Page 82 of Ink & Stardust

“Did you win your football game?” I ask, arching my neck to look up at him.

“Was there ever a question?” He leans down, dropping a chaste kiss to my forehead.

“I guess not.” I chuckle, settling my cheek back against his chest.

“How was your visit with your family?” he asks, his fingers playing in my hair.

“It was good. The girls are huge. I can’t believe how much they’ve grown in just a few short months.”

“And your brothers?”

“Same. Apparently, River is talking to some girl, and he kept it from me, which is so not a River thing to do. And it was Dalton, of all people, who told me. Butthole,” I grumble.

“Well, if that’s the most interesting thing that happened, I’d say your Thanksgiving was about as lackluster as mine.”

“That’s not theonlything that happened,” I softly admit, having not yet decided if I was going to tell Kai about Leo until just now. Pushing myself upright, I reach for my shirt that’s at the foot of the bed and quickly pull it on.

“If you’re getting dressed to tell me, it can’t be good.” He scoots further up the bed, propping himself up on the headboard.

“It’s not bad, necessarily.” I locate my panties hanging across the footboard but don’t bother with putting them on, knowing Kai will have them back off in a few minutes anyway.

“Okay.” He waits for me to continue.

“Leo showed up at my parents’ house on Thanksgiving.” I blow out a breath. “Not for dinner or anything. He definitely wasn’t invited. In fact, he never made it past the driveway. I was out back talking to River and we heard a car pull up. I thought it was my sister-in-law with the girls, so I went around the side of the house, and there he was.”

“What did he want?” he asks, an unreadable mask marring his perfect face.

“To tell me he loved me and wanted me back.” I bark out a laugh like it’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, probably because it is.

“How did that make you feel?” His stoic expression and the way he asks the question make me feel like I’m at a therapist’s office rather than in bed with the man I’m currently ass-over-head in love with.

“Pissed,” I state matter-of-factly.

“What did you say back to him?”

“I basically told him to go fuck himself and that I was seeing someone new who—and I quote—made his pencil dick look like a Tic Tac.”

I brace myself for his reaction to implying that we’re seeing each other, but whatever I thought he’d do or say, he doesn’t.

A smile touches his lips seconds before his warm laughter fills the room.

“Oh, Converse. You really are full of surprises.” He reaches for my hand and I give it to him willingly, smiling as he pulls me into his arms.

“I hope you don’t mind I used your dick as reference.”

“You can do anything you want with my dick, verbal or otherwise.” He smirks, his hand tangling in the back of my hair. “I’m sure there was more to it than that.” He slides his nose against mine.

“Well, I did have a few other choice words for him,” I admit. “It felt good to finally let him have a piece of my mind. For so long, I’ve bitten my tongue, too scared to say what I truly mean, but this time I didn’t hold back. I think it’ll be a cold day in hell before he finds himself in my presence again.”

“I’d be happy to ensure that’s the case, if you’d like.” He presses a soft kiss to my lips, causing my already raging heartto beat even faster, thumping against my ribs like a herd of angry elephants. “Maybe he’ll walk outside and findmeinhisdriveway.”

“As much as I’d love to see the look on his face if you did just that, I’m done letting him think he holds any power over me anymore. That I care enough to have you show up there. I know Leo well enough to know that the thing that will hurt him the most is knowing I don’t care enough to try to hurt him back.”

“He didn’t deserve you.”

“You’re right. He didn’t.” I stare into his eyes for a long moment, words I know I shouldn’t speak on the tip of my tongue. And God help me, I almost let them slip... Almost.

“So I make his dick look like a Tic Tac?” He tilts his head, a cocky smirk tugging at his lips.

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