Page 16 of Ambrosia Kisses
"What was I supposed to think? You wouldn't tell me what the fuck happened between the two of you. Anytime I asked, you just told me to ask her if I wanted to know. That's the only goddamn thing you'd tell me. So why wouldn't I believe her version of events?"
"Jesus," I mutter, raking a hand through my hair. I'm not really surprised that's what he thinks. I'd be lying if I said it didn't sting, though. My own damn brother thinks I'm capable of that shit.
"Did you?" he asks.
"No," I growl through gritted teeth. "You know I didn't leave until the next day."
"You sure? Because no one around here knows where the fuck you went after our wedding."
I glower at him before shoving my hand into my pocket. I hold out the platinum ring in the palm of my hand. I've fiddled with it so much over the years, the platinum is dull. So is the diamond. "This is where I went that morning. If you don't believe me, ask Bastian. He was with me."
Oliver's eyes widen as he stares at the ring nestled in my palm. "Jesus."
"When we got back here, and she was gone, I followed her back to campus. Found her outside her dorm with another man." I shove the ring back into my pocket. "I decided I wasn't fucking needed at that point. I went straight to the airport and caught the first flight out the next morning."
"What man?"
"How the fuck should I know?"
"She's been single since I met her, Ridley. I don't know what the fuck you think you saw, but it wasn't Paisley with anotherman." He shakes his head at me. "You didn't stop to ask questions?"
"I fucked up. I know I fucked up," I growl. "I saw the woman I wanted to marry in the arms of another man, and I fucking bolted, okay? I knew if I didn't, I'd fucking kill him."
"Fix it," he says, shaking his head like he's disappointed in me.
"You want to come down off your high horse there, you dick? You know damn well that if you saw Lucy in some other man's arms, you'd have lost it, too."
"Yeah, I would have," he says bluntly, his eyes glittering with jealousy, as if the thought alone pisses him off. "But unlike you, I wouldn't have run all the way to Italy to lick my wounds. I actually would have fucking killed him if that's what I had to do. She's mine."
"You…are a terrifying motherfucker, little brother."
"No," he says softly. "I just know who and what I'm willing to fight and die for. The thought of loving like that scares the shit out of you."
I don't say anything, partially because he's right. Until that day, I'd never faced that side of myself—the one willing to kill. But seeing Paisley in some other motherfucker's arms? I faced it. And it scared the shit out of me. Not because she didn't deserve to be loved like that, but because she did. And I was convinced she'd chosen someone else.
I ripped my own goddamn heart out of my chest to spare hers because I thought I was giving her what she wanted. And the whole time, I was wrong.
Is it too late to go back now? To fix it?
I don't know…and that scares the shit out of me, too.
Igo straight tomy parents after I leave the winery to get that shit over with. Surprisingly, Ma doesn't yell at me. She just listens. And then she hugs and me asks what I'm going to do. I don't really have an answer for her. I know what I want to do, but I'm worried as hell that I'm already too late. That there is no fixing it now.
I know I have to try, though. I have to keep trying, even if it means it takes the rest of my life. Paisley deserves that. Hell, she deserved it all along.
Christ, how did I fuck up so badly?
I'm waiting outside the restaurant when she strolls up for lunch, dressed in a pretty white romper that skims every gorgeous curve of her body. With Lyra's little hand clutched in hers, she looks happier than she did this morning. At least until she sees me.
Her smile falls, and her steps falter.
Lyra notices and glances up. Her little blue eyes narrow at me. She doesn't rush to hug me like she normally does, and that's how I know I'm in big trouble with my niece.
"Hi, Sprout," I murmur, bending to kiss her on the cheek.
"Unca Widley." She cocks her head to the side, her free hand planted on her hip. "Me and Gammie are mad wif you."
Paisley hides a smile behind her hand.
