Summer Breeze Kisses - Addison Moore Page 0,137

best to evade her.”

Rex gives a nervous laugh as he brings her hands back to the front and tries to deposit them onto her lap, but Savannah’s tentacles are too busy moving and grooving all over his stately frame.

“So”—Piper nudges her elbow into my ribs—“what were the two of you discussing today out by the altar? It looked pretty serious.”

“Life and his mother. My general dislike for her, and why I can’t seem to pinpoint what exactly it is about her that I can’t stand.” I wrinkle my nose in his direction. “It actually wasn’t that abrasive. He was pretty nice. He seems really understanding of how I feel.”

“Is Operation Drive a Hatchet into Your Father’s Wedding Plans still a go?”

“Yup. Next week we’re meeting at my father’s stuffy old country club. I’ve no doubt once their geezer friends spot Rex and me shoving our tongues down one another’s throat it will sink them straight to the bottom of the social totem pole.”

Piper balks. “You think that’s all they’re in this for? Some slimy social circle? Don’t you think what they have is real?” She waves her hand in front of my face in an attempt to capture my attention.

“No, I don’t,” I say, craning my neck so as not to miss a minute of the Savannah takes Toberman hour. Dear God, according to that disgusting look on her face, she’s moments from dry humping herself into a bona fide fit of ecstasy. Sure, Rex looks physically uncomfortable as he tries to carry on a conversation with Owen as if the blonde anaconda wasn’t about to wrap herself around him and strangle the life out of his penis, but still, my money says he takes her home at the end of the evening, and, that, right there, draws the bile to the back of my throat.

“Geez, Scarlett.” Piper steps square in front of me. “You look like you’re about to be sick. Come on, I’m not letting you torment yourself like this.” She scoots me to the back of the bar where the wedding party is toasting through tears while Bryson and Holt take turns saying nice things about Annie. Both Cade and Piper step up and say a few words about their brothers, and before I know it, my eyes are running like a damn faucet again.

“There’s a drought in California.” Rex lands in the seat next to me and tosses me a napkin.

“I bet you’d like to get rid of me.” I dab the tears from my eyes with such violence it wouldn’t shock me to wake up to two black eyes in the morning. “Is that what this is about?” I scoff at his meager attempt to make me disappear. “Once I break that spell your mother put over my poor unassuming dad, you can bet the entire lot of us will be out of your hair.”

His head ticks back a notch. “Are you calling my mother a witch?”

“If the broomstick fits.”

Rex gapes at me as if I’ve just initiated a war, and so what if I did? It’s been a long time coming.

“I’m willing to overlook that because I know you’re hurting.” His eyes lock with mine, and as much as I may not like it, the words reek of sincerity. “But for your own good, stop acting like a child and admit to the fact you’re in pain instead of resorting to name calling. It’s not a good look on you.” His eyes soften. “You’re better than this, Scarlett. You’re a good person with a broken heart, and, believe me, I know how you feel.”

“Do you know how I feel?” Now it’s my turn inching back with righteous indignation. “Or do you know how Savannah Anderson feels pawing all over your body as if you were her new favorite chew toy?”

“So that’s what this is about. You don’t like Savannah?” A snide grin springs to his lips. “Or is it that you don’t like me with Savannah?”

I suck in a sharp breath, so fast and hard, I almost inhale my own tongue.

Dinner gets underway as Piper, Owen, Cassidy, and Cade sit down with us at our small round table. Owen engages the three males at the table in a snooze-worthy conversation regarding how valuable Rex is to the WB football team. And when he or Cade isn’t putting us to sleep singing Rex’s prize fighting praises, Piper and Cassidy fill them in on what a skilled huntress I am—completely incorrect because archery and hunting are