Page 26 of Keeping Kaitlyn

“I don’t wantyourisland.” Still swinging her legs, Tess gives me a cheeky grin. “I want my own island.”

Turning on the faucet with my elbow, I keep laughing. “Well, Dickhead is rich,” I remind her while, bent over the sink, I start to scrub. “Not as rich as me—oras good-looking—but I’m sure he’d be willing to buy you just about anything you asked for.”

“Do you want to fuck Kaitlyn?”

The question hits me out of nowhere. A baseball bat to the head, so hard and fast I feel my shoulders stiffen and my vision swim against the force of it. Straightening myself, I smack the faucet with my elbow again, this time so hard I’m surprised it doesn’t break. Giving my hands a single, violent shake, I turn around to glare at her.

“You’re going to have to stop hanging out with Con.” Shaking my head, I let out a rough, humorless laugh that I hope covers up the fact that I can’t fucking breathe. “Seriously. He’s a bad influence on you.”

“Good luck with that,” she barks out on a loud belly laugh. “Not only is he my best fucking friend—he’s also my business partner. There hasn’t been a single day in my life since I was seventeen that Ihaven’thung out with him.”

“Well, that explains it,” I tell her even though I’m perfectly aware of the fact that she and Con have lived in each other’s back pockets for all of their adult lives. “Because you act just like him.”

“Thank you.” She gives me a sweet smile, still swinging her legs. “It was a rhetorical question, anyway—I know you want to fuck her.”

“Jesus Christ.” Turning away from her, I snatch up a wad of paper towels from the stack and start drying my hands. “Can you keep your voice down?”

“Why?” Tess looks genuinely confused. “We’ve already talked about it—she’s perfectly aware that you want to fuck her.”

“Stop saying that.” I sputter it out on an angry hiss, the back of my neck so hot it feels like someone’s pressing hot coals against it. “She’s not even my type.”

Tess stares at me like I’m the dumbest man alive for about three seconds before she bursts out laughing. “Petite brunette with a great ass and callused hands—” She tilts her head and widens her hazel eyes at me with another snort. “Please—you’re embarrassing yourself.”

Shaking my head, I turn away from her just long enough to toss my wad of damp paper towels in the trash. “You’re a fucking asshole.” When I turn back around she’s grinning at me.

“I preferagent of chaos,” she says before she boosts herself off the counter, the look on her face growing serious before her boots hit the floor. “I just want to see you happy, Went. That’s all.”

“I am happy.” When I say it, I want to put my head through the fucking wall because I can hear the lie and so can Tess. To cover it up, I turn away from her to snag a couple of gloves from the dispenser.

“No you’re not.” She says it quietly with a small headshake. “I don’t think you’ve ever been happy—not since I’ve known you. Not really.”

I want to tell her she’s wrong.

That I was happy when I was with her, but I can’t because it would be another lie and I don’t think Tess would tolerate me lying to her twice in the same conversation.

I shake my head while I pull on my gloves. “And you think hooking up with Ryan’s nursemaid is my pathway to contentment?”

“Welp—” She gives me another cheeky grin while she shrugs her shoulders. “it couldn’t fuckin’ hurt.”

“Did she tell you that?” It comes out of my mouth before I can stop it and I have the urge to put my head through the wall again. “Did she tell you I want to fuck her?”

Tess gives me an odd look before shaking her head. “No—Nurse Ratchet is convinced you want nothing to do with her,” she informs me with awhateverkind of eye roll. “So, I took it upon myself to tell her that she’s wrong and that you’d very much want to?—”

“I was wrong—you’re not just an asshole,” I say, interrupting her because if I have to hear her saywant to fuck herone more time, I might walk myself into traffic. “You’re a meddlesome asshole. A tiny, meddlesomeasshole, you know that, right?”

“I think you meanagent of chaos.” With another sweet smile, Tess turns away from me to look at the trio of women clustered together on the other side of my shop while theyoooandahhhover the tattoo I inked into the space right above Maeve’s left hip. “Kaitlyn, Went’s ready—come get your tattoo.”

FIFTEEN

KAITLYN

Getting into that limo,I had every intention of staying as far away from Wentworth Fiorella as I possibly could. I’d do my best to smile and chat with the women who’ve claimed me as one of their own. I’d drink whatever Tess poured in my cup. I’d listen to their stories and laugh at their jokes and I’d ignore the fact that I was doing it all in a place where I wasn’t wanted.

As far as plans go, it was pretty simple.

And somehow, I managed to fuck it up, the second I walked through the door because here I am, standing three feet away from him, waiting for him to tell me what to do so he can give me the tattoo that no one knows he promised me six years ago except the two of us.

“What do you want?” Head bent, he doesn’t look at me when he asks, rather focusing on adjusting the snug, latex gloves around his massive hands.

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