“If Joey leaves me, she can have it all. I won’t give a shit at that point.”
“Josh …” His tone is full of warning, but I don’t care.
“Look, we can go after Jules, slap whatever we want on her, but Joey is off limits.”
“You’re making a mistake,” he says, causing me to shrug.
“The way I see it, Matt, the mistake was made when I started dating Jules.” I leave him standing there and retreat back to the bedroom where I find Joey on the phone. She looks at me before telling whoever is on the other line that she’ll call them back later.
“Who was that?” I ask.
“Um … Bronx.”
In an instant my level of anxiety skyrockets. I can feel my face turning red as anger boils within.
“You were talking to Bronx about our problems?” I can’t help but seethe as I ask her that question.
She huffs, setting her phone down on the nightstand. “Our problems are public. It’s not like I told him anything he doesn’t already know.”
“It’s our business, Joey.”
“And Jules made it public, Josh. She made it everyone’s business that she’s pregnant and has been for a while, and is just now getting around to tell you. Who the hell does that? How did she not know before you went on the show?”
“She says she tried to tell me after, but I walked out on her to fi
nd you, except you had left with Bronx.”
“Bronx is my friend.” She sighs, rubbing her head.
“I’m your husband.”
“Josh, this isn’t a tit for tat. I was talking to a friend because he called. He’s concerned. He knows how I feel about Jules. And he knows her. He knows what she’s capable of. He doesn’t think the baby is yours and thinks you should get a paternity test before you commit to anything.”
Bronx and I are not friends, and it makes matters worse that Joey insists on keeping him in her life. I know they were friends before the show, but that doesn’t help the situation. He had a thing for Jules and was the catalyst for breaking us up. I’ll never look at him the same, or ever want to be friendly with him, but maybe he’s right. Matt seems to think so as well.
“I know how you feel about her, too, Joey.” I get down on my knees in front of her and take her hands in mine. My thumb moves over her engagement ring, the one I placed on her finger officially almost a month ago. “But I need you here, with me. I need you to help me figure this shit out because I’m scared as fuck to lose you.”
Joey leans forward and kisses me, holding my face to hers. This is the first time I’ve been able to feel this way with her in over twenty-four hours and it feels like the first time we kissed on stage. Rising from my knees, I push her back onto the bed slightly and silently rejoice when she moves on her own accord. With my body hovering over hers, I lay down on her gently, relishing in the feel of her leg as it hitches over my hip.
“I love you, Joey, and nothing is going to change that,” I whisper into her ear as I kiss down her neck.
“I’m scared.”
I look into her eyes and see the unshed tears. My poor girl has cried so many tears in the last day that I didn’t think she’d have any more. “I know. I am, too.” I roll over onto my side and bring her with me, holding her leg as it drapes over my body.
“Matt is here. He has some papers for Jules to sign; one of them is ordering a paternity test. I think until we have the results we try to function as normal.”
“It’s going to be hard with the circus going on.”
“I know, but we can’t let them win. We can’t let Jules think she’s coming between us. Yesterday you found the dress of your dreams, let’s set a date. We’ll announce it and make sure we’re only focusing on us.”
“Okay,” she says, nestling into my neck. “But, please promise me something?”
“Anything.”
“That she never comes before me.”
“I promise you on my life that she will never come before you.” And that’s a promise that I intend to keep. It doesn’t take long for Joey to find some sleep, but even then the whimpers I hear from her continue to break my heart. I don’t know how long I hold her before returning to Matt. I just know it wasn’t long enough.