Page 73 of Rules in Love
“Like you,” I said with another kiss.
“I hope so. That would be nice.”
“Do you remember anything else? Like cousins, aunts, and uncles?”
“Nope. It was just me, Mum, and Dad. I can vaguely remember the house we lived in. The kitchen cabinets were stained glass, like my front window is now. And Mum used to sing all the time, but that’s about it.” She stilled, then turned her face to look up at me. “Finn…are you crying?”
“What? No. I just have a bit of a cold.’’ I was totally crying. I moved her head with mine, then wrapped her even tighter in my arms so she couldn’t look back up. ”I’m so sorry for pushing you about it, Scar. I can’t even imagine how hard it must have been.”
“There’s no need to be sorry, Finn. And you didn’t push. You just want to know me better. It’s nice. Other than Teddy, you’re the only one who’s ever asked me, which is probably a good thing, really. I hate people feeling sorry for me or giving me thatAww, the poor little orphanface.”
“Ahh, I know that face.” I shifted till she could see my face, dropped my bottom lip, and tilted my head to the side.
“That’s it,” she said, wiping my tears without a word. “And I get why people do it. It’s bloody tough on a kid. Life was hard. But I did have fun times too. Like lots of kids that grow up in England, I had trips to Brighton and Scarborough, days at the zoo, and naughty adventures with my friends at school. It’s just that those trips were with foster parents or volunteer programs, not my mum and dad. And I changed schools a lot, so the friends were few and far between.”
“Lucky you found Teddy, eh? And now me too. We can make up all the lov—umm, lots of affection and friendship.”Shit, that was close.I cleared my throat and continued.“I want you to know you can talk to me about this stuff, Scar. You never have to hide anything from me.”
“Same, Austen.” Scarlett pressed her lips to my chest and nuzzled back under my arm. “Since my vault is cracked, do you have anything else you want to ask me?”
“Brett.” I said it so fast I almost coughed. “What’s the deal there? You’ve said before it was a one-time thing, but was he ever in the picture? Did you love him?”
“Uh, nope. Brett was… Brett was a mistake made by a horny, lonely English girl being naughty on her first week at uni. He was already back here in the States by the time I knew I was pregnant with Ben. Even if he was still around, I don’t think we would have been together. We’re completely different people and not in the sexy, opposites-attract kind of way. Just the opposite-and-nothing-to-say way.”
My breath caught in my throat, terrified of what I was going to hear next. “So…just to confirm, youdidn’tcome to America to be with Brett?”
“God, no! Not at all. Brett and Ben being closer and having a real relationship was part of the decision, no doubt. I want Ben to have the family that I never had. That’s so, so important to me. But there was no notion of romance involved. Not for me, anyway.”
“Red, you know Brett sees it differently, don’t you? He was marking his territory at the hospital. You should have seen him when you were asleep. He practically hovered over you with his arms spread out to stop me from getting close. I’m surprised he didn’t take a piss on your leg. He kissed you too.”
Scarlett’s hands slapped into the mattress on either side of her thighs, and her whole body tensed. “He what?”
“He kissed you. Smack bang on your chops the minute he came in and saw me sitting by you, holding your hand. He didn’t talk to me at all. Didn’t even ask who I was or what happened to you. He just…hovered.”
“Ughh. He’s such a creep. I understand he wants us to be close and do things together for Ben, but he knows I’m not interested. Hopefully, he’ll take the hint now that he knows we’re together…uhhh. Um, I mean, not together, but you know.”
A blush rose from the swell of her breast to her ears. I elbowed her arm playfully. “Together. Are we together, then? You and me? We’reus?”
She chewed her lip and grimaced so cutely my heart hurt. “Would you like that? To be…us?”
You’re going back to Sydney. You can’t be the family she wants.I hoped Scarlett didn’t notice the brief hesitation. “Very much so, Scarlett. I wanted to beusthe first moment I saw you.”
“Me too.”
At the most inopportune time, as I leaned in to kiss my girl, I was hit with a sudden realization, a bolt from above. “Holy shit!” I jerked upright and sent Scarlett rolling from her position on my chest. Dazed and confused, she landed awkwardly, face down, on my lap.
“What? What holy shit?” came a crotch-muffled reply.
“Brett and Scarlett! RHETT AND SCARLETT!” Scarlett rolled her eyes and then buried them into her hand.
“Oh God, you just realized?”
“How did I not see it before?” Laughing so hard I almost fell from the bed, I carefully pulled the mortified Scarlett off my crotch and into my arms.
“It’s not funny, Finn,” she whined, “Teddy had a bloody field day when he first found out and teased me relentlessly the whole of my pregnancy. I’m incredibly traumatized.” Entrapped in my embrace, her body shook as mine did until she laughed along with me.
“You are fucking Rhett and Scarlett! Shit, I wasn’t really threatened by the dork before, but I bloody am now. You two seem to be fated.”
“Oh, please. You want to hear something even worse. Rhett’s…fuck, I mean Brett’s parents…their names are…Bill and Hillary.”
