nipples. I was starting to wonder if talking was really all that she’d come for.
Ever looked me up and down. “What are you still doing up?”
Turning my back on him, I tossed the pan on the counter. Since that day Ever found me questioning Four in her room, I had a hard time looking him in the eye. The fear that he knew everything wouldn’t allow me to. Ever had simply kicked me out of his girlfriend’s room, leaving me to wonder what he might have heard.
“Same reason you are. Chasing after pussy.”
“I find that hard to believe since you haven’t touched anyone in a while.”
As if on cue, Bee stepped into the kitchen, and I smirked at the surprise on Ever’s face.
His startled gaze traveled back and forth between us before settling on Bee. “Hey, Bee…what are you doing here?”
“I…”
While she struggled for words, I took the time to look her over. It pissed me off that she’d dressed. Did she think she was leaving?
“I came to talk to Jamie,” she finally answered.
Ever’s frown only deepened. “At two in the morning?”
I stiffened, not liking the third degree he was giving her as if she still belonged to him. According to Bee, their relationship hadn’t been real, but I wasn’t sure what to believe.
Barbette shifted, looked to me, and then shifted again. I didn’t say shit as I crossed my arms and leaned against the counter. She was on her own.
“It couldn’t wait,” she explained without explaining at all. I waggled my brows at her when she glanced at me. I was here whenever she needed me—morning, noon, or night.
When she started for the pantry, my gaze narrowed. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Home,” was all she said without looking back.
She barely got her hand on the doorknob before I was pulling her back. “It’s two in the morning,” I reminded her. “How did you even get here?”
She lifted her chin, and I braced for more of her bullshit. “My bike.”
My fickle heart skipped a beat, hearing that she still had it. She was hardly without it when we were kids, and it made me wonder how much of her was still in there—trapped inside this cold, gorgeous shell.
“So your plan is to ride in the open, down a dark and empty road at two in the morning? I think you’re smarter than that.”
“Yeah, but you’re still an asshole.” She tried to pull away, but it got her nowhere except even closer to me. I could smell my shampoo in her damp hair and my body wash seeping from her warm skin. Pleasure rushed through me, knowing she still smelled like me even after washing. “Let me go!”
“I can take you home,” Ever offered.
I tossed him a nasty look over my shoulder, and he smiled. He wasn’t taking her anywhere. I’d flatten all four of his tires if I had to.
“That would be great, thanks,” she graciously accepted.
Her friendly tone baffled me. Ever had just broken their engagement in the most humiliating way. Why wasn’t she the one threatening to slit his tires? At that moment, something inside me begged for me to believe her. To believe that there had been nothing between them.
Ignoring them both, I pulled Bee over to one of the stools and pushed her down on it. “Sorry, but that’s not an option, either.”
Before I could say more, light flooded the kitchen. My head whipped toward the entrance, and instantly, my balls fought to climb back inside my body.
My mother’s hair, a little darker than her brother’s light-brown locks, was in disarray from sleep. And despite her medium height and curvy frame, my father’s robe still managed to swallow her. Her hand remained on the light switch while her cobalt blue eyes, the exact shade as Uncle Thomas’s, narrowed to slits.
“Step away from that girl, Jameson. Right now.”
I didn’t move as I stared down my mom. It was the first time I ever considered openly defying her. The look she gave me in return told me she’d kick my ass all over this kitchen, so I took a step back. Dilwen Buchanan stepped forward, ready to scold, but then Bee turned her head, and the words fell right out of my mother’s mouth.
“Barbette?”
With a shy smile, Bee waved. “Hi, Mrs. Buchanan. It’s been a long time.”
“Oh, my… it certainly has.” My mother rushed forward and stole her away from me, wrapping Bee up in her loving arms. For a few seconds, my mother squeezed Bee as