I Stole Your Love Ch. 02

"You took her back though, eventually," I said disgusted by the fact he did.

"She's good in the sack," he slurred. "I guess now that she's not pumping every Johnny, Tommy, and Jimmy out there anymore—we can get back to the original plan of growing old together."

I shook my head and took a drink.

"You're a stronger man than I am, Mike. I want nothing to do with my cheating ex."

"You love her though, don't ya?"

"It's fading a lot, but yeah in a small way."

"Yeah, our difference is that you're young enough to start over and fall in love again. As you love Andi more, you'll love your ex less. I never had someone else to love. I just kept on loving my cheater."

What a sad old man he was. He was trapped by her and I felt bad for him. I don't see myself growing old with my ex. Maybe the grandkid made his story different? Who knew? To each, their own.

I finished my drink, said goodnight to them, and wondered why Mike felt comfortable enough to tell me all of that. I suppose, I could take it as a warning to stay the hell away from the women in that family and run while I still could. I could also take it as him telling me I don't have to worry about Andi. Fucked up family indeed.

I walked through the kitchen and didn't see anyone. No one was out in the backyard either. I walked into the living room and found Jimmy watching a cartoon. I sat on the recliner and in seconds Jimmy was on my lap. His eyes were barely staying open and he was asleep in minutes.

I heard voices from behind and recognized Sara and her mom talking.

"She says it's over for them, Mom. She's tired of Jim's lack of commitment."

"I don't know. Last she told me was that she was using him to get her rocks off when she needed."

Just what I needed—another seed of doubt planted in my mind.

I was going to get up and leave but Jimmy was out like a light and I didn't want to disturb him. I stayed and listened.

"There you are," Ann said.

Andi answered, "I was looking for Derek. I saw his car was still here when I loaded up the presents. Have you seen him?"

"Maybe he's with Dad and Grandpa on the basement?" Sara asked.

"Maybe, I'll check," she answered.

"Wait," Ann said. "What's the deal with you and Derek? Does he know about Jim?"

"Only that there's no relationship outside of his involvement with Jimmy."

I sighed and was glad until she continued, "He can never know about us being friends with benefits, is that clear? He came over this morning as Jim was leaving and freaked out. Fuck! If he knew Jim spent the night he'd never come back."

"You guys just met for crying out loud. You're not exclusive yet," Ann spat.

"No, I haven't slept with him and I've only known him a short time, but he's sensitive because of his ex cheating on him."

"Jesus, these men and their egos..."

I stood and carried Jimmy around the corner which cut her off.

"It's not about our ego," I said as they gasped, surprised that I was there. "It's about being lied to and blatantly disrespected."

"Derek..." Andi said as I handed Jimmy to her.

"Here, take your son, I'm gonna get going. I'm sorry you couldn't be honest with me again. God! What is it with you women? If you're not a cheating whore, you're a liar."

I shook my head as I walked away. Three women were yelling at me for different reasons. Two for the whore comment and one begging me not to go.

"Let him go," Mike said from behind. "You've done enough to the poor guy from what I heard."

It's true we were exclusive, hell, I'm not even sure we were a couple. Thinking about it, I knew we weren't a couple and I wasn't bothered by her sleeping with Jim. The lie bothered me.

As I was getting in my car, she was running out of the house yelling that she didn't lie. She never lied. I drove away before she got to my car and I wondered if she did actually lie. I had to think about what she and Jim had said to me.

To be continued...