Page 107 of Wildest Forever

“Yeah?”

“Who was it?” I shuffle in my seat, both elbows on the table as I stretch my arms out, pushing my cup along the surface of the table.

“Luke,” he says bluntly.

“Luke as in...”

“Luke as in,” he sighs, nodding his head.

“Fuck, I thought he was dead.”

“Unfortunately not,” he smirks, “but he took a good beating, still none the wiser on who sent the little weasel.”

“Was half expecting another word to round that sentence off.”

“Little weasel cunt, better?” Riggs snorts a laugh, and I chuckle softly.

“What happened last night? Who's Luke?' Dusty asks, pulling his own chair out, the legs dragging across the tiles and echoing.

“We heard someone rummaging around down here, found him in the living room. No idea what he was looking for, called Riggs for backup, he still wouldn't talk so Riggs took himaway...” I sigh, scrubbing my face with one of my hands, the cool metal from my ring on my skin.

“So, who is he? Who is Luke?” and even hearing his name is like fingernails on a chalk board; I find myself shuddering.

“Luke is Aspen—my wife's—dickhead ex who cheated on her.”

“Right,” Dusty looks confused as hell.

Poor Dusty.

He doesn't do drama.

Just gets up, kisses his wife and kids goodbye and works the ranch, a very simple, but happy and rich life.

“He got in with the wrong crowd... then he disappeared when Clay Attaway died.”

“Ohhhh, the guy who was found on your land?”

“Who we didn't kill, might I add,” thought I better get that in there, just to keep the record straight.

Dusty nods but edges closer, clearly enjoying this a little more than he thought he would.

“And well, he is back but not sure why,” I let out an exasperated sigh when I hear the floorboards creak above us and my lips twitch.

Within a couple of minutes, she walks into the kitchen like a pure ray of sunshine. Hair wild and messy, eyes glistening as she looks at the full kitchen and a ghost of a smile creeps onto her lips.

“Morning, Sunflower,” I raise a brow and a smile tugs at the corners of my mouth.

“Morning,” her voice is soft and quiet and the most perfect sound on an early Friday morning.

“Morning sweetheart,” Riggs chimes and she shakes her head, looking down at herself and tiptoeing past us.

Riggs and Dusty soon avert their gazes and fall into quiet chatter.

But me? I couldn't stop staring even if I wanted to.

Something had shifted but I was unsure what... but whatever it was, I counted my lucky stars because I never thought I would feel something other than an icy block where my heart once was, but slowly, ever so fucking slowly was she thawing it out.

My eyes trail over my shoulder and I get a teasing look at her legs, desperate to skim my fingers up the back of her thighs, tucking them under the hem of her shorts just to feel how she feels under my fingertips.

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