Twisted Reality (Blind Reality #2) (12 page)

“I know you fired Jason, so I took the liberty of using a friend to draw up some papers.”

“What kind of papers?” I ask, moving toward the table where Matt has dumped his briefcase.

“The first one is a paternity suit. You’re demanding that Jules have a paternity test done within forty-eight hours to prove that the child is yours. The second is a non-disclosure that Jules will sign. We don’t want her going to the tabloids, ever, about anything to do with you, the pregnancy, or the child if it turns out to be yours.”

“Okay.”

“This one,” he pauses before handing it to me, “is for your wife to sign saying if she seeks a divorce under the current circumstances that she won’t ask for financial restitution.”

I don’t even look it over before I’m ripping it in half.

“What are you doing?”

“If Joey leaves me, she can have it all. I won’t give a shit at that point.”

“Josh …” His tone is full of warning, but I don’t care.

“Look, we can go after Jules, slap whatever we want on her, but Joey is off limits.”

“You’re making a mistake,” he says, causing me to shrug.

“The way I see it, Matt, the mistake was made when I started dating Jules.” I leave him standing there and retreat back to the bedroom where I find Joey on the phone. She looks at me before telling whoever is on the other line that she’ll call them back later.

“Who was that?” I ask.

“Um … Bronx.”

In an instant my level of anxiety skyrockets. I can feel my face turning red as anger boils within.

“You were talking to Bronx about our problems?” I can’t help but seethe as I ask her that question.

She huffs, setting her phone down on the nightstand. “Our problems are public. It’s not like I told him anything he doesn’t already know.”

“It’s our business, Joey.”

“And Jules made it public, Josh. She made it everyone’s business that she’s pregnant and has been for a while, and is just now getting around to tell you. Who the hell does that? How did she not know before you went on the show?”

“She says she tried to tell me after, but I walked out on her to find you, except you had left with Bronx.”

“Bronx is my friend.” She sighs, rubbing her head.

“I’m your husband.”

“Josh, this isn’t a tit for tat. I was talking to a friend because he called. He’s concerned. He knows how I feel about Jules. And he knows her. He knows what she’s capable of. He doesn’t think the baby is yours and thinks you should get a paternity test before you commit to anything.”

Bronx and I are not friends, and it makes matters worse that Joey insists on keeping him in her life. I know they were friends before the show, but that doesn’t help the situation. He had a thing for Jules and was the catalyst for breaking us up. I’ll never look at him the same, or ever want to be friendly with him, but maybe he’s right. Matt seems to think so as well.

“I know how you feel about her, too, Joey.” I get down on my knees in front of her and take her hands in mine. My thumb moves over her engagement ring, the one I placed on her finger officially almost a month ago. “But I need you here, with me. I need you to help me figure this shit out because I’m scared as fuck to lose you.”

Joey leans forward and kisses me, holding my face to hers. This is the first time I’ve been able to feel this way with her in over twenty-four hours and it feels like the first time we kissed on stage. Rising from my knees, I push her back onto the bed slightly and silently rejoice when she moves on her own accord. With my body hovering over hers, I lay down on her gently, relishing in the feel of her leg as it hitches over my hip.

“I love you, Joey, and nothing is going to change that,” I whisper into her ear as I kiss down her neck.

“I’m scared.”

I look into her eyes and see the unshed tears. My poor girl has cried so many tears in the last day that I didn’t think she’d have any more. “I know. I am, too.” I roll over onto my side and bring her with me, holding her leg as it drapes over my body.

“Matt is here. He has some papers for Jules to sign; one of them is ordering a paternity test. I think until we have the results we try to function as normal.”

“It’s going to be hard with the circus going on.”

“I know, but we can’t let them win. We can’t let Jules think she’s coming between us. Yesterday you found the dress of your dreams, let’s set a date. We’ll announce it and make sure we’re only focusing on us.”

“Okay,” she says, nestling into my neck. “But, please promise me something?”

“Anything.”

“That she never comes before me.”

“I promise you on my life that she will never come before you.” And that’s a promise that I intend to keep. It doesn’t take long for Joey to find some sleep, but even then the whimpers I hear from her continue to break my heart. I don’t know how long I hold her before returning to Matt. I just know it wasn’t long enough.

“H
i Mom.” I have avoided all her calls up until now. I don’t know if it’s because I have nothing to tell her or because I don’t want her to think any less of Joshua. After taking a restless nap, Josh introduced me to Matt, his agent. I was leery at first, and then quickly realized that he has Josh’s best interest at heart and I know Josh has mine.

“Please tell me it’s not true.”

Oh how I wish I could, but this is a crazy Hollywood movie playing out in real life. My life. I sigh deeply, saying nothing as I stare in the direction of Matt and Josh while they watch television and pick at the take-out Chinese Matt went and got for us.

“Oh, Joey.” Her voice breaks and I find myself fighting back more tears. Just when I think I’m all cried out, more come, and at times I can’t even stop them. I can’t help but play ridiculous scenarios over in my head of what life is going to be like.

“I know, Mom.” It’s all I can say because there is nothing else. My mom saw the live footage of Jules during the show and she knows all about what transpired backstage. She knows everything about Josh because I was his ultimate fan girl and filled my mom in on their Josh and Jules relationship many times. Everything about my life right now is surreal and not in a good way. I can’t tell if this is real or a nightmare—maybe it’s a combination of both and I’m only waiting for the next fork in the road to determine the next scene.

“What’s he going to do?”

That would be a loaded question to most people, but to me it’s not. He’s going to do the right thing because that’s who he is on the inside. It’s who I am. Does it hurt that I’m not the one giving him a child? Yeah it does, but this child shouldn’t be held accountable because of Josh and Jules’ actions.

“He’s going to be a dad.”

“And you?”

I glance over at Josh, who is watching me. “I’m going to be a step mom,” I say, smiling at Josh. He leaves the table and comes over to me, kissing me on the side of my head and whispering thank you. It’s not how I thought our life together would start out, but it’s the course it’s on now. The way I see it I have two options: support him and accept this fully or bail. I don’t see leaving as an option.

After I hang up, I silence my phone, but Matt’s continues to ring off the hook with people wanting to interview Josh and me. He declines for the both of us, telling the reporters that we’re busy planning a wedding and that if they want the exclusive on that to send him a proposal. I know agencies pay big money to have exclusives, especially when it’s a wedding, but never thought mine would be important to them.

It’s when Jules calls that I find I can no longer breathe. Listening to her on speakerphone makes my blood pressure skyrocket and my heart race. I find that each time she says something my nails dig into the palms of my hand, but the pain isn’t enough to make me stop. Josh paces as he listens to her and Matt converse, stopping next to me every so often to remind me that he loves me.

She wants to see Josh and talk, but is already putting stipulations on him. The first one being that I can’t be there. I go to say something, but Matt holds up his hand, letting her finish her rant, and that’s when I stop listening and retreat to the bedroom.

The door opens seconds after I close it and almost immediately Josh is pulling me toward the bathroom. He locks the door and turns on the shower, creating a sound barrier to prevent Matt and subsequently Jules from hearing us.

“Talk to me.” He cups my cheeks with his hands, and when I look into his eyes I see the agony within him—it’s stabbing me in the heart and ripping us both to shreds.

I shake my head. “I don’t know what to say anymore.”

“I won’t go by myself. Matt knows this.”

“He didn’t tell her no,” I point out.

“You and me, we’re in this together … we do this as a team. So if she has to see me, which I’m not sure why she would need to, we go together.”

I want to ask him what if I don’t want to go? What if I want to stay as far away from her as possible? But I can’t. His mistakes can’t continue to haunt him. I’ve accepted it and need to support him.

He kisses me, and what starts off as sweet and tender turns frenzied. My hands fist in his shirt, pulling him as close as I can, but it’s not enough. I’m not sure it’ll ever be enough.

Pulling his shirt over his head, my lips roam over his broad shoulders, down to his defined chest and back to his neck. When I look into his eyes I see a hunger and know that it matches what I’m feeling. I give him a slight nod, letting him know that I want him, too.

Slow and methodical he takes off my shirt and removes my bra with the flick of his wrist. His hands glide down my sides and he kneels until his lips brush against my belly.

“You should be the one carrying my child,” he says before placing a kiss above my belly button. He has no idea what those words do to me on the inside. They rip and tear at what’s left of my resolve.

Nimble fingers undo the button on my shorts and the sound of the zipper is lost among the booming echo of the water hitting the tub floor. Josh watches me as he tugs my shorts and panties down with one swift pull.

“This is not how I thought we’d be right now.”

My hand brushes through his brown hair, the natural red highlights he has are muted from the poor lighting in the bathroom.

“As long as we’re toget— ah oh God,” I stammer out as his tongue swipes against my core.

“Fuck, Joey. I want to taste you, but I need to be inside of you.” In a flash his shorts are down around his ankles and I’m on the counter. I watch as he slides into me slowly and his fingers dig into my hips as if he’s afraid I’m going to disappear on him.

Everything about us right now is slow, methodical. Josh moves as if he’s trying to memorize the way we feel together. Each thrust is proving a point.

“Josh.” I need his attention to focus on me, on us, and not the drama surrounding our lives right now.

When he looks at me, the trance that he was in is broken. A wicked smile dances over his lips as he grips my hip to pound into me. I cry out, only for him to slam his mouth down onto mine and swallow each one thereafter.

His thumb works magic over my clit as my nails dig into his shoulder, leaving marks that are sure to piss off his production crew. Breaking away, I lean back, giving him a different angle that has me screaming out when he hits the place that I need him to be.

“Oh God, Josh,” I cry out as I reach for him.