Page 100 of Starting Over with You
CHAPTER
THIRTY-NINE
Dean
Well, damn. Kenni is spitting mad.
She looks like a dream in boots as she taps her foot out in front of the Thirsty Pine. I drink her in, the way her jeans hug her thick thighs and sweet ass. When she sees me, her eyes narrow, and I can’t help but chuckle. I don’t know why she’s pissy, but damn if she isn’t the cutest with her nose wrinkled and fire in her eyes. I pull in, gravel kicking up as I roll down the window to send her a flirty grin. “Hey, good lookin’, need a ride?”
She glares, throwing open the door and getting in with a huff. She shuts the door with a slam and leans back to cross her arms over her chest. I watch her for a moment, and then I lean across to grab her seat belt and put it on her. The click has her eyes cutting to mine. “You’re looking mighty fine, darlin’.” I kiss her lips. “And you smell like the inside of a Fireball bottle.”
Oh, she’s fighting hard not to grin. “We need to talk.”
“Talk, darlin’. I’m all yours.” I pull out of the lot. “How drunk we feeling? Do I need to get my hat?”
“Stop messing around,” she snaps, and I know if I smirk at her, she might smack me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I tap my fingers against the steering wheel as I drive. “Tell you what?”
“Everything!” she yells, her hands flying up. “Why did I have to hear that when you came and got Missy pregnant, it was with my name on your lips?”
I grimace a bit. Not my finest moment. “I didn’t know how to tell you,” I say honestly as I drive home. “I could lie and say I knew I was fucking Missy, but I didn’t. I truly convinced myself it was you.”
She lets out a yelp. “That is so fucked up.”
“Who you telling?” I ask, shaking my head. “I wasn’t okay.”
I feel her staring at the side of my face, but I’m unable to look at her. “I had just lost Granny, and you showed up at the funeral with two little boys on your hips who didn’t look like me. Then my sister was getting married, and I just felt lost.” She doesn’t say anything, her silence scaring me a bit. I clear my throat as I pull into my driveway. I put the SUV in park, then lean back in the seat, spreading my legs. “I didn’t mean to use Missy like that, but I was a fucking fool and so damn drunk. Not a good excuse, but it’s the truth.”
“You didn’t apologize to her?”
I snort. “No. I hoped she didn’t hear me. But when she told me she did, she gave me no time to apologize. She lit into me, telling me that you were married and that you’d never be mine. It pissed me off, and I shut down.”
I chance a glance to find her eyes wide, her lips parted ever so slightly. Our eyes lock. Her chest rises and falls with such vigor, I worry she’s internally freaking out. I mean, hell, with how wild her eyes are, I think she is. “How long?”
“How long?” I repeat, and her eyes narrow.
“How long have you liked me?”
I can’t help it; a chuckle leaves my lips, which only pisses her off more. “Like. That’s cute.”
She lets out a sharp breath and then clutches her throat as my eyes burn into hers. “Darlin’, I’ve been in love with you since before you ever asked if I was going to kiss you or not.”
Her lips part at that. “We were kids.”
“Yeah, and I knew you were it for me.”
“Dean—”
“What?” I ask, unsure why I sound so irritated. “I fell damn hard for you, I think maybe I loved you before that, maybe when we kissed for the first time. But I knew for sure in that moment.” Once more, the silence is tense, but neither of us looks anywhere but at each other. I take in her flushed face, her ruby-red lips, and the rapid movements of her chest. I wonder if she sees the hearts in my eyes, if she sees how fucking in love with her I am.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Her voice is heavy with emotion, her eyes flooding with tears.
I shrug. “We both were grounded after we got caught, and then you went off to college. Next thing I know, you’re knocked up.”
A tear rolls down her cheek, and she wipes it away quickly. “You never made me think you were into me. It always felt like I was your little sister.”
I snort at that. “I was scared shitless of Sadie and Missy.” She blinks and I laugh. “You remember that time we went to the fair?” She nods, another tear falling, but once again she wipes it before I can get to it. “They took a photo of us, and I was staring at you like I always do. You didn’t notice because you were inhaling a funnel cake.”
