The Second Wife by Melinda Mulera (book club reads .txt) 📗

It was night fall and I couldn't help but try to start up a conversation in my head, the things Avery was bound to say and the things Hazel was bout to attack with. All the conversations led to either one of them dying.

"Why do you look so uncomfortable?" Hazel asked as he glanced at me from across the table. "Is the food okay?" He asked as he pointed with his hand towards my plate. "You were mindlessly adding salt. Does it even taste good?"

"Yap." I nodded.

Well actually no. It was too salty.

"Are you sure?" He asked and I nodded sharply again, nearly giving myself a headache. "Oh.. Okay then."

"Sh*t!"

Both Hazel and I glanced towards each other with fear stricken faces at the sudden voice beaming into the corridor.

Avery.

He's always cursing. Almost as though it was his birth language.

Hazel got up and slowly walked towards the arch leading to the dark corridor. I watched as he walked slowly and quietly when I knew too well who it was.

"To be honest, the tiles here have always been slippery." Avery sudden spoke out as he appeared at the arch, nearly hitting Hazel in the process. Hazel stepped back, looking confused. "You need to be careful Iris."

"Why on earth are you here?" Hazel asked as Avery walked past him and towards me.

"I thought it would be obvious since I wouldn't come for you." Avery hissed with a small roll of his eyes before he glanced at me. "I came to talk to Iris."

"Why?" Hazel asked. "How did you even know she was here?"

"She told me."

Avery....

"Why did you tell him?" Hazel asked and he glanced at me while Avery took the seat beside me. "What do you want, Avery?"

"Like I said, I want to talk to her." He sighed beside me. "Could you give us some space?" I glanced at Hazel who glanced between me and Avery for a moment. "I won't touch her."

"How long?" He sighed out as he asked.

"Thirty minutes." Avery said and Hazel nodded as he folded.

"No funny business." Hazel said with a deep frown before he walked out of the room. It wasn't long before we heard him climbing up the stairs before Avery sighed out.

"Would have gone worse." He chuckled and I simply glanced at him. "Why do you look angry? Is it about that nineteen year old girl?"

"No. I forgot about that." I rolled my eyes. "I'm not angry, my food's just really salty." I said as I glared down at my plate as he chuckled.

"You're really weird sometimes." He pointed out before suddenly grabbing my chin, turning my face to him. Without warning, his lips met mine roughly, forcing my heart to jump into my throat. He leaned back a few moments later as I stared at him in shock. "Since Hazel is going to keep a short leash on you, I better take advantage every time you're alone."

"I won't let you." I said as I slapped his arm from my face. "I love Hazel."

"Keep telling yourself that. You love me too." He rolled his eyes and sighed as he leaned onto the seat and dropped his eyes to my thighs. "Tina told me you were pregnant. Is it true?"

"Well... Um..." I cleared my throat and glanced around the place awkwardly.

"I know he told you not to tell me." Avery sighed out as he leaned onto the table, his eyes studying me sharply. "Probably because he knows it might be mine."

"What do you want, Avery?" I asked, getting a smirk from him.

"Rights, Iris." He said as he stared at me with a rather serious face.

"Rights to what?" I furrowed my brows as he laced his fingers and stared intensively at me. Almost making me feel uncomfortable.

"The baby, if it's mine." He said plainly, getting my throat to chock on its own. I blinked at him a few times before I glanced down at my laps.

"Well, Hazel already claimed it-"

"If it's mine, I will have rights to it. I don't care if he wants to raise it. You already know what's happening between us, why he got disowned right? What more will he think if it's mine? He will do the exact same thing. I won't live up to that." He explained as clearly as possible and I couldn't help but agree to him. He was right anyway. Hazel would treat him different.

"You have a valid point, but Hazel isn't going to check."

"Iris, you won't be with him your entire day, when you're not looking, he would take the kid to check. I would do the same thing just out of curiosity. Plus, there is no way in hell he would treat it the same as the ones you'll give him. He'll know this one might be different. What if he looks like me?" He asked as he holds onto my wrist. "Iris. You need to understand he situation here. The baby that belongs to me will be a Bronze. He might pretend to love it but he really won't."

"You can talk to Hazel about that." I sighed out and clenched my fists. "He seems really determined to be a father. I don't know about you. Plus, it's mine too so I also want to be close to it."

"Iris..." He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "He won't let me."

"Why can't you just talk properly with him? Is your past that dark?" I asked and he took in a sharp breath before letting it out.

"I'll explain it to you, but if he tries to bash at me with something else, let me explain it so you won't hate me, okay?" He asked and I nodded slowly.