mediation.”

My mouth dropped open, and I looked at Drew.

When he didn’t answer, I started to get a really bad feeling.

Was
I a homewrecker?

“Drew?” I asked.

He finally looked at me, and the worry I saw in his eyes made that bad feeling balloon into a full panic.

“You’re still married.”

He shrugged.

“Not really,” he said. “We’d have been divorced months ago if she didn’t keep dragging her heels.”

Well that definitely wasn’t the answer I’d been hoping for. Not at all, in fact.

Fucking perfect.

“Alrighty, then,” I said. “I’ll see y’all later.”

I grabbed Naomi’s hand as I turned to head back into the house, stopping when Naomi didn’t come with me.

“Naomi
?” I whispered at her, tears in my eyes as well as my throat.

That caught Naomi’s attention, causing her gaze to snap away from PD, who was staring at her and not the fiasco on my front lawn.

“Shit,” she said. “Let’s go.”

She went with me, finally, smiling timidly over her shoulder at PD before she closed the door.

I went to the bathroom, and that’s when the shakes started.

“I slept with a married man!” I wailed.

Drew

“That was a bullshit move,” I said to Constance. “You fucking know we’re not together anymore. You’re such a bitch.”

“Dad!” Attie said in reproach. “Don’t call mom a bitch!”

“How about you come inside, darlin’,” I heard at my back.

Tai.

“Okay,” I heard my daughter’s timid voice say. “Just let me grab my phone out of my car.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked my wife once Attie made it into my house.

“I’m here to see why you bought your daughter a brand new truck. Was it because you’re trying to butter her up to meet your new bitch?” She spat.

I blinked, then moved so fast Constance didn’t even have a chance to move back before I was practically on top of her.

“You need to shut your fuckin’ mouth,” I growled. “And for once in your life think about anyone but yourself.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“Think about someone but myself?” She screeched. “I’ve been thinking about nothing but you for our whole damn marriage! I finally
am
thinking about me, and now you’re going to fault me for it?”

“Yes,” I said. “You were thinking about yourself when you told me day in and day out how much you hated my job. Or how about when you told your dad how unhappy you were, causing him then to come to my work and ream me out for
working
.”

She gritted her teeth. “I love you. I still love you, even though you chose that job over me. I’m willing to take you back.”

“The problem there, is,” I started. “That. I. Don’t. Want. You.
Back
.”

I said it with exaggerated slowness, causing her eyes to widen at my declaration.

“You don’t mean that,” she gasped.

I was nodding before she even finished her sentence.

“And now I found someone,” I started.

“That looks very similar to me. Now, tell me again that you don’t want me back,” she said shakily.

I shook my head.

“I don’t miss you. Not even a little bit,” I informed her. “I was with her for less than two minutes, and she’s the only thing I can think about all day long. I don’t go more than an hour before I’m thinking about her. You need to back off. You need to sign the papers. I’ve given you the house. You’ve pulled Attie to your side. You’ve taken the dog. What more do you want from me?”

“You!” She screamed. “I want you!”

“Well, you can no longer have me. I’m not yours. I’m mine,” I growled, turning my back on her.

“I’m selling that truck. She has no need for one so new,” Constance said to my back.

I turned around and leveled her with my stare.

“No,” I growled. “You won’t.”

“And how exactly are you going to stop me?” She hissed.

I gave her a nasty smile.

“Because I’ll press charges against you for stealing it.”

With that, I walked back over to my house and was about to go in search of my daughter when something caught my eye.

Movement from the house beside mine. The one that Aspen said she’d yet to see the people who lived there.

I stared for a long moment, waiting for the movement again, but nothing happened, and my curiosity fled just as fast as it’d appeared.

Especially when my daughter came out of the house and flew into my arms.

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she whispered, hugging me tightly.

I hugged her back, bringing her into my arms and lifting her up off her feet.

“Just leave it, Sweetie,” I said gruffly. “We’ll work it out. We always do.”

Attie laughed.

“That’s what you think. She’s on a tirade.”

I looked up as the truck I’d bought for Attie peeled out of the driveway and gritted my teeth.

“When you get back home, I want you to take the keys away from your mother and don’t give them back. When you turn sixteen on Friday, that car is yours and yours only, or I’ll take it back. Understand?” I asked.

She nodded.

“But what if she takes it without asking?” She challenged.

“Then you tell me, and I’ll take care of it.”

She sighed.

“Yes, Dad.”

I put my arm around her and started walking inside, trying hard not to turn around and head back to Aspen’s.

I’d go later after I dropped Attie back off after the get together we were having with the rest of the men on the A shift.

Then I’d set her straight.

I just hoped that she’d listen.

Pizza Slut

-T-shirt

Aspen

Friday - Thirteen hours later

I slammed my fingers down on the keyboard, insanely annoyed that I now had to tell how fun the product was, despite the fact that the person I’d had the fun with was a douche bag.

A knock sounded at my door, and I turned to glare at it.

“Who is it?” I yelled.

“You know damn well who it is. It’s the same person that’s been knocking at your door for the last twelve hours,” Drew growled.

I shrugged.

“Go away,” I ordered him.

I could hear him sigh through the door.

“In my eyes, the marriage Constance and I had is over,” he started.

I picked up the nearest thing to me, which happened to be a half finished water bottle, and then launched it at the door.

“Go away!”

He left, but not without one last parting comment.

“I still have a few things left in that box that I want to try on you. When you’re ready, let me know.”

I glared at the box he’d just spoken about and went back to my review.

If you’re looking to add a little shock and awe to your sexual repertoire to do with your significant other, the 50 Shades of Grey Greedy Girl G-Spot Rabbit Vibrator totally lives up to the buzz. With its 12 modes of speed in the shaft and three speeds in bunny stimulator, this rabbit definitely get things hopping. Whether used alone or with your significant other, the various vibrations speeds and pulsation levels will take you on a thrilling ride. A luxury purchase at $100, this is definitely an investment in your pleasure, and it’s worth every fucking penny.

On a side note, the vibrator is not very proficient. It offers about two hours of battery life before they need replacing.

Not that I used it for two hours or anything.

Oh, who am I kidding?

I would’ve used it longer if I hadn’t run out of batteries.

Saturday

“Hello?” I answered tiredly.

My bleary eyes opened to stare at the clock.

“What size do you wear?” A man asked.

I opened my eyes and stared out the window of my living room.