Page 81 of What I Should Have Known

“You’re asking if aftercare is normal?” I quickly inserted, seeing the pink bloom in her cheeks. She nodded but said nothing. “I can’t speak for anyone else, and yeah, I may have treated you like an object last night, but that doesn’t mean I see you as one. Also, believe it or not, you were in complete control. So yes, for me, it is. Especially since it’s you. Because it’s you.”

She scootched in closer. A sigh escaped her mouth as her body relaxed against mine. “Okay.” Her gentle lips pressed against my chest, peppering some soft kisses onto my skin. “Okay,” she said again.

Damn. What had I done to deserve this? Out of everyone, why was I so lucky to end up with someone so gentle and kind? Fiery and with an attitude like you wouldn’t believe, but she was the one thing that seemed familiar outside of a world of chaos. Outside of a world where I was born to die.

It should’ve been me. But I was going to do everything possible to earn my place since it wasn’t me.

For me. For Duncan. For Kat. For my entire team. For my mom. For Raiden. For my dad. For everyone who ever gave me a chance.

“Come on, Kit Kat.” I slid upright, the sheets bunching around my waist. “Let’s get you home.”

The noise was back. Not just what was in my head, but in the backyard. Even Muffin remained lounging in the cat box stuck to my window, avoiding the crowd. People my mom knew, neighbors I’d briefly seen but never gone out of my way to meet, were stuffed around me. The sizzling of Ford’s master boil was as loud as the spices were pungent. Damn what’d I give to meet the family that taught him how to cook like that.

But whatever reasons he had for staying away, were ones I never pushed too hard for. He’d never made me feel like the ass I once was, and I wasn’t about to become that friend to him. Besides, having him around was as much of a comfort for him as it was for me.

Scanning the crowd once again, I glanced at the watch on my wrist and then back at the bustling yard. The meal was well underway, my stomach was full, but Kat and her family weren’t here yet. And that made me even more nervous.

“If ya keep standin’ like a fucking creep on the edge of the yard, people are gonna start talkin’, ya feel me?” Ford muttered, his Cajun accent bleeding heavily through his words. Thicker than usual, something that usually happened when he was trying to make sure others didn’t quite understandhim as well. On purpose. Always on purpose unless he was angry, but even then, I often wondered with how smart this damn man was, if even when upset and the accent came out, he was in control of it then too.

“Go away,” I muttered.

“Kat’s fine. It’s been ’bout an hour since ya left? What can happen in the hour when she’s all around family, ya feel me?” he replied beneath his breath.

“Don’t say that too loudly. If Kat finds out I’ve been keeping an eye on her when she clearly asked me not to, I’m as good as dead,” I hissed.

He rolled his eyes and took a swig of beer. “C’est pour ça que je parle comme ça, espèce de connard.”

“I have no idea what the fuck you just said.”

“I said that you’re a dumbass,” he grumbled.

“That’s a lot of words for dumbass.”

“I said that I’m talking with my thick accent to make sure others have a harder time understanding what I’m saying, you asshole,” he translated with a shake of his head.

“Ah, that makes sense,” I said and then the gate to the wooden fence swung open.

There she was. Relief flooded my anxious system as Ford took another casual swig of his beer, tracking the family that slipped into the backyard. Kat, with a gray felt cowgirl hat resting on her head, followed behind her three brothers. Her parents were immediately pulled over toward another group in the backyard. My mom sidled up, grinning from ear to ear, and effortlessly joined in the conversation. How casual and comfortable she seemed.

Returning my gaze to Kat, I quietly watched as she slipped away. With her hair draped in elegant waves down her back, her smile brightened the entire mood as she offered it to a few women she passed. Stopping at a couple others, she shared some words with people whose faces were a blur in the crowd. There was no one but her to me. Nothing but her plump, rosy cheeks and luscious lips I wanted pressed back against mine. Her bright blue eyes twinkled, confidence oozing from a figure of curves and a rush of erotic excitement darted down my lower back.

Adjusting my stance to accommodate my hardening dick, I felt a smile tug at the edge of my lips. Her tank top was black and white striped with a beautiful sunflower design etched right between her breasts where I wanted to shove my face. She’d paired it with jeans that only made her hips and ass that much fuller, and there was no stopping the heat from roaring through my veins. I wanted nothing more than to simply bury myself inside her.

I only noticed someone else entering the backyard because Kat looked toward the gate. A blonde woman wearing a simple pleated pair of pants and matching blouse that had Ford raising a brow.

He nodded at Emma, who quickly skipped over to Kat and slipped her arm into Kat’s elbow. “Who’s that? I faintly recognize her,” Ford asked.

“Kat’s best friend, Emma,” I replied.

“Damn, if she’s not a spitting image of Dom’s type, I don’t know who’d be,” Ford muttered.

I chuckled and shoved my hands into my pockets, belt-tucking myself the best I could. “Says the guy who still hasn’t said shit about what his type is.”

“Like you’re one to talk. Anything with two legs and is human works.”

“Unless the fucker is you.”

“Like a knife to the heart. I will have to forever resign to the fact that I am not Bernie’s type,” Ford sarcastically replied as Kat’s gaze slid across the crowd and finally locked onto mine.

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