Ice Steam (Loving All Wrong #3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

had been hell with him as a newborn.
    My eyes darted around the waiting room, and thankfully there weren’t a lot of people around.
    “What do you want from me, JK?” I asked him, rocking Jacob with the aim of getting him back to sleep. “How could I have known she was going to flip the couch? And should I know why she was dicing fruits instead of Sylvie? I was dealing with my own shit, alright?”
    His gold eyes flashed, narrowed, then his arms flung out from his sides in surrender. “Sorry,” he said. “Sorry for expectin’ anything at all from you, Alina. Go on. Carry on carin’ about you and you alone.” He dipped into his jeans pocket for his cell. “Will just call Manda to move back in at least until Sassy gives birth.”
    “Why?”
    “’Cause right now Sassy needs someone around who loves her enough to taste her food for poison before lettin’ her eat it.”
    Well, that didn’t hurt at all.
    “Good luck with that,” I hissed without thinking. “I’m sure Manda’s happy living her own life in L.A with Zane than to come running to wait at Kia’s beck and call.”
    JK shook his head at me, as if he couldn’t believe I said that. I couldn’t either. But he was trying to make it seem like he couldn’t trust me in the house with his wife, and that vexed me.
    In a surprisingly gentle voice, he said, “She’ll come. That’s how it is when you really love someone. You put their life ahead of yours. No matter the cost.”
    “So basically you’re saying—”
    “I trust Manda with my wife. She’s there, I can leave the house with a peace of mind knowin’ Sassy won’t even be brushin’ her own hair.”
    Breaking eye contact, because I knew he was right, I dropped my gaze. Amanda was Saskia’s best friend who would, literally not metaphorically, dive on top of a bomb for her.
    JK turned and strode off, but halfway down the hall, he made a U-turn and came back to sit beside me.
    “Go away.”
    “Not tryna hurt you, Ally. Just think you got some issues you need to sort through,” he said quietly. “You haven’t dealt with your parents’ death, and you haven’t dealt with Davi’s absence.” He held up a hand as I started to interject. “Your attitude over the past couple of weeks is not you dealin’ with your shit, Ally. That’s just the sound of you breakin’. You used Davi to patch the crack made by your parents’ death, then you used Jacob to patch the one made by Davi. Now those cracks are splitting wider and wider, and it’s only a matter of time before you crumble to pieces if you don’t stop pretendin’ to be tough and deal with your pain .”
    Jacob was crying. Why was he crying? He never cries.
    Then I realized his bright blue eyes were dry, and he was merely staring up at me, googoogaga-ing. Wanting to know what was wrong with his mommy. Because the tears on his face weren’t his. They were mine. My liquid pain falling down to his soft, delicate, innocent face.
    Salty liquid that hadn’t wet my eyes in years. JK was right. I was breaking. With each day that dragged by, I could feel myself getting weaker and weaker.
    JK was quiet for a long time. Seeing me cry was probably the biggest shocker of his day. “Think you need to start by tryna live a little. Yeah? You haven’t left the house unless it’s absolutely necessary since Davi. You have no friends, and you don’t pay attention to anything or anyone but Jacob. Only twenty-one, Ally. Can’t live like this.”
    Tilting my head, I glanced over at him through the blur of tears. “What? You want me to move out?”
    He shook his head no. “Lion’s been blowin’ up both me and Sassy’s phone to get to you. Has something lined up and wanna cash in on that deal you made with him.”
    Slumping back in the chair, I sighed. I’d known it was only a matter of time. No stone went unturned with Lion T’mar.
    Back when I found out I was preggers, I’d gleefully given him that update, thinking it would get me out of the