20. 🍸 Fireball

**KEKE**

This weekend, Justice and I have skirted around each other like strangers. The day Cameron found out about his parentage, I waited up for Justice in vain, my imagination running over minefields and poison meadows and straight into another woman territory. At three o’clock in the morning I finally went to bed.
He came in at dawn and headed straight for the shower. Probably to wash off all the sexual sweat he worked up.
I alternated between a boiling jealousy and sinking disappointment knowing he went to some other woman.
As the shower came on down the hall, I lay in Lilli’s bed, cursing myself. I tried to keep my feelings out of the mix, but they snuck up on me and got tangled with yet another man who’d carelessly tossed them aside.
That morning, while I stumbled around bleary-eyed in my winter coat and fuzzy pajamas, Justice seemed the picture of ease. Dressed in a turquoise Henley that highlighted his eyes and stressed his muscled physique, he ignored the awkwardness at the breakfast table to type out text after text.
He may have left his troubles at some woman’s bedroom door, but Cameron still has his.
And he’s withdrawn as ever.
D’Andre and Seth seemed to have taken the fact that they may be half-siblings to their youngest brother in stride, both saying it made no difference. They’d never brought up wanting to know about their paternal side because they weren’t interested enough to ask.
Cameron, so different from his brothers, has taken everything to heart. These past few days he has either been squabbling with his siblings or smarting off to Justice and me.
The house has turned into a war zone.
Strife and conflict make me want to run and seek a new adventure.
This time, I’m not running.
I made a promise to stay, and as bad as the atmosphere is, I’ll hang in there and see it through.
It’s time I grew up.
This morning, with Justice nowhere in sight, I make the coffee. While it is brewing, I get out eggs, bread for the toast, and pre-cooked bacon. When everything is ready, I call the kids from the living room to come and eat.
Justice comes into view, his thick bed-hair tossed and too incredibly sexy. He sits down with the kids, without a greeting to me. With his black and blue tie-dyed shirt rolled up to the crook of his elbows, I watch him shovel more than enough protein and carbs on his plate to feed a village.
After grace, he says, “Since you guys are off for a break, Pippa wants you to come over and stay until Thanksgiving.”
The kids light up at the mention of Pippa and even Cameron’s face creases into a happy smile.
My reaction to the good news is the opposite. My face gets warmer than the coffee I’m drinking while my stomach churns and pounds. I pick at my food while Justice and the guys eat everything on the table except the salt and pepper shakers.
After they clean their plates, Justice tells them to get ready and to pack only what they need, and that includes their toothbrushes.
The kids, with shouts of joy, jump up and thunder down the hall, eager to leave.
The rapid river of jealousy coursing through me at the thought of her, tears up every vessel, organ, and cell it touches.
My entire being aches with it.
That Pippa has not only Justice’s love, she has the kids’ as well.
And even sight unseen, I hate her already.
I stand and stack the empty plates with a little more force than necessary while Justice spreads himself like a blanket in his chair, sipping his coffee. His eyes remain fixed on the TV as he listens to the weatherman softly spout the day’s prediction.
Being ignored does not sit well with me, never has.
Never will.
In a burst of anger, I bite out, “Do you want me to come with?”
Justice avoids my gaze by throwing a look to the sink and all the dirty dishes I’ll have the joy of cleaning before heading to Clancy’s. “No. I’m staying for dinner. If you could help Sam run the bar, I would appreciate it.” He stands pushing in his chair with both hands, keeping his focus on the table. “Last year around this time, it was quiet, so you’ll have it easy, but just in case, I’ll be there before closing.”
He leaves without waiting for a reply.
And I do my best not to watch him go.


Sam and I are in the back counting the take when Justice arrives.
Two hours after closing.
“Go home, Sam. I’ve got this.”
Sam leaves with a grateful smile, wishing me a nice holiday. Justice walks him out then heads to the kitchen. Less than ten minutes later, he comes back with what smells like a much-needed cup of coffee.
I don’t even bother to look up, or say “thank you” when he sets the steaming cup near my hand.
Why?
Because I am beyond pissed.
Not only did Justice lie about when he would show up, he lied about how busy it would get.
Well... maybe he didn’t lie about that.
I guess he had no way of knowing that a large group of office workers had come to the bar to have a going away drink before they went their separate ways for the break.
The tide of people swept Sam and me off our feet. We poured drinks like we were giving them away for free. My Clancy’s shirt got smudged with dirt when I had to lift not one, not two, but four heavy-ass peanut sacks from the storage room and refill the fast-as-I-filled-them-they-were-emptied tins.
After it all was said and done, it took Sam and me almost an hour to sweep the bar and two garbage bags to get rid of all the trash and husks.
Needless to say, I’m tired, hangry, and when I lift the coffee to my mouth and my eyes to his face, I can definitely say I’m not in the mood for the two-dimpled smile Justice is giving me.