Breaking Conviction by Greer Rivers

Chapter Eight

Dean Jones stumbled into the laundry room from the garage and pressed the key fob to his white Corolla to lock it. Once the horn beeped, he jammed his keys back in his pocket and let the door slam behind him. The loud shake throughout the house made him wince as he realized it was late enough that Thea was likely asleep.

Shit.

He propped himself against the washing machine to gain his bearings before swiping his face to try to see past the spins. The sickly sweet smell of booze and another woman’s perfume stained his palm and he held his breath, eyeing the sink from the laundry room’s open door before glaring at the open door itself.

She never closes that shit, even though I’ve told her a million times she’s lettin’ the hot air in. Goddamn disrespectful. Dad woulda tanned my hide if I’d been so careless.

Dean shook his head and immediately regretted it as the very air around him seemed to wobble. Trying his best to ignore his disorientation, he staggered to the kitchen sink, pinballing against the counter, the refrigerator, and the breakfast table along the way.

He set the water temperature to scalding to clean off the evidence of his night out with the boys. Tonight, he’d let things go a little too far with the floozie near the pool table. They’d only gotten a little handsy with each other, though, so at least he hadn’t been unfaithful. She’d been hot as hell, too. He deserved a goddamn medal after turning down her offer for a quickie in the bar bathroom.

There was a time when he wouldn’t have even thought twice about giving a woman like her the fuck of her life. But, ever since he proposed to Naomi he’d been on his best behavior. As far as he was concerned, screwing around pre-proposal didn’t count and what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

It’d definitely been tempting though, especially since he’d taken the time out of his boys’ night to call his ungrateful fiancée, and she’d blown him off repeatedly. On the other hand, the woman at the bar had been making eyes at him all night. When was the last time Naomi had ever looked at him like that? Had she ever?

He couldn’t remember, and what sucked even more was that he was no doubt going to have to put up with Naomi’s prudish bullshit for a little while longer. Not too much, though. A man had needs, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could put up with his blue balls.

The last time he’d flirted with Naomi, she’d curled up into a ball and laid there like roadkill, insisting she wasn’t in the mood. His own woman had told him no again, but then she’d had the audacity to act like the victim and make him out to be some kind of goddamn villain. It’d pissed him the hell off. The woman had grown up too soft. She wouldn’t know a villain from a hero if it could save her life.

He brought his hands up to see if he could still smell the woman on him, but his senses were too dull from the alcohol. There was a full bottle of hand dish soap, the fucking fancy kind she always bought like they were made of money. The shit went down the drain, for chrissakes. Why did she always insist on spending money on brand-name soap, of all things? The thought made him irritated with her all over again, so he squirted enough on his hands to coat him from finger to forearm.

The light turned on, making him realize he was washing his hands in the dark like a crazy person.

“Dean?”

The object of his frustration was leaning against the hallway doorjamb as she rubbed her eyes. Half the time, she annoyed him nearly as much as he loved her, but fuck was she sexy all the goddamn time. Even after obviously just waking up with yellowed bruises still fading around her cheek.

He wished she’d stop washing her makeup off at night. It made him sick to his stomach to see the evidence of their last disagreement all over her face. She probably did it just to make him feel guilty.

Mission accomplished.

Still, the rest of her was smoking, with her thin cotton shirt showing off her peaked nipples. It was only barely long enough to conceal her cunt. His dick managed to twitch to life despite the beer in his system.

“Yeah, sweets, it’s me.” He turned back to the sink, mad at himself all over again for being too faithful to cheat and too picky to just take what was his. But he’d learned real quick that fucking Naomi when she wasn’t in the mood wasn’t much better than going at it solo. The latter always ended up being less of a hassle, too.

“You been drinkin’?”

He paused, washing his hands before answering her. “Yes. You know I went out with the guys. I ain’t a choirboy. I’mma have a drink or two.”

“Right, sure. Sorry. Did you, um… did y’all have liquor or beer?”

“Beer. What’s with the twenty questions, Naomi? I’m a goddamn adult.”

“Sorry, sorry. I was just a… just wonderin’ is all.”

Placated by her answer, he nodded before shutting off the water and drying his hands.

“Sorry if I woke you up. You finished watchin’ that show with Thea?”

Her eyes widened and she crossed her arms, making her hunch over and hiding her tiny tits. Whenever he got his cut from this recent job, the first thing he was going to do was get a boob job for his girl. She’d never mentioned it, but that’d make it an even better gift. There was no way she didn’t want one. A curvy ass was nice and all, but nothing beat going face-first into a pair of double Ds. Hers were barely B cups.

“Um, yeah. The movie’s done, but, uh… Thea’s still not sleepin’ well at night. Is it alright if I sleep with her again?”

He resisted rolling his eyes. There was only so much celibacy a man could take from his woman. She had to know he was getting tempted to look outside their relationship. How did she stand it? Was she getting it from someone else?

Maybe it’s one of those guys Mr. Dickins talked about a couple of weeks ago.

The accusation raced through his mind, but he forced himself to think of the other options. Mr. Dickins was a crazy, nosy asshole and the story seemed far-fetched as hell, but that was usually where the truth was found.

He couldn’t think that way, though. For now, he had to believe that Naomi wouldn’t betray him like that.

Naomi had been too beat up that day to risk being seen by anyone else. Just in case, Dean had even followed her all around town, making sure she was only taking that drive she’d said she’d needed. The fact that she left during their argument still burned him up, but after his outburst, he’d felt obligated to let her go. Besides, why the fuck would someone else drive her home? Her eyes had been swollen, sure, but she’d been able to see just fine when she’d left the house. He hadn’t overreacted that badly.

The excuses soothed his conscience. He wasn’t sure if he fully believed all of them, but right now he had to convince himself until he found out otherwise. If not, he’d be liable to bring it up with her and, of course, she’d make that shit an argument too.

He had to be on his best behavior, at least for a little while. Pretending to grovel sucked ass, but he was man enough to admit that during their last disagreement, he’d gone at least a little overboard.

She wanted him to go to therapy for his temper. He’d even caved and called some places, but when he finally reached a therapist who had an opening, he’d come to his senses and hung up. If anyone found out he was going to therapy, he’d be a laughingstock in this small town. Only weak ass pussies go to therapy.

“Dean?”

Her prompting brought him back to the conversation. How long had he been in his own head?

Shit, maybe I had more than I thought.

He blinked back to present. “Yeah?”

“Can I sleep with Thea tonight?”

The question made his already hazy vision cloud further, but he had to keep it together a little while longer, just until he was back in her good graces.

“If you think she needs it, then that’s fine, sweets. But I miss you in bed. It’s been a long-ass time. I don’t know how much more I can take. I’ve said sorry over and over. Why can’t you just forgive me already?”

A look he couldn’t decipher crossed her face before she cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. I-it’s not that. She’s just been havin’ nightmares lately.”

Poor kid. He knew how shitty nightmares could be, but hell, she had to get over them at some point. The kid needed to grow up eventually.

Not to mention, Naomi was always with Thea. Always. And now that she was doing that damn volunteering job, Naomi was going to have even less time for him. Just as soon as he thought it, he remembered his game plan for getting her to forgive him faster.

“Hey, what’re you doin’ tomorrow?”

His question obviously caught her off guard as she played with the hem of her shirt.

“Um, nothing planned yet, I don’t think.”

“Great. I made reservations at that new place in town.”

Her face brightened beautifully before confusion and wariness marred it. “Wait, Julep? For tomorrow night? I saw on social media that they’re booked up for months.”

He forced a grin, unsure about the swirling emotions in his chest. It was always a great feeling to impress her, but he also hated that she’d question him. He decided on the first.

“AIE Securities has a bigwig behind it who got me the res for two. You interested?”

“For two? What about Thea?”

He bit back a groan. Always with the kid. He loved his daughter, absolutely, but he wasn’t fucking obsessed like she was, damn.

“We’ll drop her off at the church.”

“Dean, she’s been kinda goin’ there an awful lot lately—”

“And whose fault is that, Naomi?” He huffed out a breath to try to calm himself. But the fucking nerve of her to bring it up now that she’s decided to spend her time away from home. “I work all the damn time right now, tryin’ to provide for this family. If you don’t want her bein’ away from home, then stay at home.”

She snapped her mouth shut and nodded once. He was almost grateful she’d listened to him for once until it registered in the back of his mind that his chest was heaving from raising his voice at her. The damn woman was more skittish than a rat. She used to have a fucking backbone, for crying out loud.

After a few calming breaths, he put on his best show to apologize, once again refraining from pointing out that she’d been the one to irritate him in the first place.

“Fuck, I’m sorry, sweets. I didn’t mean to light into you like that. It’s just like I said. I miss you. I feel like you’re never home and now I’m tryin’ to do somethin’ nice for you and it’s like you don’t even want it.”

Understanding finally washed over her face, although it was tainted with something else he couldn’t quite figure out. Damn booze. He read this woman like a book when he was sober.

“You’re right. And I do appreciate it. I-I’m excited. It should be fun. Thea will be fine at the church.”

He felt his lips lift at the corners in a smile and watched in awe as her whole body relaxed.

“Come ‘ere, sweets.” He held out his arms and waited for her to slowly make her way to him. When she did, he wrapped her up in an embrace and felt a sharp stab in his chest when he realized he couldn’t remember the last time they’d hugged like this. It was surprising how fucking good she felt in his arms, even when they weren’t having sex. The thought immediately made his dick jump against her belly and he felt her tense against him.

Goddamn prude.

He sighed against her soft auburn hair, frustrated she was still on the fence about him. His apology tour was taking a while this time, but she was worth it. At least she had been. If she put him off for too much longer, she might be too much of a hassle to put up with.

But he couldn’t stand the thought of letting her go. She was his and he was going to do everything in his power to keep her.