Page 31 of The Next Chapters

A real smile tugged at Riley’s lips, then as she shook her head. “Sorry. No. I’m actually here with my spouse.”

A thick, heady satisfaction started sliding through Gianna then.

Ashton’s eyebrows winged up high on his forehead, obvious surprise mixed with disappointment. “Ah. I didn’t realize your husband was here.”

“She didn’t say a husband,” Gianna asserted, unable to stop herself as she felt Riley’s hand land on top of the one Gianna had curled so possessively around her waist. “It’s a wife, actually.”

He was such an easy read, as confusion slid over his expression before he dipped his gaze down to their hands, resting on the perfect curve of Riley’s hip. He stared there for several long seconds, as if unable to compute what he was seeing. Gianna deliberately traced her finger slowly along Riley’s.

Finally, it appeared to dawn on him as he zeroed in on their rings, his mouth falling open as his gaze whipped back up to theirs.

This time, he split his focus between her and Riley. “I – you – the two of you? Married?”

“With four kids,” Gianna added with a dark glee.

She wasn’t surprised that he didn’t know.

After all, even back in college, he had taken oh-so-much pride in not having any social medias. She could only imagine that hadn’t changed into adulthood, as it made him seem so authentic.

“Four – you – all right. Huh.” He reached up and rubbed his hand over the back of his head again, shaking it before dropping his hand heavily back to his thigh. “Well, then. I guess that’s… maybe it’s not surprising.”

“It shouldn’t be,” Riley agreed, squeezing her hand over Gianna’s. “So, really, you can let go of feeling bad about the past. I ended up exactly where I was supposed to be.”

God, that feeling that settled inside Gianna at the certainty in Riley’s voice was so strong, possessive, and thrilling – it made her lightheaded.

“With someone who would never cheat on her,” Gianna couldn’t help but slip in the barb because even if Riley had made peace with what Ashton did to her, Gianna hadn’t. She never would.

Anyone that broke Riley’s heart was on her permanent shitlist. Til death would she part with it.

Ashton winced appropriately as he sucked in a breath. “Right. So… congratulations, I guess?”

“Thanks.”

“If you’ll excuse us, Assho – Ashton,” Gianna deliberately slipped up with the moniker he’d held in her mind for over a decade. Just so he knew. “We have somewhere to be.”

“By all means,” he muttered, turning away from them, clearly still reeling from the informational download.

Gianna slid her hand over Riley’s lower back, tantalizingly close to her perfect ass, before using it to grip Riley’s hand with her own and leading them away. Heading right back for the entrance.

Riley easily kept pace with her, squeezing her hand in Gianna’s a few times. “That was interesting.”

“Seeing Asshole Ashton?” Gianna asked, curiously shooting Riley a look, even though her walking didn’t slow.

“I suppose, yes. But mostly, it was interesting that you seemed… jealous. Gianna Mäkinen Beckett, jealous. Never thought I’d see the day,” Riley’s tone was light, the teasing note of it clearly intended to soothe any part of Gianna that may still be experiencing a dark jealousy.

Oh, but that feeling of jealousy remained. Hot and greedy, taking up space inside of her as she led them through the doors and back into the main lobby.

“I’ve been jealous,” she informed Riley. Again, because she could tell Riley anything. Even this fact that she’d never shared with anyone.

“When!” Riley demanded to know, shock and fascination coloring her voice. Still, though, she diligently and unquestioningly followed Gianna as she turned and led them down an adjoining hallway. “You’ve spent our entire adult lives proudly proclaiming to be free of the green-eyed monster.”

“I suppose it’s only a fib if you count our college years as our adult lives,” Gianna admitted.

And it was a bit of a fib on her part throughout the years. Because her schtick about not experiencing jealousy had started in college.

For the most part, it was true; she’d never had any feelings of jealousy over anyone she was sleeping with, which was what people generally assumed she was talking about. Even Riley had.

Gianna pushed open one of the double doors to where she could so clearly picture in her mind. Back in the day, these doors had always been left open. She supposed they likely still were when this area of the building wasn’t reserved for an event.

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