“I did? Where?”
“Here, my house, Shayla’s house, Candace’s, when we go out. You ate it before.”
“So we’re friends? We do stuff together?”
Tricia smiled a crooked smile and angled her head. “Yeah, we do. Of course we’re friends.”
I smiled and bit into a green pepper. I was glad I had friends, even if they were fake friends. Anything was better than knowing all I had was Paxton.
“Don’t listen to a word she says. She’s a liar,” a voice assured me from behind. I turned enough to see a very attractive girl walking toward me from the side of the house. Blond hair, legs that went on for miles, and boobs. Wow. Those were unquestionably fake. “Oh, my God, Gabriella. You look awful. You poor girl. Your beautiful face,” she dramatically said as her hand brushed down my hair. I didn’t know her either. Not a clue.
“You really don’t remember me?”
I smiled and hunkered my shoulders. “Sorry.”
“Oh, my God. What’s that like?”
“Jesus, Shay, give her some space,” Tricia said. Shay made herself at home and her kid jumped in my pool. A boy around ten. It was the strangest thing ever. I had no idea how to be me around these girls. How to be normal.
“I’m getting in the pool, too,” Ophelia decided as she slid from her chair. I just watched her go. I didn’t know what to say.
“You should probably make her take a nap first,” Tricia said with a nod toward Ophelia.
I looked to Ophelia and back to Tricia. “How do I do that?”
“Wow,” Shayla said while the word dragged on and on. I was a freak show.
“I’ll take care of it today. Shay get your kid out of her pool so the girls will lay down.”
“I want to visit. I have a million questions for Gabriella.”
“Gabriella will answer your questions later,” the deep voice said. Paxton stepped out the door and scooped up Ophelia.
“I’m going to go swimming with Collin, Daddy,” she whined through a yawn. Paxton kissed her little cheek and rubbed her belly. He moved behind me and kissed the top of my head. “You can go swimming later with me and mommy. You need a nap first.”
“I’m not tired.”
“You can just rest for a little bit. You okay, Gabriella? It’s time for more pain medicine if you’d like.”
“I think I will,” I replied. I wasn’t really in pain. Maybe my right hip a little from sitting. It was more of a needing my mind to rest. Step back for a minute and take this all in. It was a lot.
“I’ve got to go pick up Phoenix. I’ll call you later. Oh, wait. Did your phone survive the wreck?” Tricia asked while coming to her feet. My eyes shifted back to Paxton for the answer. I didn’t know.
“She has it. It’s in your purse,” Paxton explained with a hand on my shoulder
Shayla yelled at her kid, telling him to go get in his own pool. Collin dove in one more time. Cannonball right off the edge. Rowan instantly yelled at him, gasping from the cool water splashed all over her.
“Collin! This is my new dress,” she complained in a loud shrill voice.
“Oh, you’re fine. Come on. Let’s go rest for a little bit.”
“I’m not tired,” Ophelia too, whined. She knew from experience she was next on the nap list.
Paxton took her hand anyway, still carrying her little sister.
“I want, mommy to come, too,” Rowan cried with open hands reaching toward me. My heart swelled with love and I lifted myself from my chair, using the table ledge to help pull myself up.
Paxton slid Ophelia down his body and to her feet to take my hand. We stood hand in hand, talking to the neighbors I didn’t know. I heard about the therapy I would be doing for the first time when Paxton explained it to my neighbors. He and Tricia talked about the schedule for the girls for the next few days, and I stood. Holding his hand, and feigning love while he did the talking for me. I had a feeling that happened a lot with him. It didn’t even matter. I couldn’t have explained any of that. My girls were busy. Gymnastics, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Art camp every afternoon at two. Piano lessons Wednesday morning. Play school every Friday. Tee-ball Saturday mornings, and youth golf Saturday afternoon. Jesus. I would never keep up with all that. Youth golf? What the hell was that? Art camp?
My neighbors wished me well, and Tricia assured me she had everything under control. Not to worry about anything except getting better. I thanked her for lunch, and all her help.
As soon as our friends were out of sight, Paxton let go of my hand. Aahh, so it was that way, huh? The only display of affection between us was in public. Fake.
“Go to your room. I’ll bring your pain pills,” he quietly ordered while he led the girls inside and left me to fend for myself. Asshole.
I could hear the girls, whining, requesting their mommy lay them down. Paxton reminded them that I was hurt and they moved along. I didn’t do anything. I didn’t even go to them. Paxton took care of them. I was so lost. So far out of touch. There are no words to describe it. It was like I knew I didn’t belong with Paxton Pierce, but I belonged with those girls.
My eyes met Paxton’s as I passed the bathroom. He was leaned against the sink, swiping his finger over his phone. Rowan and Ophelia were too busy arguing over the soap again to notice. His gaze rose without lifting his head. Our eyes locked for a second and I continued on without a spoken word.
Once I had gone to the bathroom myself, I pulled the curtain closed and laid down. A heavy sigh filled the room with anxiety. I had already figured out that Paxton was far from nocturnal. I was pretty sure Paxton got what he wanted day or night.
Prolonged exposure to the sun and the madness going on around me enervated me. I was emotionally drained. That changed when Paxton joined me, water and pill in hand.
“Who is this, Gabriella?” he questioned with a phone held toward me.
I looked up confused. It was a door handle inside a car, and something brown with a thick texture. A wallet or a purse maybe. A barely visible arm was just above the door and that was it. How the hell was I supposed to know?
“You want me to guess what that is?”
Paxton took the glass of water from my hand and sat it on the stand. “I want you to tell me who was with you. This is your car. Who is this? This was taken fifteen minutes after you left here.”
“Maybe it was one of our neighbors. Shayla or Trisha.”
“No. It’s not. I’ve asked them all. None of them know. You don’t know anyone else. You don’t talk to anyone outside this development. Who the fuck is this, Gabriella? Something’s not right here. I know you. This isn’t like you, but I’m going to figure it out. I’m going to figure out where you were going, who was with you, and why.”
“That’s great, Pax. Maybe you can share that info with me after you’re done playing detective.”
Paxton didn’t say a word. His eyes bore deep into mine with more than a hint of anger. I didn’t even correct myself. That was stupid. Why couldn’t I call him Pax? What was the big deal?
“See? That’s what I mean, Gabriella,” he quietly said as a finger slid down my leg and cold eyes held my stare. “You never called me Pax. You wouldn’t dare call me anything but Paxton. You keep doing it. Either you’ve got brass balls, or you like what I do to you. I bet your pussy is already wet. Is it, Gabriella? Hmmm? Is your pussy throbbing?”
I didn’t answer. There were too many crazy things going on in my body. My heart beat so loud I could hear it in my ears, adrenaline flooded my veins, and my vagina betrayed me. A urgency formed between my legs. At first it was just a faint pulsating here or there. It was when he started sliding my shorts over my hips that it sped up. Quicker, harder thumps.
“You have no idea how much I want to bend you over my knee right now. I promise you one thing. Once I get the go ahead from your doctor, you’re going to get the spanking of your life. I’ll make sure you don’t forget it,” Paxton threatened.
I didn’t speak. I anticipated a spanking with an overzealous tremble between my legs. That’s it. I was a glorified whore and I liked it. Jesus. My hips rolled from one side to the other, helping Paxton with my panties.