Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 122578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 409(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 613(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 409(@300wpm)
“I think getting to touch you will always be the cherry on top.”
I thought it was the first time I knew what it felt like to swoon. The way lightheadedness gusted through my brain. The way my heart whooshed.
A shy giggle snapped me out of it, and I looked down to Evelyn standing there swaying in time with the music. “Are you going to have a baby now?”
Before I could answer, Caleb hoisted her up, holding her in one arm while he wrapped the other around me. Evelyn wrapped both her arms around our necks, squeezing us tight. “No, Evelyn, I just wanted to be lucky enough to dance with my girls.”
Everything clutched.
Constricted.
Then rushed to overflow.
A dream I floated through.
I held on tight to both of them like I could do it forever.
Like they were mine, and I wouldn’t ever have to let go.
Something flashed in my periphery, and awareness slammed me like a fist to my face.
I jerked to look at the person standing at the bottom of the porch steps.
Curling and uncurling his fists.
Jeremy.
Jeremy with his brown hair and dimpled cheeks. All boyish good looks. Artificially charming until the real dickhead was revealed underneath.
He came off the last step and began to storm across the lawn like he had the freaking right.
Caleb must have felt the way I went rigid because he shifted to look over his shoulder at the man who was coming my way like I was the one who’d done him wrong.
Selfish asshole, ruining this moment.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Paisley?” Jeremy hissed when he came within earshot.
Was he for real right then?
Anger surged, bubbling up from the depths.
Reluctantly, I let go of Evelyn and Caleb, taking a step his way, quieting my voice to shield this nonsense from the kids. “What am I doing? I think the question is what you’re doing here. The last time I checked, you weren’t on the guest list.”
Awareness rippled through the guests. A ton of people had already left, so it was mostly close friends and family.
But that didn’t mean this intrusion was acceptable.
“You need to leave right now. You’re making a scene,” I demanded.
“Not until I talk to you.”
Ryder, Cody, and Ezra had come forward, and Dakota was suddenly there, whispering, “Hey, Evelyn, why don’t you come with me, sweetheart? I was just going to start a movie inside since the party is winding down.”
She untangled Evelyn from Caleb’s hold, and she sent me a worried glance.
“Go on and take the kids inside,” I told her. The last thing I wanted was for them to witness this.
She nodded, though she looked at Jeremy, disgust riding off her tongue. “I can’t believe you have the nerve to show your face on my son’s birthday.”
She walked away, carrying Evelyn, and she and her mother Pat rounded up the kids and herded them inside.
All while the hostility flared.
Aggression vibrated from Caleb.
And not just a little bit.
He looked deadly right then.
All the things he’d warned me about rising to the surface.
Savagery honed in every muscle of his body. A stone that rippled and shook.
“Who is this prick?” Caleb growled. The polished suit that I knew had gone poof. Something dark taking its place.
I turned to him, touching his forearm. “He’s no one important. It’s fine. Just give me a second to get him out of here.”
Caleb’s jaw clenched, restraint barely enough to hold back whatever was boiling inside.
Ryder and Ezra edged up behind him.
I eased toward Jeremy who stood five feet away, words quiet but cutting through the dense, malevolent air. “I can’t believe you would come here.”
“I’ve been trying to get in touch with you, and you fucking blocked me, so what else was I supposed to do but come here?” It came out sounding petulant. Like I owed him something.
I scoffed. “And you’re too stupid to get the message that I don’t have a single thing to say to you. I don’t know what you think, Jeremy, but you can turn around and haul your ass back to Arizona because I don’t want anything to do with you.”
“Said I was sorry, Paisley. That it won’t happen again. I love you. I want you to come back to Scottsdale with me. Where you belong.”
Remnants of hurt bubbled in my consciousness, but I realized it wasn’t because he’d left me with a broken heart. It was just that he’d left me bitter. Had stolen the time I could have had with my family. With my friends. Took me from the place I loved like the selfish bastard that he was. I’d let go of my dream to give him his.
And he clearly didn’t know one goddamn thing about me if he thought that was where I belonged.
“I don’t care about your apologies, Jeremy. I don’t accept them because they don’t matter. I’ve long since stopped losing sleep over you. So why don’t you take a hint and leave because you’re not welcome here. It’s bad enough you showed up to mess up Kayden’s party like this. Have a little respect.”