Forbidden Harmony (Harmony Falls #3) - Elizabeth Kelly Page 0,77

a sip of iced tea, his features carefully schooled. “Okay.”

“That prick of an ex-fiancé has her convinced that she sucks in bed. He broke off the engagement because he said she was terrible in bed.”

“You’re kidding me?”

“I’m not. He was fucking gaslighting her. Used it as an excuse for why he cheated on her. She’s not terrible in bed. A little unsure maybe and shy, but the way she responds when I…”

He sat back, clearing his throat. “The motherfucker never went down on her.”

Preacher almost laughed at the look of astonishment on Gideon’s face.

“Seriously?”

“Dead fucking serious,” Preacher said. “The asshole was perfectly fine with letting her go down on him but never once returned the favour and they were together for how fucking long?”

“Since they were teenagers,” Gideon said. “Jesus, I always thought Harrison was kind of a self-involved blowhard and that Addie could do better. This confirms that.”

“Anyway, she asked me for lessons once a week for a month and I said yes. Nothing serious. Just fucking. Only…”

“Only what?” Gideon said.

Wren and Georgia arrived with their food and Preacher waited until they left before saying, “Only I’m fucking jealous.”

Gideon grinned at him. “It doesn’t sound like Harrison was doing it for Addie in the bedroom, so you probably don’t have to be jealous of him, pookie. Unless you’re not going down on her either?”

“Fuck off,” Preacher said before shoving a piece of steak in his mouth. This was his favourite meal at Nan’s and while it looked and smelled as delicious as it always did, it tasted like sawdust in his mouth.

Gideon laughed. “What are you jealous about?”

“She was hanging out with that Lucas guy today, helping him pick out a gift for his mother at the yarn shop down the street. They came into the shop after, and I was jealous even though Lucas told me he wasn’t interested in her. But I was an asshole to Addison anyway and hurt her feelings.”

He waited for Gideon to tease him some more and when he didn’t say anything, Preacher looked up from his food. The humour in Gideon’s face was gone and he was staring solemnly at him.

“What?” Preacher said.

“Has Addison made any indication that she wants this to be more than just lessons?” Gideon said.

“Of course she fucking hasn’t,” Preacher said. “Why would she? A woman like her doesn’t want a relationship with someone like me.”

Gideon snorted angrily. “How many times do I have to tell you that you’re -”

“Yeah, yeah,” Preacher said. “I know. I’m a good guy. A good guy who went to prison for four years, a good guy who almost made the exact same mistake a few years later, a good guy who needed his best friend to co-sign a loan for him so he could get his own fucking shop. Look, I appreciate that you always have my back, man, you know I do, but blowing this bullshit up my ass about how I’m just as good as someone like Addison Moore isn’t what I need to hear.”

“Too fucking bad,” Gideon said. “I’m gonna keep saying it until you believe it.”

“I just need some advice on how to chill the fuck out around her.”

Gideon ate some pasta. “You seriously want me to tell you how to stop being jealous?”

“Yeah.” Preacher pushed at the bread under his steak before stabbing some lettuce from his salad and shoving it into his mouth.

“Dude, I love you, but the amount of denial you’re swimming in is neck fucking deep. You like Addison and you want to be her man. The jealousy isn’t gonna stop.”

“No, I fucking don’t,” Preacher said.

Gideon rolled his eyes. “You can act as stupid about this as you want, but you know as well as I do that it’s the reason you’re so jealous.”

Gideon was right, but Preacher wasn’t giving him the satisfaction of agreeing. He hadn’t really talked to Gideon about this because he wanted advice on how to not be jealous. He’d talked to him about it because the way Addison had looked at him this afternoon was eating him up inside. What if she was so pissed that she never wanted to fuck him again?”

The little bit of appetite he had left immediately departed to parts unknown and he pushed away his steak and his salad. “She’s pissed at me because of how I acted this afternoon.”

“What exactly did you do?”

“Lucas asked to see her tattoo and I told him no.”

Gideon winced. “Yeah, telling a woman what she can and can’t