Page 18 of fiftysix

“Come join us, Valley. We’re looking at some of my old photographs,” Dad said as I walked back through the foyer.

I stopped at the dining table and looked at the photo albums spread out on the table with pictures of Dad when he was little, a teenager, and a young adult.

There were even a few from his and Della’s wedding.

I smiled and took a seat next to Riggs who was sitting across from the other two.

“I love how vintage these pictures look,” I said, taking one with Dad pictured on it when he was a toddler.

“They make me feel nostalgic. Cameras back then weren’t as high quality as they are now,” Dad said.

I knew that, but Dad had this thing of explaining things to me that I already knew about.

It somewhat bothered me, but I couldn’t tell him to stop or he’d get upset.

“I think we still have the camera my parents owned. I put all those things in the attic years ago. We might be able to find it again and see if it works,” he suggested.

While I looked at all the pictures, I felt Riggs tense next to me as I leaned in over the table to grab Della’s wedding picture with her wedding dress on.

“This dress was amazing. Do you still have it?” I asked.

They got married eight years ago.

Riggs was there too, and I was only ten. The wedding itself was a lot of fun, but other than the ceremony and all the delicious food after, there wasn’t much I remembered.

“I do, yes. Your father and I joked about you wearing it to your own wedding, but I didn’t think you’d grow up to be taller than me.”

Because my biological mother was short.

She was a petite woman, just like Della, but that didn’t matter anyway.

“I’m not getting married,” I said, placing the picture back down and receiving strange looks from my father.

“Where does that kind of statement suddenly come from?” he asked, his brows raised in confusion.

I shrugged. “I’ve never wanted to get married, Dad.”

“Why not?”

Because the men I would fall for wouldn’t be the ones you’d accept.

I shrugged again. “I don’t need a ring and piece of paper to assure the man I love that I’ll be faithful to him for the rest of my life,” I said.

Riggs tensed again, and I had the sudden urge to touch him.

My hand moved to his lap and I wrapped my fingers along the inside of his thigh, squeezing gently.

My pussy ached again, and it seemed he was the one guy making me feel this way today.

Sure, I was excited for Garett later, but Riggs was right here.

Close enough to touch him.

So why wouldn’t I?

A lump in my throat formed, making me unsure about what I was doing.

Was I scared of his reaction? No, way…

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