Page 7 of Ambrosia Kisses
"Yeah, well, I've had shit to do."
"Right," my brother snorts. "You mean shit like moping?"
"I haven't been moping."
"Uh-huh. Whatever you say." He rolls his eyes. "Shit didn't work out between the two of you, and you've been moping about it ever since."
I scratch the side of my face with my middle finger, making him chuckle. He has no fucking clue what really happened between us. I never told him. He's tried like hell to get the truth from me over the years, but I always brushed him off. Frankly, I didn'twanthim to know. She may not give a shit about me, but she cares about my brother and sister-in-law. I'm not a big enough asshole to come between that.
"Seriously, Ridley. Lucy wants both of you here. You're both Lyra and Lexi's godparents. Whatever happened between the two of you was over three years ago, so don't fuck it up. If you hurt my wife's feelings, you'll be removing my boot from your ass."
I crack a smile despite myself. "You sound more like Dad every damn day."
I've lost track of how often he threatens to stick a boot up our asses if we upset our Ma. He's always been there for us, no matter what. But one thing he never tolerates is anyone upsetting her. Oliver is just like him when it comes to Lucy.
"Maybe that's not a bad thing." Oliver pegs me with a significant look. "You could learn a thing or two from him, you know."
I snort, not because he's wrong, but because I don't really want to hear it. Not today. Not with Paisley standing a few yards away, looking like sin and sunshine, the same fucking way she did when she tore my heart out.
I still don't understand why the fuck she did it. Why did she tell me she didn't want us to end, and then run straight into the arms of another man? Why give me her virginity if she wanted someone else?
I've wanted to demand answers a thousand times over the years, but I never did. I didn't trust myself not to fucking beg her for another chance if I saw her again. Or to kill the man she did choose. So I stayed away. I buried myself in getting the vineyard in Italy off the ground and pretended it was enough.
Working the earth didn't heal what she ripped to pieces. Eventually, I had to face the fact that it never would.
I came home a few months ago. A motherfucker can't hide forever. Unfortunately.
"You going to be good?" Oliver asks as she and Lucy turn in our direction.
Paisley's eyes lock with mine, and I'm thrown right back to that night when she was in my arms, whispering that she didn't want us to end. When I was all over her and she was begging for more.
"Yep," I lie as a shiver of desire works its way up my spine, hardening my cock. "I'm good."
I'm in a hell ofhermaking. Funny how she's the one scowling at me like I did something wrong.
"You need sunscreen, baby girl," Oliver murmurs to Lucy, tapping her on the nose as soon as she's within arm's reach. "Your nose is pink."
"Oliver! Your hands are dirty," my sister-in-law grumbles. It doesn't stop her from burrowing into his arms, though.
He chuckles, pressing a kiss to her forehead. I do not want to know what he whispers in her ear that makes her giggle.
Paisley stands a few steps behind her, looking everywhere but at me. I stare at her, eating up the sight of her. Christ, she's gorgeous, a golden goddess with a mahogany halo.
"Hi," she finally mumbles, still not meeting my gaze.
I grunt in response, which gets her attention.
Her head snaps up, her eyes narrowing on my face. Pure malice flows through her expression before she manages to school it. "I didn't realize you were back from Italy," she says, trying like hell to be polite. There's still a bite to her tone that she can't hide.
"Why wouldn't I be?" I quirk a brow at her. "I live here."
"You've been gone for three years."
"Huh. Have I?"
She practically bristles at my grunted response but tries to hide it as she flounders for something else to say. "Did you enjoy it over there?"
"It was better than being here."Sleeping alone in Italy was better than sleeping in my bed, remembering the way you moaned and begged for me in it, Dimples.
