Page 58 of Mountain Mens' Curvy Obsession

I’m watching the exchange as my stomach churns. The awkwardness between the brothers would be downright hilarious if it weren’t for the fact that I’m in the room with one of their former lovers.

I don’t like that Breonna got so close to them, but the past changes nothing about the present. It’s been a hard lesson for me to learn. Therefore, I can only raise my chin and be as graceful and as civil about it as I can be.

“What happened, happened. Can’t take any of it back,” I decide. “But I can certainly appreciate your effort to make amends, Breonna, so I accept your apology.”

“Thank you. That means a lot. I hate the way we left things, and I figured it was as good a time as any to bury the hatchet and clear the air,” she says.

Nico gets up and offers her his seat. “Make yourself comfortable. We should enjoy the pie, since you were so kind to bake it and bring it over.”

“You don’t hate me?” she asks him.

“Nobody’s perfect,” he replies.

Chance and Booker sit with sullen looks on their faces, and Chance refuses to let go of me as Breonna settles on my right side at the breakfast table, smiling as she admires the culinary feast before us.

“Oh, look at that. Waffles,” she muses. “Waffles are your specialty, right, Chance?”

He nods once. He’s not happy about this setup. At all.

Frankly, I’m not sure I’m fine with it either. She keeps dropping these stinging, underhanded remarks meant to prove she knows them better than I do. Or maybe I’m just overthinking it. I already knew Breonna had a slightly difficult and sometimes abrasive personality. Learning that she’d been intimate—however briefly—with the Hayes brother doesn’t do much to improve my already decaying impression of her.

Once Booker clears the breakfast plates, adding clean ones for each of us along with the appropriate cutlery, Nico sets the pie on the table.

But Breonna continues. “I don’t like taking no for an answer. And when the guys said no, I didn’t stomach it well.”

I thought we’d have less awkwardness after the respective apologies, but Breonna isn’t done picking at this old wound of hers.

“It’s okay,” I tell her as I cut myself a small slice of the pie. The idea is to taste it before I decide I want more. It looks and smells wonderful, though.

“Rest assured your secret is safe with me,” she says and nervously laughs. “The people in town wouldn’t understand.”

“We appreciate that,” Nico replies.

I think that’s why Nico’s nice to her, even though Booker and Chance choose not to engage. Their personal lives may be theirs, but people still talk. Rumors spread. And given how much the Hayes brothers have invested in the region, a scandal could impact their businesses.

“I’m just sorry,” Breonna sighs, “about Max, too. Whatever happened to the guy, anyway? He vanished. He hasn’t returned my calls either.”

Chance gives her a cold look. “You have his number?”

“He got mine, then he texted. We were going to meet for drinks, but, like I said… poof!”

“He left,” Chance replies. “After he attacked Anya, he left.”

Breonna gives me a worried frown. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m much better, thank you,” I say, already done with my little slice of pie. “This is delicious, Breonna,” I say, reaching for another small slice.

“Are you sure you want another slice already?”

I stare at her for a hot second, not blinking. Booker’s fork clinks as it hits the plate, almost startling me. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asks, his tone clipped.

“I’m just saying; there’s a lot of sugar in it. If Anya’s watching her figure, she should go easy on the sweets,” Breonna replies.

Once more, I’m rendered incredibly self-conscious when in the company of the three men who have made me feel like I’m the most beautiful girl in the world, and the contradiction brewing in my soul is painfully confusing.

Nico picks up on my mood and gets up. “Anya’s figure is precisely what makes her so beautiful and desirable,” he calmly says as he comes around the breakfast table and embraces me from behind. “If she wants another slice, she’s free to enjoy it. That’s why you brought the pie over, isn’t it, Breonna? For Anya to enjoy?”

The way he accentuates every word puts Breonna in the worst possible light.

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