Page 17 of Devious Vows

She just laughs. “Bye, Remy”

“You didn’t say what you were doing.”

She stops in the doorway with a smile, blowing a mocking kiss at me before shutting it.

I smile to myself, watching the spot she just left.

Stubborn fucking woman.

Chapter Six

BEVERLY | 20 YEARS OLD | THE PRESENT

“Will you stop?” I smack at Julian’s arm and he chuckles, holding his makeshift ‘champion of the ring’ certificate, that he and Donatello made, out of reach when I grab for it.

“Don’t you dare take this from me, Bev. This is the first time in over three years that little ol’ me has pinned the record-holding and shit-talking Beverly.” He rolls the certificate up, tucking it into his back pocket. “I am going to show every single person who will look because this is a once-in-a-lifetime deal we’re talking about.”

I roll my eyes, grabbing a ponytail holder off my wrist to tie my hair up into a messy bun. “You’re absolutely ridiculous. I don’t hold any records.”

“But you’re admitting that you talk shit?” He laughs at the look on my face. He bumps my arm when I don’t answer right away, shuffling me sideways.

I shove him back. “You’re the worst.”

Gasping, he clutches his chest. “That can’t be more shit talking I hear.”

Stepping off the dirt path and into the parking lot, my eyes go to a familiar tinted SUV, Remy leaning on the passenger side with a cigarette hanging from his lips. If he notices us right away, he doesn’t show it, looking down at his phone as we walk up.

His eyes land on my brother first, tucking his phone into his pocket just to pull out a burner. He hands it to Julian, talking around the cigarette hanging on his lips. “There’s going to be a pickup in about an hour. I need you to supervise. You’ll need to leave from here.” His honey gaze finally lands on me, heavier than I remember and gone just as quick as it came. “I’ll take Beverly home.”

I frown, watching my brother nod without a word and start jogging toward the car we came here in. “It’s rude to talk about people in front of them.” I shake my head at Remy when he looks my way. “I can find my own ride, thank you.”

He grabs the cigarette from his lips, crushing it on the side of the SUV as smoke blows from his nose. “Get in the car, Beverly.” He licks his lip at my scowl, a small dimple marking his left cheek.

Crossing my arms over my chest, my lips purse. “Would it kill you to ask me nicely?”

He steps close to me, reaching behind himself to open the door. “Bev, please…” I frown up at him, the deep baritone spurring my heart to beat an irregular rhythm. “Get in the fucking car.”

He smirks at my responding scoff, chuckling when I push him to the side and get into the seat. I pull the door shut before he can close it, giving him a rude smile through the window.

“Was that so hard?” I ask instead of looking, caught off guard by his palm cupping the back of my head, fingers lightly digging into my hair to make me look his way.

He’s leaning on the center console, face far closer than necessary. “Where are we going?”

“You have a terrible sense of personal space.” I smack his forearm off the console, effectively knocking his hand from my hair, and sit back. “Weare not going anywhere. ButIwas planning on going to the park to feed the swans.”

He sits back in his seat, not appearing even the slightest bit bothered by me. “Great. I’m free for the afternoon.Wewill feed the swans.”

My knees sink into the damp banks of the pond as I lean over the water’s edge, tossing a handful of the feed I’d forced Remy to get on the way here. Seeing him inside of the old feed store was certainly not a sight I’d ever have thought I would see, but I’m sure happy I did. Several of the swans recognized me before I even made it to the water, their snorts making me smile as I hurried to dole out their treat.

I hear the light squash of Remy’s boots in the grass, the ground soggy from the recent rains, and I look over my shoulder, watching as he stops to stand beside me. “They act as if they know you.”

Throwing more food into the water, I smile watching them. “They do. Swans are like elephants, they never forget.”

“So you’re telling me,” he squats down next to me, his arm brushing along mine, “that the black swan at my parents’ estate is going to hate me forever?”

I snort, the familiar ache of that night burning in my chest. I don’t look at him when I say, “I’m afraid so.”

He hums, the sound vibrating between us. “And what about you?”

---