Page 33 of Tan Lines & Trouble
I wince. "Just humor me."
"Blake."
Swallowing roughly, I bring the phone back to my ear. "I told you! I told you she was mine."
"She's not though, is she? Not really."
"I swear to God, Griffin... If you touch her, I'll?—"
"You'll what?" I ask, calling his bluff.
"Does family mean nothing to you?" He scoffs and I can practically see the spit flying from his lips in my head. "You'd really cross me for that...that whore?"
"Call her that again, disrespect her inanyway again, and family or not, you'll be taking your meals through a straw."
He starts to pop off with some other bullshit, but I pull the phone away from my ear at the sound of Blue softly calling my name. "Can I talk to him?"
"You sure?"
She nods and I pass the phone to her.
Immediately, she puts it on speaker.
"If you're desperate enough to go after your own cousin's sloppy seconds, that says more about you than it does me. She's a slut anyway. And boring as hell in the sack."
"Excuse me?" she asks, her voice shockingly steady.
"Blue!" Blake's voice cracks, either in surprise or shame. Or maybe anger, since the next words out of his mouth are enough to have me planning his funeral. "What in the hell are you thinking whoring it up with my cousin? Do you realize he was supposed to be the best man in our wedding? You're sleeping with our best man!"
"Stop." While her voice is soft, her eyes are hard, with twin flames of anger burning brightly within them.
Like the idiot he is, Blake starts to go off again, but she speaks over him, never once raising her voice. "You lost the right to have an opinion on my life, on what I do, and who I do it with the second you decided to stick your dick in someone else."
I inhale sharply. He cheated on her? My dickweasel of a cousin landed a legit ten, with the brains and heart to back it, and he cheated? What an idiot.
"You don't understand!"
"Enlighten me," she deadpans and I have to slap my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing.
"I've had so much pressure on me with work and?—"
Blue barks out a humorless laugh in the middle of his half-assed excuse. "You're damn right I don't understand. There's nothing you can say to justify what you did. I meant it when I said we were through. I want nothing to do with you. Not now, not ever."
"And fucking my cousin has nothing to do with me?"
She looks to me and rolls her eyes. I return the gesture before plopping down into one the over-stuffed chairs, patting my thigh in invitation. She hesitates for only a second before crossing to me and perching herself on my lap.
"First of all, I didn't know y'all were related until about five minutes ago. Secondly, I don't want revenge on your Blake. I just want you to go away and to leave me alone." Another dry laugh escapes her. "If anything, maybe I should thank you."
"Thank me?" the idiot asks with a noticeable pep to his voice.
"Sure," she drawls. "You showed me exactly what I don't want in a partner and, icing on the cake here, you inadvertently led me to, hands down, the best orgasms of my life. So, yeah, thanks."
"You stupid bitch!" Blake starts, but I pluck the phone out of her hands and take the call off of speaker.
"Listen now and listen well, lose Blue's number. Lose mine too. I'll never know how you convinced Blue to give you the time of day, but you screwed up and your loss... well, it's damn sure my gain." I end the call and power down my phone before tossing it onto the desk and wrapping Blue in my arms. "I'm sorry about him. He sucks."
"Understatement of the year." She nestles into me. "But, it's not your fault. You can't choose your family."
