A blonde will stir a pot
“Where is he?” James ran down the stairs as Greg and Carter opened the door at the bottom of the entryway.
“He’s fucking gone.” Carter looked sweaty and annoyed however, that was the least of James’ worries.
“I didn’t tell you to let him go!” He shouted at his two panting friends. “I was planning on throwing my fist in his face a few dozen times. He was on top of her for fuck sakes!”
“Calm down,” Greg snapped but his sneer faded away from James’ death glare on him. “This guy must have a thing for your girlfriend. That’s not our problem.”
“What’s that mean?” James looked between them as Carter shared a glance with Greg. “What exactly has gone on here? I feel like I’m missing something.”
Both men fell silent.
“Well?” he demanded of them both, even though they seemed less than willing to answer.
Carter gave him a shrug and that was all. Though Greg produced a real answer once James eyed him down for it one final time.
“Kara said not to worry about it.”
Nothing got his heart racing like hearing her name. “Not to worry about what?”
“What happened at the Halloween party between her and that guy. He was all over her then too.”
James’ brow creased with the passing of the seconds. “Kara wouldn’t do that.”
Carter rolled his eyes. “Fuck, James, you’re not immune to women cheating on you. Did that ever enter your mind? Ever?”
James’ taciturn expression grew angry. “She’s not cheating on me. Something else is going on here.”
Greg sighed. “I didn’t know who he was, James. He showed up, I helped her get rid of him. You should be thanking me because whatever had been going on between them, wasn’t any good.”
“Fine. Thank you for all your opinions.” He growled at his friends. “Which way did he go?”
“You won’t have any luck,” Carter told him as James shoved past. “It’s not like we let him get away. Fucking arse—”
“Bloody hell…” James went for the door and stepped out into the cold night air. “Fuck me.” He looked up and down the street, deciding to follow the faint smell of blood. He weaved his fast paced step through pedestrians on a warpath. That all blurred away while the tactile scent burned his nose and he realized the man had gotten away from him—won. The anger from that defeat left him standing in a nearby alley and throwing his fist to a brick wall. At the precise moment his knuckles broke through the stone and mortar, so did his skin with it. The faint smell of the intruder faded with the smell of his own blood now trickling down his fingers. He watched it. Stupidity and incompetence had led him to a bloody fist and brick particles stuck in the wounds. He hated failure, almost as much as he’d hated seeing him on top of her.
He watched as he clenched his fingers together, the pain wasn’t harsh enough to warrant broken bones this time and he walked home. About a million questions in the two minutes it took him to reach the front door entered and left his mind. Approaching Kara would be difficult, holding his temper even harder but when his eyes fell on the blonde girl exiting the taxi at the curb, he got blinded by annoyance.
“Jeez, and here I was thinking I had the wrong address but look who it is,” she chimed.
Another growl came from his chest. “What the fuck are you doing here, Jessica?”
“Kara invited me,” Jessica said.
James sneered. “I’m sure she did.”
“A couple of weeks ago, through email. Ask her.”
His eyes narrowed. “Right.”
“Oh, she didn’t say anything?” Jessica smirked. “Wonder why that is.”
“Don’t put too much thought into it.” James snarled and walked back inside the apartment building, leaving her out on the street.
“Dray!” Jessica hollered after him, close behind.
He jogged up the stairs, calling out, “I really have no patience for this. This is a very bad time.”
“You’re so arrogant—”
He spun toward her at the top of the stairs and pointed at her, her pause came with the shutting of her mouth. “Don’t piss me off. I’m warning you.”
She looked intrigued. “Why’s your hand like that?”
He glanced at the blood as it made a mess of his arm and headed back into the apartment without another word to her, but he heard her trail him.
It was still full of people and music as he shoved his way to the living room and promptly pulled the cord from the wall for the massive speaker set. He had half a mind to kick over the sound system but he held back on that idea, just barely.
“Get out!” He said loud enough to stunt the crowd around him to a murmur. “Now.” He pushed past a few people and walked to the kitchen sink. The pieces of dirt in the wound had started to burn and he flipped on the tap to try and clean it while people filtered out. That didn’t come without one final annoyance though…
“Oh god… are you okay?”
He lifted his eyes to Lila beside him with her new nervous flinch. “I’m fine.”
“James, no, you’re hurt”
“Get out, Lila.” It had left his chest in a growl and she didn’t push him, swallowing a bit of her pride and leaving the apartment with everyone else. He looked back to his hand as the blood began to clot and he came to the conclusion it might need some tape and gauze. Punching a wall had been impulsive but at least he hadn’t kicked it and saved himself the embarrassment of a messed up foot for next practice.
He waited as the last of the crowd left and the front door shut. The voices of Jessica and Carter were enough to satisfy him that Kara was safe for now and he could find a way to look her in the eyes and figure out what the hell was going on.
He opened the bedroom door and shut it quickly, shaking out his damaged hand and the way it stung. Her soft whimper entered his ears and made him wince. His eyes went to her on the bed, curled up, crying. The sight of her made it all the more unbearable. He could take the blame for her tears, what he couldn’t take was how close she’d been to being hurt or worse—taken from him.
“He got away from Carter and Greg.” He approached her with desperation but more than that, a hope she’d explain it all to him so he could protect her from that moment on properly. “Please tell me what’s going on, now.”
She turned her cheek out of the pillows and palmed away her tears. “I’m sorry…”
“Why has this happened?” He crouched down to be at her level as she winced her way into a sitting position. He hoped that was just her nerves and not an injury—they’d deal with that later though.
“I did it for Josh.”
He didn’t understand, Josh had been months and months ago. “You did what for Josh?”
“I belong to Tom.”
James raised his hands to the bed beside her and gripped the quilts. “What does that mean?”
“In Virginia, I…” Kara trailed off with a shake of her head. “It doesn’t matter. I mean, I’m sure I’m not your girlfriend any more…”
He let out snort. “Kara, please, I need you to tell me who that was. Now. Because I’m starting to lose it.” That had been putting it lightly, the same adrenaline spike that had made him punch the wall of the building had threatened to return.
“It was Tom,” she got out. “My ex-boyfriend.”
He waited a moment, his mouth twitching as he processed the magnitude of the situation. In need of massive clarification, he questioned her further, “Who?”
“Yeah,” she breathed. “It was all for Josh. It was a trade. I told Tom he could have me in exchange for the key that unlocked the dimension Josh was stuck in with those Demons.”
James stiffened from the information. “You did what?”
“I thought if I came here with you, he wouldn’t find me ever again.” Her eyes flashed to him and he felt her fears multiply into more tears. “But, he did. I’m sorry.”
He wreathed from the need to beat something, more specifically the piece of trash that felt he owned her.
Her eyes went to his hand next to her and she stared at it. “Did he do that to you?”
James stood to get the attention off the way his hand was bleeding onto the bed. “No. I did it to myself, ironically.”
She stayed sitting, watching him. “Are you okay?”
“You’re not his,” he blurted out.
“I am his…”
“Stop saying that!” James shouted at her and her mouth shut. His eyes went from hers and stopped on her stomach. It left him wondering if that child he’d committed to also belonged to Tom.
“You need to know-” She choked on a few tears. “It’s his baby. It’s okay though,” she blubbered. “Cause’ you have Lila and your own baby now—”
Those words brought him out of his anger haze and back to her. “That’s not my child, it’s Greg’s!”
Kara cupped her mouth to mute her desperate sob. “It’s not yours?”
“No!” James exploded on her. “She’s always felt the need to tell me things that are not my business and tonight was no fucking exception. I didn’t take any chances with her. In fact, I’ve been careful with every woman. I can’t risk anything, when so much is expected of me. Honestly, Kara, I can’t afford a mistake like that.”
She went quiet and nodded her head.
“But right now, I feel like a bloody fool!”
Kara blinked through his outburst, it seemed to startle her and he felt bad about it but it happened. Usually he held it together better than that but when it came to her, nothing he did made sense at times.
“You have nothing to do with this—”
He stopped her before she said something else that would enrage him. “I’m trying to figure out what needs to happen from this moment on.”
“I need to finish what I started.”
He stared at her. “You’re suggesting handing yourself over to him?”
Kara never replied.
“You are not doing that.” James made it clear. In fact if he ever laid down one law with her, this would be it. “You will never do that. Do you understand?”
“He’s dangerous.”
James let out a laugh with the following shake of his head.
“You can’t stop this.” She looked up to him, but when he stared back she waived. “Y-you’re human.”
His breath left his lungs and didn’t return.
“I’m a Hunter, this is part of the game.”
“You’re not part of his game or his world anymore, and it’s my responsibility to ensure it. Don’t you wonder why he hasn’t attacked you sooner?” The frustration built inside his chest. “God, it’s because of me!”
“James, you can’t stop him.”
He stared at her. “Do you believe that when you look at me?”
She was losing her ability to argue against him and it came from the way she opened and shut her mouth.
“We are not staying here any longer. I’m making that very clear.”
“Where… are we going to go?” She choked out her words.
He mumbled before replying, “I’ll figure it out.” He always did and this time would be no exception.
With tears streaming her cheeks, she choked out an apology at him, “I’m s-sorry.”
His heart bled all sorts of uneven emotions into his mind but none was greater than the truth. “You’ve put yourself in so much danger. I wish I could explain how worried I am.”
She let out a sob. “But I am sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I just wanted to be with you. When I’m with you it all feels so much easier.”
He swallowed the pang of emotion trying to surface and shoved it back down. “I could have protected you and the baby better, had I known.”
“I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t tell you I traded myself. Do you know how embarrassing that is?” Her tears streamed her cheeks and he sat down next to her, bringing her tight into his chest.
“I couldn’t even save Josh. I lost everything… except you…” That truth got the better of her and she cried, full on, into his shirt.
He sighed, holding her. “I should have helped you that night through it all. I didn’t do enough.”
“I’m just so scared Tom will come back now. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
He took her chin and made her look at him. “Stop worrying about that.”
“I can’t though. I love you so much.”
“I love you too.” He let out a sigh. “And listen…”
She quieted her breathing.
“This baby isn’t his. He doesn’t deserve any claim to a child you’re carrying and I’m supporting. So that’s the end of that.”
She nodded in agreement, lifting her hand to his face so she could study him closely. “Thank you…”
“Mm.” He pressed his mouth to her temple and when he drew back, her eyes moved to his bloody hand in his lap.
“That looks bad…”
He clenched his fist. “It’s not broken.”
“Is that all that matters?”
He stayed quiet and watched her as she stood, her hand taking his uninjured limb with her.
“Come on, I think there’s some bandages in the bathroom.” Her weak tug didn’t break his focus on her and he studied her for a moment. “James?”
He stood and stepped into her, wrapping his arms around her. “I can’t lose you, my love.”
She pushed her face into his chest and let out a whimper. “I don’t want to lose you either.”
“Good.” He took her cheek and looked down at her.
She sucked in a breath before her tears started again and pulled him towards the door, leading him into the bathroom a short distance away. She shut them inside and started to rifle through the cupboard under the sink.
“I saw bandages before.”
He looked over the crusted blood and torn skin before helping her. He found the small zippered bag of basic first aid items.
She took it from him even when he tried to do it himself.
“Wash it.”
“I already did,” he grunted.
She looked it over. “It looks like road rash.”
“I suppose that’s on par for a brick wall.”
She looked up at him. “Do you feel you won that fight?”
He watched her flip on the tap and wet a facecloth. “I would have won if it’d been his face.”
Kara gave him a glance in the mirror and turned to press the warmth of the cloth to his wounded hand. The sting relieved his mind of any anger and he let her look after him. Even if he wouldn’t have bothered to bandage his own knuckles, something about letting Kara fix him up made him at ease. The moments ticked by in silence and she finished.
“There…” she let out a sigh.
He stepped up to her to give her a kiss when an outburst of laughter in the kitchen shattered the moment. He’d almost forgotten that her childhood friend had shown up unannounced but the voices of Carter and Jessica just down the hall were a clear reminder.
Jessica?
“Is that…” She bit her lip and stepped out of his touch. “I thought I heard Jessica….”
His nose wrinkled from annoyance. “Yes, she’s here.”
“W-why didn’t you say anything?”
“I missed the memo where that was important information.”
She stared at him funny. “Well, it sort of is.”
James didn’t move out of the way of the door when she went for the knob. “And I’m not sure I want to ask why you didn’t tell me about her coming.”
“It was when we went to Croatia for the game in early December and I was distracted. I just told her where we lived. She said she’d send a gift, not herself. ”
“Your friend has amazing timing,” he grumbled.
She watched him for a moment and moved towards the door, making him move out of the way.
“Where are you going?”
She paused. “To say hi.” She knew he was going to follow her and so she let him, walking out into the hall towards the kitchen where they found Jessica and Carter chatting it up.
Carter’s flirtatious smile faded as soon as James walked in though.
“Holy shit! You’re actually here!” Jessica jumped up from the messy kitchen table and embraced Kara in a large hug. “I thought he wasn’t going to let you out.”
Kara patted her back through the awkwardness of that comment. “How are you?”
“Alright.” Jessica parted from her. “But the party ended right when I showed up.”
James grunted, perhaps about to say something to the blonde but he held his tongue.
“Yeah, good job shutting it down, Jim, that was record time,” Carter commented.
James didn’t reply to him either, as he leaned against the counters of spilled booze and pulled his phone out to look through it.
“So, why is it over?” Jessica questioned.
Carter grumbled a sentence that no one understood and nursed the rest of his beer before dropping the glass bottle to the table top.
Kara swallowed. “There was a slight glitch as far as attendance was concerned.”
“Slight?” Carter laughed. “James went mental!”
“For good reason, Carter.” James finally broke his silence.
Carter took another sip of his alcohol. “Happy New Years!”
She sighed and put on a smile. “Such a nice surprise that you’re here, Jess.”
“Really?” Jessica glanced at James. “Broody doesn’t look too impressed.”
“Shut up,” James snapped.
Carter creased his brow. “Why don’t you lay off, Jim?”
“Wow.” Jessica smiled. “Did I miss something?”
“No,” Kara stammered. “You sorta walked into the middle of this thing but it’s done. It’s over.”
“Right,” Carter agreed. “Over.”
“Well, too bad the party ended.” The blonde took a forcing glare at James who then left the kitchen with some very heavy steps.
Jessica gave a whistle. “Shit, is Dray having a tantrum?”
“It’s my fault,” Kara breathed.
“No, it’s not. He needs to lay off,” Carter shot, eyeing her up. “What happened tonight wasn’t anyone’s fault.”
Except Kara knew it was hers, she was the one that hadn’t told James about Tom. She’d lied and fucked up.
Jessica looked her over. “You okay?”
Kara put a hand through her bangs and turned to face her. “Yeah, I’ll be fine—”
“Holy shit!” Jessica exclaimed, grabbing Kara’s hand from her forehead to stare at the well-cut diamond on her finger. “You’re engaged to him!”
Kara winced. “That just happened… on Christmas actually.”
Jessica brought her hand closer to inspect it. “Fuck, it’s fucking huge! Are you sure it’s real?”
The thumping of her heart could likely be heard by all. “Well, yeah, I think so—”
“Oh, it’s bloody real,” Carter interrupted. “Seventy thousand euro real.”
“Carter, come on!” Kara shot around to him with a laugh.
“I’ve seen the bill,” Carter explained and when they gave him no reaction, he got up and opened a drawer, where James always shoved all the mail. He grabbed out an envelope and waved it in the air. “Proof and it’s a bloody Russian diamond too…” He presented it to Kara.
“I don’t want it.” She shook her head.
“I gotta see this!” Jessica whipped it out of his hand instead and ripped the envelope in the process of getting out the paperwork to read it over. “He’s not lying. It’s worth more than my organs on the black market.”
Kara grabbed it all from Jessica and folded it up, still not wanting to look.
“That shouldn’t surprise you though. James made his point about you…” Carter found another beer in the fridge and cracked it open.
“The point of being his fiancee?” Kara snapped as the conversation got a bit old on her nerves.
Jessica scoffed. “No, more like, Dray stakes his claim.”
“It’s just a ring,” Kara snapped at them.
Carter and Jessica both held the same expression. They didn’t believe her and it made her feel owned.
“Well,” Kara started, after not knowing what else to say. “Do you mind sleeping on the couch?”
“You mean…” Jessica smirked. “I can’t sleep in bed with you and the soccer-star?”
Carter laughed. “The sad part is before you came along, Kara, he would have said yes.”
“I can only imagine.” The blonde kept her hot annoyance.
“I’ll go get you some bedding for the couch.” Kara left the kitchen as fast as she could and booked it to the bedroom.
James was on the bed, still looking at his phone but she didn’t give him a glance, just went straight for the closet in search of extra blankets and a pillow.
“What are you doing, Kara?”
“Nothing.” She rummaged for what she wanted, annoyed by Carter, Jessica and the conversation about her ring, never mind how the rest of her night had worked out.
He showed up in the closet. “I talked to my grandmother just now. I think we should go stay with her—”
She couldn’t take it a moment longer and turned to him. “Did you pay seventy thousand for this ring?” She held it up in the air on her hand at him.
He paused, obviously trying to catch up with the direction of the conversation.
“Yes, I did.”
“That was an extraordinary waste of money!” She snapped and turned back away, trying to grab some blankets again.
“Excuse me?”
She jumped for the ones she wanted. “The house I grew up in, is worth less than this ring! A lot less.” She heard his sigh.
“I liked the ring so I bought it.”
“That must be nice,” she laughed, the stress boiling over her.
“Stop this.” He took her wrist and turned her to face him. “Now, no more. This night has been bad enough I don’t need to hear how insulted you are by the fucking price of the engagement ring. I can spend my money on what I like and I liked that ring. So I bought it for you.”
She let out a tight breath of air as he let her go.
“My nan’s going to let us stay with her.”
“Why?” Kara asked.
“Because we need somewhere to go and I don’t want you alone in a hotel. My grandmother will keep you company while I’m away on and off for the next few months. He won’t know you’re there. You’ll be safe but we need to leave as soon as possible.”
“You called her at one in the morning?”
“Yes.” His words were making her angry, how he just expected her to pack up and live with his grandmother made her livid. A woman she hardly knew, now was going to… look after her?
“This is ridiculous, James!”
He stepped up to her. “This isn’t a joke. He’ll come back, Kara.”
She hadn’t expected him to say that.
“And if he comes back when I’m not here, do you know what will likely happen to you and this baby?”
No part of her wanted to hear the answer to that question.
“Do you?” he pressed.
She wanted to scream at him that he was overreacting but she knew he wasn’t.
“You need to be somewhere he won’t know and you need to be with people I trust, neither of which is here. So, we’re leaving in the morning.”
“What about Jessica?”
“I don’t care about her. I’m sure she’ll get around London just fine without you. She’s already flirting with bloody Carter.”
Kara hit his chest, so hard it hurt her hand and no matter how much she wished for him to look away from her, he didn’t.
“I understand your frustration, love, but this is the safest option. It’s the only thing I can think of. Once you’re safe, I’ll be able to rationally decide what to do but right now, I’m on edge.”
Her anger with him, no matter if she wanted it to stay, faded. He brought her close as she tried to hold her tears.
“Are you afraid?”
She choked back her emotion. Yes.
His eyes shut with his exhale. She hadn’t said it aloud but he seemed to understand and she ducked into him for support.
“You have to excuse the demands I’ve put on you. I have to keep you and the baby safe.”
“I know. Are you going to tell Carter now?” She pushed her nose into his chest and breathed him in.
“In the morning. I’ll pay another month of rent; besides I’ll need to get our things removed.”
Removed. She swallowed. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was talking to Jessica. You’ve just been away so much…”
“I understand.” He nodded. “Now, I suggest you say goodnight. You need some rest and I’m tired. I’d like you to come to bed with me.”
She looked up to him and saw how desperate he was for her to be near him.
“Can you get those blankets on that shelf there for me?”
“Mm.” He walked around her and reached them with ease. “Here.”
She brought the blankets into her chest. “I’ll take her these and come to bed.”
He kissed her forehead. “I hope you like that ring, my love.”
“Of course, I do. I was just being… Jessica and Carter, they were bugging me about it.”
“They should mind their own business.” He parted from her, leaving her to make her unannounced guest feel at home.
Kara hadn’t slept much at all, undeniably because the last hours of her life had sucked. His arm around her waist had been relentless the entire night, whether it was subconscious or intentional, she didn’t know.
When he stirred, his grip became more of a restraint on her.
“James?”
“Mm.” He grumbled something, she knew it was still early morning but he wasn’t one to sleep in, so she didn’t feel bad waking him.
“You’re squishing me.”
His arm loosened immediately, leaving her. “Sorry.” He reached out to his nightstand and shifted his alarm clock towards him. “Seven thirty,” he sounded exasperated by that information and sat up.
She watched him get up and walk to his dresser. His hands ran through his hair as he tried to shake the sleep look from it. Flat against his forehead and pressed weird on one side, he tried again, obviously aware it didn’t look right.
He opened his dresser and began to dress. “You should get changed as well.”
“Are we going to go soon?”
He glanced at her. “As soon as we’re packed.”
She stood in her childish pyjamas and held her stomach as it flipped. Ugh, stop, stomach. She blamed her nerves but it wasn’t subtle enough to get past James.
“Are you alright?”
Not into lying to him about anything anymore, she admitted what she felt. “I’m just feeling a bit sick.”
After pulling a fresh shirt over his head to go with his sweatpants, James grabbed his watch off the dresser and shook it over his wrist. “You need food. What would you like for breakfast? I can go get you something.”
So proper. All the time. She shrugged in reply.
He fastened the watch on his wrist and dropped his hand. “A bagel? Eggs? Full breakfast?”
She watched his fingers twitch and bit her lip. His hands are hot…
“Kara?”
She blushed and looked up to him. “Nothing.” Rubbing her stomach again, she said, “I probably just need to puke.”
He didn’t seem that pleased with her answer. “Well, at least try to eat a piece of toast.”
She followed him out of the room, redoing her ponytail as they stepped into the messy but silent kitchen.
The sink and counters were piled with cups and empty beer bottles. Kara grabbed a bag and started to shift through the items, deciding what was garbage and recycling.
“Do you want some tea?” James went about shuffling things around in the fridge and looked a bit disgruntled after searching the counter tops as well. “No bread.”
“Carter probably took it with him to bed. He does that a lot.”
“He sleeps with bread?” James echoed.
She sighed. “No, it’s for his booze stomach.”
James walked to his roommate’s door and knocked on it. “Carter, do you have the bread?”
The door shot open moments later and Carter stood in his boxers with the bag of bread. He tossed him the loaf and went to shut the door.
James caught it though, staring into the room. “Are you joking?”
Carter shoved his hand from the door. “Get the fuck out, Jim, bloody hell.”
James swung around and walked back into the kitchen.
Kara watched as he ripped open the bag, making a new hole as the opening. Out of the two slices, one refused to enter the toaster so he crammed it in.
Shit. Kara sat at the table. “James, what’s wrong?” She was pretty sure she knew.
He didn’t reply as he started making tea for her, like he usually did on the mornings he was home.
“James?”
His expression was dark enough to kill, but still he said nothing.
That’s when she stood and came to his side. “Is she in there?”
He tensed and grabbed a mug from the top cupboard. “I told you she’d get around London just fine without you…”
“Fuck…” She breathed, as he tried to get on with making some breakfast.
This was not the button James had needed to be pressed. Though she saw him at least fighting his urge to not flip out over the blonde and his best friend, and for that she commended him.
Carter’s bedroom door opened and out he walked, looking pleased and chipper with himself. He sat at the table. “No one went and got the paper?”
James stayed focused on the toast like it needed his undivided attention. “Do you have any standards, Carter, honestly?”
“Fine, I’ll go get the bloody paper.” Carter got up and walked out of the kitchen.
Jessica snuck out of Carter’s room at that time and leaned against the counters, waiting till the front door closed to speak. “What’s for breakfast?”
“I suppose you’re hungry after the jet lag and complimentary fuck,” James commented.
“What did you say to me?” Jessica’s eyes narrowed as she stepped a foot closer to him from across the kitchen. “Say it again.”
“You heard me fine.” James turned toward her and crossed his arms.
Her nostrils flared from his recount. “Maybe you should get over yourself. I can fuck who I want, even if it is your roommate.”
“It’s amazing how much you believe you matter.”
Jessica smiled. “Don’t worry, I usually think the same about you. Why don’t you just go put a bigger ring on her finger and call it a day?”
“You know, I’ve never liked you much but this really takes it. Showing up unannounced, insulting Kara and now, Carter—clearly talented at being a—”
“James,” Kara snapped at him as the front door opened again and Carter reappeared in the kitchen.
“By the way, Carter, we’re leaving and I was going to pay another month of rent, but now I’ve changed my bloody mind. Apparently, I need the money to buy Kara a bigger ring.”
Carter groaned from the information and sat slowly. “C’mon, mate, don’t do this…”
“I’m not paying anymore bills just so you can throw parties and fuck all of Kara’s friends.”
“Hey!” Jessica snapped at him. “What’s your problem?”
James turned toward Jessica. “And you can leave, Blondie.”
“Gonna make me?” Jessica taunted.
Carter stared at him. “Why are you being such a fucking prat, James? Is it because you knocked her up? Well, that isn’t my bloody fault!”
“Woah, what!” Jessica screeched into the conversation like a bulldozer.
Kara’s heart hammered. “How do you know I’m pregnant?” she asked Carter.
“Because you throw up all the time, have weird cravings and your stomach keeps growing outward. I’m not stupid. Plus, James is more protective over you than any other girl he’s ever fucked and trust me,” Carter laughed it off, “that list is long!”
“Enough!” James snapped so loud the entire kitchen fell into silence. “You can insult me all you like, Carter but don’t talk to her like that ever again.”
Carter stayed quiet, giving Kara a sympathetic glance.
“You let him get you pregnant?” Jessica slithered toward her with a face that had started to turn a scarlet red. “Like actually pregnant with a baby?”
“Do not answer that.” James cut in before Kara got a reply out.
“Why can’t she?” Jessica snarked. “Can’t you keep your dick in a condom? It’s not rocket science.”
“You really are a bitch,” James shot at Jessica.
“Well, you’re a… player. Just like you played Kara a year ago and you’re playing her again.”
James almost laughed. “What an educated conclusion, my life feels complete now.”
“See, Kara!” Jessica pointed at him. “He can’t even take it seriously.”
“No one could take you seriously!” James argued. “Your version of a good time is dropping in on your best friend and expecting her to entertain you, not taking into account what she’s been dealing with the past three bloody months.”
Jessica snorted. “She’s my best friend.”
“She was.” James corrected and Jessica’s eyes widened.
“Can we stop now?” Kara stepped in between them when she couldn’t stand it further.
James glanced at her and grunted, stepping back toward the counters upon her request.
Jessica didn’t sway as easily out of it though. “What do you even see in her?”
“What?” Kara’s eyes welled from the hurt the abrupt and insensitive question caused her.
“Sorry, Kara, but you know what you are.”
“God, just shut up!” James finally exploded. “You’ve never been nice to Kara, ever. You’re rude, pest-like and I know when you look at her how jealous you are.”
Kara grabbed his bicep out of desperation to shut him up. “James.”
He held up his hand to silence her while failing to take his eyes off Jessica. Her blonde friend stared back at him like a fire breathing dragon but she hadn’t managed to sputter a lick of fire.
He stepped closer to Jessica. “The thing is, though, I would be too if I were you. Kara’s a woman and well, you’re a little girl. That’s why I’m not attracted to you, so stop beating yourself up about it.”
Jessica’s expression flatlined and Kara shut her eyes with the ending statement. She felt his hand as he scooped up her elbow.
“Let’s go pack.”
James led her forward out of the kitchen, making his way to the bedroom at the back of the apartment. He shut the door, even locked it and Kara felt her anxiety sink with the protection it created from the rest of the apartment.
“Why did you say all that?”
James glanced at her and walked to the closet. “Because it’s true.”
“It’s not though. Jessica doesn’t like you like that…” She watched him grab two suitcases.
“Are you joking?” He walked past her and chucked them on the bed. “The first time I met her at that party you took me to, she hit on me.”
“She did?”
“Then she figured out I liked you and decided to hate me instead.”
“No.” Kara shook her head.
“Your friend is horrendous. I’m sorry but she is.”
Kara shut her eyes with her pained exhale and felt him stop in front of her. Her eyes opened when his breath touched her cheeks.
“As great fun as it was telling her off, everything I said was true. You are a woman and I love that about you. You’re kind, generous and selfless.” His hands lifted to her waist. “And I know you’re going to make the best mother and for all those reasons and many more, that’s why I want you to be my wife.”
Kara gulped from the shame she felt. “How can you say all that to me after the last twelve hours?”
“Because I love you with incomprehensible amounts of my soul.”
She understood those words he said so well, because that’s how much she loved him too. That’s why a year without him had ached her into an oblivion of poor choices and that’s why she couldn’t say no. Not to his choice to move her. Not to his need to protect her and the baby or any of it. Being with him was much nicer than being without him.