Page 14 of Secret Twins for My Ex's SEAL Best Friend

He didn’t look apologetic or like it was out of character. He lookedrelieved,like he’d been wanting to say it for so long.

His eyes were lit up, shining, and his jaw was twitching. I assumed with the effort it took him not to say whatever it was he wanted to say. He was just like I remembered him. Judgmental, rude, and upon the highest horse in the room.

“Wow,” I scoffed quietly, shaking my head. “You’re really just going to keep going with that narrative that I was some succubus that led your friend astray. Newsflash,” I stood up and jabbed my finger into his chest, “Jeremy propositionedme. You can’t help who you fall in love with.”

“Was it love, Delia? Or did you think fucking the supervisor could get you ahead?”

I threw my head back and guffawed at the ceiling. “Ha!” I looked at him with a steely gaze.

My palms were sweating, and I felt like I wanted to hit him. He made me feel out of control with frustration, like a little kid that knocks another kid’s tower again. “You’re really something.I spent a long time mourning that relationship. Maybe you think that way because that’s how you are. Maybe you’re projecting your shitty views on people onto everyone else.”

“Maybe,” he relented, shrugging one shoulder. His bottom lip poked out a little as though he was deep in thought, and then he smirked at me.

That smallest of smiles, even a condescending one, brought a boyish charm to his angular face. “But I don’t think so.”

At that moment, I just imagined poking his eyes out and carrying them around on my fingers. He was doing such a good job at being the biggest asshole out there.

I was about to tell him just what I thought of him when I saw Jeremy walk in through the doors.

It was like the world stopped.

I saw Jeremy all the time, but having the two of them together in one room brought back some really painful memories.

I looked at Robert, and he lifted his eyebrows at me as if to saywhat now?Then he turned around and called out with a loud, happy voice, “Jer! So glad you’re here, dude! Here, take a name tag.”

I wanted to shove those name tags down Robert’s throat. I couldn’t believe that Jeremy was here, that he was going to take part in what felt like a ritual intended to hurt me.

I looked at him with utter shock, my mouth wide open, and didn’t move from my spot. My feet felt glued to the floor. I felt like I was speared in that place, like I might bleed out if I tried to move.

“Hi, Delia,” Jeremy said, with an easy smile. His red beard was trimmed nicely, and he looked refreshed and happy to be here.

“What are you doing here?” I blurted out, then shuffled my feet in embarrassment.

Having the two of them in one room not only brought back painful memories but also brought back a vivid daydream. Robert kissing me, Robert between my legs, Robert telling me he wanted me and always had…I felt a weird sense of guilt for thinking that way. I knew our breakup had hurt Jeremy, too. He was my mentor. He’d helped me through all my hours at the clinic, even afterward.

He’d be so upset if he knew what was on my mind as I looked at Robert.

But I just couldn’t deny how good Robert looked… despite how much I hated him.

six

Robert

While watching Delia try to defend herself against Jeremy as he lay on top of her, mimicking a real-world scenario in which she woke up to a stranger in the night, I couldn’t deny my attraction to her.

I hadn’t thought I was a ‘dick’ to her when she was dating Jeremy. I just didn’t take their relationship very seriously. I hadn’t thought it would last, and then when it did last, I had been concerned for him.

She was young, and it was inappropriate, and I hadn’t been convinced that she was in love with him anyway. It had seemed to me that she might be trying to get ahead in her schooling.

It had worked out for her, after all. Here she was, a year after their breakup, and the man still couldn’t cut ties with her, not unless he wanted to risk her telling all his higher-ups. He’d made a mess of his life, and she’d helped.

I watched as Delia managed to push Jeremy’s arms out from underneath him, straightening his elbow out and crashing her hand into it. He went flat, and she rolled him, flattened out, then slid out from underneath him.

Delia celebrated with a wiggly dance, her hands high in the air and her breasts bouncing as much as they could underneath her sports bra. Her ponytail flew around, and a smile shined across her face.

She pointed at Jeremy, and he pointed back at her, and then she whipped her head around and smiled at me. She winked, and I felt something stir in me.

That woman had almost wrecked Jeremy. She said that Jeremy propositioned her, but I knew the truth. I knew that she had showed up late one night at his office when he was doing paperwork, and I knew that she had reached across the desk for his hand and stroked it, her eyes trained on his lips.

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