Page 9 of Perfect Alpha

“Uncle Cade!” Aidan screams.

Hannah and Aidan will join me eventually, so I take the opportunity to escape, hurriedly following my parents inside the house without looking back.

Chapter 4

Cade

Basedontheshockpainted across Victory’s gorgeous face, she wasn’t expecting me to saunter into her parents’ kitchen, and I give her my trademark smirk.

She was handcrafted in my wildest dreams, and the sight of her will never stop making my heart skip a beat.

How is it possible for a woman to send your stomach dropping to your feet no matter how many times you see her?

Relationships usually get monotonous.

Ours didn’t.

God, she’s even more beautiful than I remember.

Calling her mine was the best decision I’ve ever made. What happened next was necessary, but still permeates my life with longing and sadness.

Victory’s sexy red hair falls in waves that stop at nipples I remember as small, pink, and perfect. Her eyes are the most haunting green that still penetrate my soul with ease. She’s blessed with impeccable porcelain skin that doesn’t have a single freckle or blemish anywhere.

I speak from experience because I’ve kissed every inch of her incredible body.

My eyes lock on the unsteady rise and fall of her chest while praying it’s because of my proximity. She’s wearing a silky shirt and thin bra, so the view is completely and utterly mesmerizing, monopolizing all my attention and making tasks like breathing optional.

She says something, but nothing gets past the roar of blood crashing through my ears like a powerful waterfall.

Fuck.

Now I’m half-hard with the memory of exactly how she tastes. Her absence from my bed has done nothing to dissipate my hunger for her.

When I finally force my gaze to her eyes, I’m met with exasperation, revealing that she knows exactly what had me so preoccupied.

Like a man waiting to be saved at the eleventh hour, I desperately search her face for even a glimmer of what still burns so hotly inside me.

But there’s nothing except disdain.

No regret.

No sadness.

Definitely no love.

Looking away and swallowing over a lump in my throat, I direct my attention to Aidan. “What do you want to do this weekend while your mama is at work, buddy?”

Victory turns toward Hannah and speaks as though I didn’t. “Where’s your dad?” She turns to glare accusingly at me, as though reminding me I shouldn’t be here.

But hanging out in Victory’s parents’ kitchen is a normal occurrence for my little crew, even if she’s no longer around to witness it. It’s a second home to us, full of the positive energy I regularly need to absorb.

Julia and Kevin are like the parents in Richie Rich with a vault of sentimental relics, except their home is the shrine.

It’s filled to the brim with knickknacks, mismatched and well-loved furniture, and photographs of Victory at every life stage, from the knobby-kneed kid who drove me up the wall to the showstopper she is now.

Well, she still makes me crazy.

Some things never change.

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