Kiss by Kiss (Riggins Brothers #3) - Kaylee Ryan Page 0,45
sincere. He said he was just worried and wanted me around for years to come, but my weight was worrying him.” I go on to tell him how he would say my job made me fat and that I needed to buy looser clothes to hide my fat rolls.
“I was so blinded by my love for him that I believed him.”
“You’re perfect.”
“I’m a little bigger now than I was then.”
I feel pressure on my shoulder as he rolls me over to face him. The room is still bathed in darkness, but his hand is resting on my cheek. I can envision his deep blue eyes boring into mine. “You’re perfect. You don’t have fat rolls. You have curves.” His hand drops from my face and roams over my side and hip. “Sexy as fuck curves. Tell me that you know that.”
“I’m getting there.”
“Get there,” he says. “Fuck, Rory, I hope I never meet this asshole.”
I nod, even though he can’t see me. “My parents tried to tell me, but I was lost in him. I thought he loved me. He told me often. He was doing all of this because he loved me and needed me to be the best, so he would have me for years to come. My parents—” I swallow hard. “—they told me it wasn’t right, they didn’t like him, but they knew that I loved him. It wasn’t until Grandma passed away and he wasn’t there for me that I started to see it. He didn’t so much as give me a hug. Instead he told me she never liked him, so why should he be sad? He showed up at the after-memorial service at my parents’ house. I was sitting on the couch with Aspen and eating a piece of cake, my grandma’s best friend made. It was always my grandma’s favorite. Anyway, he barged in and berated me in front of everyone. It was humiliating, but I still stayed with him. When he asked me to marry him, I agreed easily. I thought he loved me. I was wrong.”
“What happened?”
“Aspen tried to talk me out of it. She told me I deserved better, but I thought he was it for me. That he loved me, and all of his ridicule was being done out of love. Turns out it was all just a game to him. The day of our wedding, it was small, but my friends, and what distant family I had left were there. Aspen was my maid of honor.” I stop to catch my breath. I hate talking about this. I wish I could just leave it in the past.
“I’m right here,” Grant says, holding me a little tighter.
“He left me. I can still remember the look on Aspen’s face when his mom came to the door to tell me that the wedding was off. Aspen was ashen, and Elijah’s mom had no remorse. It was as if she agreed with her son’s decision to leave me on our wedding day. I never made it down the aisle.” Another deep breath. “I packed up and moved out that very same night. Aspen and I moved into our grandma’s place while waiting for it to sell. She was having issues with her roommate, and since Grandma’s was still on the market. It gave us some time to regroup, and then I found this building here the same week my parents got a contract on the house, and well, here we are.”
We’re both quiet as I will my heart rate to slow. Grant’s hands roam over my body, warming me, bringing me back from the memories to the present. His touch soothes the pain and turns me on all at the same time.
“I need to turn on the light. I need to see you. Can I do that, Rory?” he asks. There’s something in his voice that I don’t recognize.
“Yes,” I whisper. I’m scared as hell, but if he’s going to end it, I’d rather it be now before I fall any further in love with him because I’m finally willing to admit it to myself.
I’m in love with Grant Riggins.
The bed dips, and the click of the lamp follows, lighting the room with a soft glow. Grant slides back over to me and lies down, facing me. The palm of his hand comes back to rest against my cheek. “I want to erase him from your life. I want to soothe every hurtful thing he ever did or said to you.”