All Chapters of Secrets From My Billionaire Ex: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

If I wasn’t so pissed we had to leave the bowling game I was winning, I would’ve laughed at her crestfallen face at being called “ma’am.” I don’t laugh.But I do scrunch my nose and stick my tongue out at her.Whatever. We can’t always be winners.I shake my wrist free of TK’s grip when I lose sight of the witch and move beside him.“Do they have any tables ready?” I ask, putting the previous situation behind me. “It looks really busy.”“I slipped the hostess a hundred when we walked in to keep a table open for us.”“Damn, Mercer.” I let out a long whistle. “Who you trying to impress?”I laugh, bumping my hip into his. I remember asking him the same question on our first date when he came to my front door dressed in a suit jacket . . . to go to the movies.He stops walking and turns to me, looking me dead in my eyes, and says, “You.”It takes my breath away. How can he pack so much meaning into three letters?Ace.The thought of him forces me to break eye contact.“Come on.” I tug on

“I can’t believe you’d pull this shit. I know I have to deal with accusations like this, it comes with the territory. And for six fuckin’ years I have. I let them roll off my back. I don’t let people get too close and I keep my eyes wide open. Do you know how hard it is to never open up, to never trust someone? Then I see you again and I think I can let my guard down for a night . . . one night! And then you pull this? You?” He points a shaky finger at me. “You find me and think what? That you found your meal ticket? That you can pin some kid on me?”“What?” Now I’m the one pulling away. “Pinning a kid on you? Ace is yours. Just because I didn’t go through with the abortion you wanted doesn’t mean you get to act clueless in all of this.”I had a lot of scenarios in my head. Most of them did not end well. But not once did I think TK wouldn’t believe Ace was his.“Abortion? You’re so full of shit.” He’s still leaning over the table, trying to intimidate me with his size. “You work at a

THE WEEKS AFTER OUR DATE CRAWLED BY.Mustang players obviously got the memo about the Emerald Cabaret being the place to be. Every night I dreaded walking into work, bracing for another run-in with TK. Thanks to the little bit of good luck I still have on my side, so far he’s skipped the outings.It’s been a month and I’m just starting to be able to breathe easy when I show up for work each evening. Rochelle only asked once how I knew TK, and since he hasn’t come back, she hasn’t asked again. She’s just taking full advantage of the players who do come . . . and my refusal to wait on them.It’s messed with my tips a bit, staying out of VIP, but my sanity is worth so much more.Plus, training camp is starting soon, so I won’t have to worry about them coming for a while.“Ace is looking great out there.” Cole pulls my thoughts from work to the soccer field in front of me.“So is Jayden.” I try to look up at him, but the sun is settled right over his head and not even my sunglasses can he

WHEN YOUR LIFE IS ON THE BRINK OF EXPLODING INTO SMITHER just have to take comfort in what is familiar.Tomorrow, I have to put on my big-girl panties and tell my kid something that might cause him to need a lifetime supply of therapy. So tonight, even though I’d rather be home, drowning my fears in ice cream and wine—or wine-infused ice cream, if that’s not a thing, somebody needs to get on it stat—I’m at work. Where, unless TK decides to ambush me again, I know what to expect. I plan on losing myself in the monotony of taking orders, climbing stairs, and serving drinks. I’ll let the rhythm of the music draw me in and I won’t think about tomorrow until I get home. Work, tonight, is a freaking godsend.“Who’s Ace with tonight?” Sadie asks, our eyes locking in the mirror in front of me.“Mrs. Duncan.” I shimmy my shoulders offbeat—even though there’s no music—trying to force peppiness into my voice. Fake it till you make it, is what I always say. “I’m telling you, you better be prepare

AS THE DAY GOES ON, I CAN FEEL THE SHIFT OF ENERGY IN THE Hthe back of my neck stand straight from the static energy the nerves are creating. Ace asks a few more questions—if his room looks okay, if it’ll be all right for him to mention football—before he retreats to his sportscovered room. At one thirty, he comes out of his room, dressed in the Jordan outfit I found at Ross before summer started, and sits next to me on the couch. I give him the remote, but he’s too focused on the empty street in front of our house to even notice.At two o’clock sharp, TK’s Range Rover glides to a stop in front of our house. I leave Ace, whose knee hasn’t stopped bouncing since he sat down, on the couch while I greet TK.“Hey.” I open the door as TK walks up the uneven pathway to the porch, plastering a smile on my face I’m ninety-eight percent sure makes me look like a murderous clown.But it’s the effort that counts, right?“Hey,” he repeats, his eyes shifting around like I’m going to bombard him w