Twisted Reality (Blind Reality #2) (13 page)

“Fuck, Joey. Ah fucking squeeze me, baby.”

The most intense, toe-curling orgasm washes over me, leaving me panting. It spurs Josh to move faster, his knees knocking into the cabinet below me. He grunts as he finds his release and collapses awkwardly on top of me.

“Was that make up sex?” he asks.

“I don’t know. We weren’t really fighting. I’m not sure what we’d call it.”

He kisses his way up my chest and finally to my mouth. It’s deep and hungry, leaving me longing for more. Josh helps me off the counter; my sweat-laden skin sticking to the cabinet is uncomfortable and I tell him that I’m going to shower.

The water is lukewarm when I step in and perfect. And when his arms encase me from behind and he holds me to his chest with his mouth pressed down onto my shoulder, I feel him start to cry. I let him get it all out, under the mask of the water and do so without making him cry in front of me.

By the time we’re out of the shower and dressed, Matt is seated comfortably on the couch with his feet up on the coffee table. A bottle of beer dangles from his hand and if he is curious about what we were doing, he doesn’t hint at it.

Josh sits next to him, pulling me into his lap. I feel like a high school girl all over again visiting her boyfriend at his friend’s house, only that was usually done in a darkened basement with a purple light and those velvety Jimi Hendrix posters all over the wall. As I look around the room, it’s not a far cry from where I am now with the drapes closed tight. I crave the natural light and want to go outside, but I’m not ready. My experience with the media was not a pleasant one and I have a feeling things will only get worse from here on out.

Tomorrow will be bad enough when Josh returns to work and I’m stuck here with my thoughts, wondering what is happening. Jules was able to get on set and see him, and yet I can’t be there. It doesn’t sound right to me.

Matt finishes his beer, offering Josh one. He declines. It doesn’t go unnoticed that Matt excluded me and that honestly puts me on edge. I know he was in the room with Josh and Jules when the show ended and it makes me wonder if Matt is Team Jules right now.

I jump slightly when there’s a knock on the door and before we can react, Matt is yelling that he’ll get it. The hairs on my neck and arms stand straight up when I hear “Joshie” falling from Jules’ mouth. I attempt to move, but Josh clamps his hands down on my waist, holding me in position.

My eyes are fully focused on Josh and there’s a noticeable tick in his jaw. Someone told her where we are not so much the hotel, but the room—and I’m willing to bet it was Matt. The more I start to think about things, the more I’m wondering how much of this is a ploy by the people he’s paying to take care of him. First it’s his lawyer, Jason, with falsifying documents and now his agent. Shouldn’t they be protecting him?

I can’t even turn my head to look at her. She’s beautiful and ugly, and carrying my husband’s baby. I may have his ring on my finger, but she’s had him longer in all the other ways that matter. Is he going to wake up one day and decide that he wants to be with her and the baby, leaving me by the wayside? That’s my fear, and it seems everyone around him wants that to happen.

“Joshie,” she whines, making my insides turn.

I lean into him. “I hate that nickname.”

“So do I,” he mumbles back. “How’d you find out where I was?”

“I have my ways.”

Josh shoots Matt, who has now busied himself at the small dinner table, a glare.

“I doubt it. Who told you?”

And now I’m looking at her, analyzing her with her perfectly manicured nails, styled hair, and cute as ever baby bump. I’m green with jealousy that it’s her and not me.

“Doesn’t matter. We need to talk.”

He shakes his head. “I have nothing to say, Jules.”

“Well I do.” She looks at me and raises her eyebrow as if I’m in on some hidden secret with her. I stare back, trying to hold my resolve. “Do you mind?”

“Not at all,” I say pointedly.

“Josh, tell her to leave. This is a private matter. As I told Matt on the phone, you and I will discuss everything to do with
our
child together. She’s not to be involved.”

Just this afternoon I told my mother I was ready to be a step mom, even when I’m not, but I was going to put forth my best effort because it would be supporting my husband. Now that I’m sitting here, listening to her, I want to scratch her eyes out and watch blood drip down her face while she cries to Josh about how mean I am. It would be comical, if I was a violent person, but I’m not. Even when I found Tony in bed with my best friend I just left. I was defeated and right now it’s looking like I’m heading in the same direction.

“Joey is my wife and it’s time you accept it. If we’re going to co-parent, it will be the three of us. This isn’t up for debate, Jules. You don’t get to come in and interrupt my life because you lied to me. You’re fucking lucky I don’t sue you for fraud, and don’t think that I’m not contemplating the idea. Everything you’ve done since I went on the show has been to undermine Joey and I’ve had enough.”

“You were supposed to be with me, Josh. That show was fucking stupid, a joke. Well funny ha ha, it’s over. Rob told me that you were getting an annulment and yet
she’s
still here.”

“Things changed in the house,” Josh says, kissing me on the cheek. I can’t help but smile, knowing full well that it’s only adding fuel to the fire.

Jules throws her hands up in the air and looks at Matt. “You told me she’d be gone by the morning. Make sure it happens.”

By the time I realize what was said, the door slams and I’m being tossed onto the couch. I let out a scream when I hear the crunching of bones as Matt’s head flies back and crashes into the wall.

I
react without thinking. The rage I feel is released in a crushing blow as my fist collides with Matt’s face. His head pops back, slamming into the wall as Joey’s deafening scream echoes in my ears. Blood gushes from his face and seeps through the gaps between his fingers as he holds his broken nose between his hands. I stand there with my chest heaving, waiting for him to do something in retaliation, but he doesn’t. He looks at me, saying nothing.

“You. Work. For. Me!” I yell, enunciating each word so he understands what I’m saying. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Just doing my job,” he mumbles, adding more to my confusion. If I’m his job, why isn’t he protecting me? Why isn’t he protecting my wife?

Joey appears, pushing me out of the way so she can hand Matt some ice and a towel for his face. I shake my head, knowing that I’ve overstepped, but the more I think about it, the angrier I become.

“I’ll do that,” I tell Joey, moving her away from Matt. I don’t want her cleaning up his mess or mine. It’s bad enough she’s involved in this shit. The white towel issued by the hotel turns red immediately, soaking through in no time.

“Do you want me to call housekeeping?” she asks. I shake my head; I can’t trust them right now. “Maybe to get more towels.”

She nods and rushes over to the phone while I head around the counter and grab the roll of paper towels.

“My wife shouldn’t have to clean up your mess.” I toss the roll at him, and he fumbles his catch but is able to hang on.

“You hit me!” His voice is hollow and that’s likely because he can’t breathe through his nose.

Leaning onto the table, I look him square in the eyes. “Start talking, Matt. I’ve already fired Jason, and as I see it, you’re next. I won’t put up with any bullshit. I’m so fucking done with all of this. How the fuck did Jules find out which room we are in?”

He looks from me to where Joey is talking on the phone and back to me. “I told Jules.” Matt closes his eyes and acts like I’m about to hit him. I want to, but Joey wouldn’t approve—although if she had heard what he just said, she may want to beat his ass herself.

“Why?”

Matt shakes his head, refusing to tell me.

“Get out. Take your shit with you.”

“You need me.”

I turn to face him. “What I need is for you to be my friend, to be on my side and not Jules’. What I need is for my agent to be there to make sure shit doesn’t happen to my wife when I’m not around. Do you really think I can trust you? This was her safe place. The one place where no one could touch her and you let Jules know where we were. Get out, Matt. Your services are no longer needed.”

Out of the corner of my eye I see Joey standing there, watching everything go down. Matt packs his shit and leaves, cursing me every step he takes until the door shuts behind him.

Joey’s arms come around my waist and I turn to face her. “I’m so sorry. I feel like I’m fucking everything up for you.”

My hands caress her cheeks and I kiss her lightly. “It’s not you, Joey. Jules has this way of worming her way into lives and once she’s there, it’s hard to get rid of her.”

“This worries me, Josh. She’s going around telling the important people in your life that you’re the father of her baby. What if you’re not? Have you considered that?”

I take a step back and let my hands drop. Jules likes to manipulate, but she’s never lied to me. When I thought she cheated, Bronx confirmed that she didn’t. It makes sense that this would be my baby.

“I don’t think she’d lie to me about a baby.”

“Why not?” Joey counters.

“Why would she? She already knows I’m not going back to her, so why bring an innocent life into this mess? Even if you and I were to divorce, I wasn’t going back to her.”

Joey shakes her head. “I don’t know, Josh. A woman scorned and all that shit. She wants you back and what a better way to tie you to her than a baby. Bronx said—”

“I don’t give a shit about what Bronx said. He’s not my friend.”

“He’s mine, though, and he wants to see me happy.”

“He kept you from me,” I say, stepping forward. “He took you from me instead of asking me what was going on. There are no manners in Hollywood, he could’ve easily walked into that room and asked me, but he didn’t. He played fucking hero and helped you hide. I looked everywhere for you, Joey. And he knew exactly where you were.”

My hands go to my hair and pull in frustration. “Ugh,” I yell as I kick the wall.

“Why can’t you just accept the notion that this baby might not be yours?”

“Because she wouldn’t do that to me,” I yell even though I don’t mean to. Joey blanches at my words and steps away from me, moving into the bedroom and shutting the door. I know I should follow her, but I can’t. Not right now. I need to think.

I pace the room, walking back and forth from the window and door. Deep in my heart I know Jules wouldn’t lie about the baby, she knows how I feel. Even when we broke up, we stayed friends and hung out, which is probably what led to the situation we’re in. It was always one too many drinks and we’d end up places I didn’t want to go back to. The only time I stopped talking to her was when she was with Bronx and there’s no possible way it’s his baby. The odds are it’s mine and I’m stuck no matter what.

When I finally cool down, I go to the bedroom only to find the door locked. I try the knob a few times, attempting to shake it loose, but it doesn’t budge.

“Joey, open the door.” My voice is as quiet as possible. The walls are paper-thin and we’ve already caused enough entertainment for the people next to us.

“Joey!” I jiggle the handle again, waiting for her to answer. The door remains locked and I can’t hear her moving around on the other side.
What the hell is she doing?