Dirty Sexy Alphas (Twenty Book Box Set) - Hannah Ford Page 0,166

remember?”

“I do.” He scooted his chair closer to me. His presence was so familiar, so comforting. The closest thing I’d ever had to a family, the closest thing I’d ever had to someone really caring about me, was Declan.

Colt.

His name flashed through my mind like a bolt of lightning, zapping and stinging my heart. I wrapped my hands tightly around my drink as images of what we’d done together flash banged against my brain. His hands on my body, my panties stuck to my pussy, his dick sliding inside of me.

Fuck you, I thought. Fuck you for ruining this for me. But I couldn’t muster up the kind of anger I needed to in order to forget about him.

“Olivia,” Declan said. He reached up and pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear. “God, Olivia, I missed you.” His touch sent a weird sensation coursing through my body. It wasn’t bad, exactly – it felt familiar, warm, good. I remembered the way we would cuddle sometimes at night when no one was around, putting on a silly movie and making microwave popcorn that we’d buy at the dollar store and hide from the other kids. We’d watch TV and snuggle under a blanket, and I’d rest my head against his chest. It was as far as we were willing to push it, since we knew if we got caught even doing that, we’d be in trouble.

Back then my heart would pound in my chest so hard and my body would feel hot and flushed.

Now, though, I didn’t feel any of those things.

All I could think about was Colt.

My hands gripped the glass in my hand even tighter, so tight I was afraid it would break.

“You have no idea how much I’ve thought about you,” Declan was saying. “I wanted to find you, but I wasn’t sure how.”

The words should have made me happy, but again, all I could think about was Colt -- how he’d said that anyone who knew how to google could have tracked me down easily.

No! It wasn’t true! I told myself. I hardly had any presence online, no email, no facebook. It would have been nearly impossible for Declan to find me.

I forced myself to relax as Declan took my drink out of my hands and set it down on the table.

“Do you remember the promise we made to each other?” His green eyes were staring into mine, and his hands were on my thighs now, gripping them gently.

“Of course.”

He smiled. “I kept that promise all these years,” he said, and I felt the devastation roll over me. He’d stayed true to me, even as he’d moved on with his life, even as he’d gotten a good job and nice a place to live. He was gorgeous and smart and kind, and he could have any woman he wanted, and yet he’d kept his promise to me.

He took my hand and raised it to his mouth, kissing my knuckles softly. As his lips touched my skin the sleeve of my sweater slid up a little, and the top of my bandage peeked out. Declan’s eyes slid over it, but he didn’t say anything.

“Olivia,” he murmured, and then he was moving toward me, his lips about to brush against mine.

I turned my head.

“I’m sorry,” he said, pulling back. “I’m so sorry, Olivia. I shouldn’t have – ”

“No.” I wiped my palms on my jeans again. “I just… I need to tell you something.” I needed to tell him about Colt. I couldn’t kiss Declan and not tell him what I’d done.

It wasn’t right, and it left an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

But that wasn’t the only reason I was feeling uneasy.

I felt uneasy because I wasn’t feeling anything else.

There was no rush of excitement, no thrill in my stomach, no anticipation and butterflies. Off course I was excited to see Declan, and it wasn’t that he was making me feel weird or uncomfortable.

It was more that he wasn’t making me feel excited. I wasn’t getting a rush. It was like seeing an old friend – nice and comfortable, but not exciting.

Not the way it was with Colt.

Stop thinking about him!

“Go ahead,” Declan said. “Whatever it is, Olivia, you can tell me.”

I opened my mouth to start talking, but a second later, the front door opened and a girl appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. She had long blonde hair and a pale complexion, and she was holding two brown grocery sacks.

“Hey!” she said happily when