Right Side Up ((MMG Novella)) (5 page)

“Are you okay?” I asked, knocking on the bathroom door. I listened to him ramble about how he wasn’t feeling well. Finally, when I’d heard enough, I told him I hope he would be able to come to the party tonight. Before he could answer, I escaped from the room. As I passed by the stairs on the way to the garage, I heard Mac crying upstairs. A part of me wanted to run. Max could take care of Mac. In the end, my maternal instincts took over, and I headed up the stairs to my son. When I got to Mac’s room, I locked the door behind me. Then I walked over to the bookshelf where the monitor sat and turned it off. After a quick diaper change, I carried Mac over to the rocking chair. He was fussy, so I sat down to rock him. Finally, I let the tears fall.

*     *     *

Two weeks later

“Yes Piper, Max,
Mac and I are coming to Joss and Kurt’s on Sunday. Remember, Garrett and the guys want to talk to everyone.” I watched Max walk into the house carrying Mac. The boys had been in the back yard having guy-time when Piper called to remind me about the upcoming pool party. I took in Max’s windblown hair and chiseled features and sighed. My husband sure painted a pretty picture…one I was afraid to get close to, much less touch anymore.

A lot of crazy had taken place in the past two weeks. As it turns out, Dillon’s friend, Isabella, is actually more than a friend. He met her shortly before he met me, at which time, he unknowingly got her pregnant. As it was a one night stand, Isabella did not tell Dillon about the baby. However, that changed when her ex claimed the baby was his and decided he wanted paternity rights. This forced Isabella to come clean to Dillon and ask for a paternity test. By the time the test came back positive, Dillon had already screwed things up and Isabella had gone back to Charleston. Shockingly, Dillon stepped up and went after her. He brought both she and Amelia back to Charlotte to live with him.

“What was that about?” Max asked, as I hung up the phone.

“Piper is excited about this weekend. She was checking to make sure we weren’t going to bail.”

Max and I still hadn’t talked about what happened two weeks ago. I didn’t bring it up and neither did he. He also hadn’t touched me. At first I didn’t care. I didn’t want him to touch me. I was beyond hurt by his actions. Then, I started thinking about it. The more I thought, the angrier I got. Every night, we lay side by side in our bed, a bed where he once couldn’t get enough of me, and pretended everything was okay. Everything was far from okay. I know it was childish and petty, but with my anger came a need to fight back. I needed for my husband to see me as a sexy, desirable woman, again. So, one night last week, while standing in my closet, I noticed the bag full of lingerie I had purchased. Sucking in a deep breath, I slid off my tee-shirt and shorts and slipped into a peach bustier and boy short getup. I stared at myself in the mirror. I wasn’t able to breast feed Mac any longer, which saddened me. However, when I lost the baby weight, my breasts hadn’t gone with it. They were huge. The Pilates and toning made my body look better than ever, something Max would know if he bothered to look. I pulled the ponytail holder from my hair and twisted it back up into a messy, sexy bun on top of my head. Then, casually, I strolled out into the bedroom. The look of pure lust on Max’s face when he saw what I was wearing, confirmed he still wanted me. I slid into bed next to him and waited for him to jump me.

When he turned off the light and muttered a low, “Night,” my heart broke in two.

For the next five days, I proceeded to torture my husband. Each night, I picked a new outfit. A few times, I stood in the closet and held my hand over my mouth to muffle the hysterical laughter that threatened to break free. Some of the outfits were downright raunchy. How I kept a straight face, while prancing around so skimpily clad in his presence, I will never know. I knew my husband still wanted me. It was impossible for him to hide his physical response to me. In fact, the
only
validation I received from him was his hard cock. The first two nights of project
Win-Max-Back
, neither of us got a wink of sleep. The third night, after what seemed like forever, I felt him slip out of bed. When I heard the bathroom door click shut, I tiptoed across the room and placed my ear against it. Tears welled as I listened to the sound of my husband masturbating. I wanted to open that door and take over. I wanted to cry. I wanted to give up. Instead, I crawled back into bed and, finally, drifted into a fitful sleep. Last night was more of the same. He waited until he thought I was asleep, before slipping into the bathroom and jacking off. It killed me, but it also gave me hope.

With tonight’s dinner of burgers and grilled corn, we each had a few beers. That’s another thing that had changed since that day. Max hadn’t been drinking as much, at least, not in my presence. Tonight, he seemed slightly more relaxed, which was good because it was my final night of torture. Not only was I a walking zombie from lack of sleep, but I was fresh out of slutty outfits.

After putting Mac to bed, I headed for the bathroom, where I brushed my hair and teeth. As I strolled into my closet, I peeked out the door at Max. He was wearing a pair of royal blue boxer briefs that fit him like a glove. Watching him do something as simple as walk across the room had me all hot and bothered. The man rocked those briefs like no other.
I seriously need to get laid.

I’d saved the best outfit for last and, had to admit, it was a doozy. As I pulled on the hooker red stretchy number, I realized it was completely see through. With a shrug, I smoothed it over my hips and smothered a giggle. My boobs were practically sewn into this baby. One wrong move and I would literally blow my top. I didn’t bother to put on panties because they would ruin the overall point I was trying to make. When I finally got the nerve to leave the closet, the bedroom lights were already out.
So he’s going to play it this way,
I thought, as I made my way over to the bed. Slowly, I slid in next to him and waited. After a few minutes of nothing, I rolled on my side to face him.
Still nothing.
I slid closer and waited for him to jump from the bed. When he inhaled a deep breath of air and released it, I realized he was asleep.
Shit! What do I do now?

For what seemed like hours, I lay there next to him, soaking up his warmth. This was the closest I had been to him since the day he ejected me from is lap.
What has happened to us?
Max shifted from his back to his side in his sleep. My hand now lay directly in front of his groin. In my attempt to move it out of the way, I grazed across his thigh. I squeezed my eyes shut and froze, hoping he wouldn’t wake up. After a minute or so, I relaxed and considered my circumstances
. I can either go for broke or go to sleep. These are my choices. Screw it, I’m going for broke.
Slowly, I placed my hand on his hip and waited. When he didn’t stir, I gave myself a mental high-five and slowly slid it down to his upper thigh. He didn’t wake and stop me, so I boldly inched my hand down and nearly choked when my fingers grazed across his massive erection. I couldn’t stop my eyes from bugging…and my nipples from aching…and my other hand from slipping down between my legs. Somewhere in the back of my mind, this seemed wrong, but once I’d started on this path, I couldn’t stop. A part of me wanted him to wake up and stop me. Another part hoped he would jump me. Either way, I needed for him to remember how good this was between us. Slowly, but firmly, I stroked my hand up and down his hard cock. It wasn’t long before his breath hitched and his hips began moving in tandem with my hand. I knew he was awake when he sucked in a huge breath of air and let out a long lustful sounding moan. The painful bite of his hand as it slammed down on top of mine, made me jump.

I tried to yank my hand back, but he held it firmly in place. His eyes flew open and seared through me. “Is this what you want?” he harshly grated. When his other hand slid up and released his erection from the confines of his boxer briefs, I wondered what in the world he was doing. Hand fused to mine, he forced our fingers around his now, very bare shaft. With long, fast strokes, he pumped our hands up and down his hard length. There was zero care or finesse in this act. It was raw and brutal. Embarrassingly so, it still managed to turn me on. As Max worked both of our hands up and down, I worked myself. Pretty soon, we were both panting and moaning and coming together. Despite all of its wrongness, it felt right because it was with the man I loved more than myself. As soon as he caught his breath, Max jerked away from me. He shot from the bed and stormed to the bathroom, where he immediately turned on the shower. Ten minutes later, he was dressed and out the door. I flopped back on the bed and screamed in frustration which, of course, woke up Mac. Finally, around three in the morning, I found sleep. Max did not return home that night…or the next and I didn’t bother to track him down.

By the time I arrived at Kurt and Joss’s house for the pool party on Sunday, I was done. My dad had stopped by earlier to talk to Max, and see Mac. I told him Max was at the garage. From my puffy eyes and dirty hair, he knew I was lying, but he didn’t call me on it. I was so close to the edge. All it would take was one teeny tiny push and I would tip right over. I managed to get in a short nap with Mac and made sure I was dressed to kill, before leaving for Joss and Kurt’s. This was the only armor I had left. Everything else was gone. Not only had my husband emotionally abandoned me, he had now physically done so as well. I was over it. I was beyond mad. Max could screw himself for all I cared.

As planned, I arrived early with Mac and entered through the kitchen. Max was standing there, waiting for me. Like a vulture, he swooped down on Mac. In three seconds, he had him out of his car seat and up on his shoulder. He kissed the side of his head and whispered in his little ear. My heart hurt. Not able to stand one more second of him loving on our son, I handed him the diaper bag and exited the room.

“Ells,” Max quietly called out behind me. Ignoring him, I kept going. Enough was enough. Taking a deep breath, I plastered a smile on my face and entered the living room where everyone was hanging out. Of course, the only available seat in the whole damn room would have to be the tiny love seat. I sat down and tried not to roll my eyes when Max sat beside me. He held Mac with one hand and placed the other along the back of the loveseat, right at the nape of my neck.

As Garrett started in about Dooley and whatnot, Max handed Mac over to me. I wasn’t really paying attention to anything in particular, I was just trying not to break down and cry. The doorbell rang and Kurt went to answer it. This caught my attention and I looked up. My jaw dropped when Max’s little sister, Sarah, entered the room. She was supposed to be in Scotland finishing her final year of University.

“Sarah? What are you doing here?” I blurted. I all but tossed Mac at Max and ran to give her a big hug.

“I’ve missed you so much,” I told her.

“You have no idea,” she whispered in my ear. Out loud for everyone else to hear, she said, “Since I couldn’t come home when Mac arrived, I decided to surprise you. If I’m interrupting, I can come back later. I was just hoping to see you all and my new baby nephew.”

Max and I gave her a big hug and she grabbed Mac and held him while we talked. The whole time I tried to focus on Sarah and not on how incredible my husband looked in his green swim trunks and form fitting tee that showed off his large shoulders, muscular arms and tight abs. I couldn’t help breathing in his enticing leather and spice scent. I was about to lose my cool, when Piper yelled she had an announcement to make. This allowed me to step away from Max and take a breath of fresh air. I felt his eyes on me, as Piper proceeded to announce a new wedding date, and Joss finally came clean about her pregnancy. After both announcements, I excused myself to the pool area.

An hour later, the party was in full swing. The whole gang was here, which normally would thrill me to no end. Today, I simply wanted to go home. My lack of sleep and the heat of the sun were an exhausting combination. I did, however, enjoy hanging with the girls. That is, except for a few bimbos from Dragonfly Joss had invited. Sue something or other kept making goo-goo eyes at Max. Before Mac, this would have made me laugh. The way things were now, it only made me jealous and angry. I kept an eye on her for most of the day. As long as she stayed away from my man, things would be just fine. Max sat me next to him at dinner. I couldn’t eat. My nerves were shot and there was absolutely no way I could keep food down.

“Will you hold Mac for a second, babe?” Max asked. His sweet endearment made me want to cry. I took Mac from him and watched him walk into the house. I kissed Mac’s neck all over and smiled when he let out a squeal. He had just started squealing and each time he did it, Max and I tried to get him to do it over and over again. I was in the middle of trying to get a repeat performance, when Max sat back down with a giant plate of food. He slid it in front of me and took Mac back. “You need to eat,” he said.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Baby, you are smoking hot, as always, but you have lost too much weight. You need to eat.”