Page 54 of Bound

Shit.

“Bye, guys. Love you. Talk soon,” I say in a hurry then shove my phone in my pocket.

Silence falls between us.

Then her lips twitch. “Your parents are great.”

I groan. “They meddle and drive me batshit crazy,” I grumble, rubbing at a throb in my temple. “But, yeah,” I admit. “They’re great.”

“The Claire?”

“I might have mentioned you a time.” A beat. “Or a hundred.”

Her face softens. “Just so you know, Gran knows all about you.” She smiles. “And regularly gives me a hard time about it—but I still think she’s awesome.”

“She loves you.”

“Yeah,” she whispers.

“Want to call her too?” I joke. “Get her to bellow into the phone speaker, just for funsies?”

She grins. “Gran is less of a bellower than your parents, but I’m sure she could be up for the challenge.”

I laugh, reach over to pick up her fork and steal a bite of cake. “Christ, that’s good,” I moan. “Even though Kurt is an asshole.”

“I thought he was your friend?”

“Not anymore.”

She looks from the plates to the kitchen then back to me. “Is there a reason?”

“Yeah,” I grumble, stealing one more bite before handing her the fork back. The asshole can cook, I’ll give Kurt that much. “He touched you.”

Her lips twitch and then she opens her mouth.

But fucking Kurt comes out right then.

“Try this,” he says, depositing a plate in front of Claire.

“I couldn’t possibly—” But she picks up her fork anyway, dipping it into the concoction Kurt brought and moaning.

My friend—exfriend—smirks at me and it takes everything in me to not reach across the table and throttle him.

But I don’t.

Instead, I get up, lift her from the chair, sit my ass down in it, and then draw her into my lap. “Fuck off,” I tell Kurt.

Who just grins.

Raises his hands.

And then walks away.

Leaving us alone.

Fucking finally.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

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