Chapter 31

I don’t like her

Rowan.

I stare at my hands. My mom speaks softly to me. “I’m sorry Ro, but he refuses to come to talk to you”

I’ve never been this hurt. Not even when Emma broke up with me and left. Noah is angry with me and has refused to answer my calls. Ava was right, Noah should come first and yet I let him down.

I’d decided to take Emma out on my yacht. It was to afford us privacy to talk. She wasn’t very happy after she learned that I had left her to rush to Ava’s side. It was my way of making it up to her.

Unfortunately I’d lost complete track of time and my phone’s battery died.

I’ve never seen Ava angry, and yesterday she took me by surprise. The fact that she stood up for Noah and called me out on my behavior left me feeling sort of proud of her. She had a back bone.

after all. It was nice to see that.

“Rowan?” my mom calls out. “I’m going to hang up now”

“No, please bring him to the phone. I want to apologize to him”

Never has Noah ever refused to talk to me. It was crushing me to know that I had let him down. That I had broken my promise to him.

Mom sighs. “You hurt him, Rowan. He was so excited yesterday. He was looking forward to you hearing all his accomplishments.

He cried while he was talking to Ava after the meeting. Noah never cries and yet you managed to bring forth tears from him”

I stare at the wall feeling like the worst scum of the world. I didn’t have a fucking excuse. I should have been in school like I had promised. Instead I was enticing Emma into forgiving me yet again.

“I know that…I heave a breath out, feeling defeated.

“Do you? You’re not the one who had to watch him cry and console him. I’m happy that Emma is back so you can stop hurting and I understand you two are trying to work things out but that doesn’t mean you neglect your responsibilities. You have a son Rowan, he should always come first “You don’t have to tell me that, Ava already chewed my ear off yesterday” I ran my hand through “As she should. She’s a mother and we mothers will do anything for our child even if it means going up against their dad” she finishes, shocking me completely.

Never and I mean never has my mother ever taken Ava’s side. If there was someone who was against Ava from the start, it’s my mother.

“I get it, but can you please try and coerce him into talking to me?” I beg her, something I’m not used to.

She pauses for a while before agreeing. I stay on the phone. Minutes pass and I almost hang up in surrender.

“Hello” comes Noah’s soft voice.

“Hey bud” I begin not really sure what to tell him. “I’m so sorry I didn’t make it to your school yesterday.

I got held up somewhere and lost track of time, but I was told that…”

He cuts me off before I can finish my sentence.

“It’s because of her isn’t it? Mommy’s sister. She’s the reason why you didn’t go to my teacher’s meeting” his words catch me off guard.

I can’t help the anger that I feel slowly rising. Did Ava tell him about Emma? Was it a way for her to spite me?

“Who told you this, is it your mother?” I ask trying to force the anger down “I’m eight not stupid dad, mommy didn’t tell me anything” I hear a change in his voice and frown.

“What do you mean?”

“I saw her in your house that day I called. What was she doing there at night if she’s not your girlfriend?

I asked mommy and she told me that I should talk about it with you” he answers leaving me shocked yet again.

Emma has been to my home twice, I didn’t know that during one of those times, Noah had seen het 1 thought that I would have time before I tell him everything “Buddy “Just know that I don’t like her, I will never accept her if you marry her.” He states firmly Fuck, why the hell did I think that Noah would accept her? He was loyal to Ava. Sometimes I think he loves her more. 2 “Is it because she’s not your mother?” maybe he just had a problem with Emma because she wasn’t his mother. Maybe he just feels like she’s taking his mother’s place.

“I just don’t like. Plus she’s mommy’s sister, that’s just wrong dad” he says as a matter of fact. 2 Is it a coincidence that Noah shares the same dislike Ava has for Emma? Could it be that she has been poisoning our son against Emma? I wouldn’t be surprised if she was. 2 “Listen, Noah, I’m dating Emma and I expect you to treat her with respect. One day I’ll probably marry her and she’ll be your step mother. You’ll have to get used to seeing her around”

I needed to nip whatever was growing inside him. Noah had to understand that Emma wasn’t going anywhere.

“Never” he shouts defiantly through the phone.

“Noah…”

“If you like her then fine but just know I will never accept her. I will never like her and she will never be any kind of mother to me.” He all but growls.

Before I can say anything else, he hangs up the phone. I immediately call again but it’s switched off. I stare at my phone dumbfounded. Not understanding what the hell had gotten into him.

He has never been hateful towards anyone, but for some reason he hates Emma even though he doesn’t even know. 3 I feel like I’ve just made everything worse. That he was now even more pissed at me.

I don’t get the time to dwell on those thoughts. The door to my mansion opens and Emma walks in smiling. I had given her a key a few weeks back.

I look at her beautiful face. We were finally together after such a long fucking time. I thought that things would fall into place and yet the opposite seemed to be happening. Everything seemed to be working against us.

“Rowan?” she calls me “What Emma?” I was frustrated by Noah’s behavior and his reaction towards Emma.

How could I be with her if son is against it? What the fuck was I supposed to do.

“Talk to me Ro, you know I’m here for you” she pleads.

Her broken voice makes me look at her. Her eyes were pleading. Like she truly wanted to share in what was weighing me down.

I ran my hand through my hair and release a sigh.

“I got into a disagreement with Noah” I confess.

A frown mars her beautiful face. “Is it about yesterday?”

“Part of it, but majority is that he saw you here one day. He doesn’t like it and apparently he doesn’t like you. How am I supposed to deal with this? I love you both and I will never choose. So how am I supposed to be with you when my son doesn’t like you?” I ask. Noah had placed me in a hard place. @

She’s quiet for a while. She stares into nothing before her blue eyes come back to mine.

“Is this the reason why you’ve been distant? I’ve been back for a couple of months and you’re yet to kiss me or touch me. Is Noah’s reluctance to accept me holding you back?”

What could I fucking say? Every time I want to kiss her or she wants to kiss me, something hold me back. Instead I find myself pushing her away or pecking her cheek or forehead but never her mouth.

Is something wrong with because I just didn’t understand. I’ve pinning for this woman since I was twenty one and now that I have her, I can’t even bring myself to kiss her.

“Yes” I lie to her. There was no need to hurt her more than I already have.

We stay quiet. My mind reeling from my thoughts.