Page 83 of Sweet Temptation
Mom looks at me and pushes a cup of soup across the counter toward me. “You know that’s not true, Lucky. Lexie isdifferent. No matter how much you wish it weren’t true, her reality is different. Have you thought about that?”
Amelia Beneventi has always been the strongest woman I’ve ever known. She raised my siblings and me in a world most women would shrink from, but she somehow thrived and made sure we each did the same. But that was before I fell in love with that woman on that couch. Lexie has changed my definition of strength.
“Have I thought about it?” I hiss back. “Are you really standing there, asking me if I’ve thought about what loving her means?”
She rests her hands on my shoulders and looks up at me, like she’s had to do since fifth grade when I hit five foot three and just kept growing. “I love you, Lucky. You’ve always had a big heart, and you’ve hidden it so well. You were my wild child. The one always surprising me. The one I could count on to get in trouble at least once a month. The one the ladies loved the loudest. Probably not any more than either of your brothers, but the tramps who loved you were much less discreet about it. You were never careful a single day in your life. When everyone else was just testing the waters with their toes, you were jumping in headfirst. Consequences be damned.”
“Ma.” I grab her wrists and pull them away. “I get it?—”
“I’m not sure you do, Lucky. Not this time. I love that girl in that room. I’ve loved her since the day she was born, and her birth mother gave her to Cooper and Carys. But loving her comes at a price, and I’m scared of what paying that price will do to you. Because no matter how much I love Lexie, I love you more.”
I should be pissed or hurt or fucking confused, but I’m none of those things.
Because she’s not wrong.
Loving Lexie will come at a price.
One I would do anything to avoid, if I could, but I can’t.
There is no avoiding it.
But here’s the thing.
I love Lexie more.
More than my life.
More than my fear of losing her.
More.
“If someone told you you’d only get ten years with Dad, would you have stopped loving him?” I ask softly. There’s no point in being angry. Not with my mom. Not with anyone. No one can control this.
Tears shine in her onyx eyes. “No. I wouldn’t trade a single minute of my life with your father.”
“Exactly.” I pull her into a hug and hold her close for an extra minute. “I’m sorry for the hell I put you through when I was younger, Ma.”
“You kept me on my toes.” Her pretty laugh makes me smile. “Love her wild every day, Lucky. Love her like it’s your last.”
She doesn’t need to say the words that silently follow those because they hang between us all the same.
Love her like it’s your last day because you never know when it will be hers.
By the time Lexie’s feeling good enough to go back to work and I’m willing to leave her side for anything other than football, nearly two weeks have passed. And I’ve had a lot of time to think and plan while I’ve lain awake at night, with her wrapped in my arms, listening to her breathe. Those days of waking up in the middle of the night are gone for both of us. Lexie sleeps like a baby now, and me—I watch hersleep. But hey, I’m not getting out of bed and eating eggs at two a.m., so I guess I traded one vice for another.
When she leaves Tuesday morning for work, I already have my day laid out for me, she just doesn’t know that. She doesn’t need to.Not yet.
But an hour later, I’m standing on her father’s doorstep, ready for step one.
Cooper opens the door after a minute, and concern flashes in his face. “Is Lexie okay?”
“Hey, Cooper. She’s fine. She’s at Sweet Temptations today. Do you have a minute?” I look past him into the house as Carys comes into sight.
She pushes him out of the way. “Come in, Lucky. Is Lexie okay?”
“She’s fine. I was hoping to speak with you.” I look between them. “Both of you.”
Carys smiles, but Cooper, fuck, the look Cooper gives me is anything but warm, and anger takes hold. “You know I’m not the same kid who hurt her back then.”
