Winning my Best Friend's Girl - Piper Rayne Page 0,33
the door.
He grabs my wrist. “I didn’t fight for you once. I won’t make that mistake again.”
I pull my arm from him and walk out, hoping to escape this entire wedding before I change my mind and jump in his truck.
Thirteen
Kingston
After the reception finishes, Sedona, Denver, Cleo, and I take Rome’s other three kids home and tuck them in. Denver and I are downstairs in the living room while Cleo and Sedona are upstairs reading bedtime stories.
“What’s up with you and Stella?” Denver asks, wiggling his tie from his neck. He’s already shed his jacket and hung it on the back of the chair in the living room.
“She thinks I’m too dangerous to love.” I sit down in the chair.
He sprawls out on the couch, kicking his feet up on the table. “What are you, Maverick from Top Gun?” He chuckles to himself, grabbing the remote for the television, but he doesn’t turn it on.
I shake my head because of all the reasons she could have given me, the one she did cracked me in two. If what she said is true, it means maybe she does love me, but she loves me too much to risk heartbreak.
“Seriously though.” He glances over as if he’s worried Cleo will overhear him. When we hear Phoebe run down the hall and Cleo call after her, he continues. “She’s worried you’re going to kill yourself?”
I shrug. “I guess so.”
He clicks on the television. “I can see her point. She lost her dad, so she’s probably fearful of losing someone else she loves. Can’t say none of us have felt that way.”
“That’s the thing.” I lean back into the chair. “It’s always been Stella for me. I was invested so young, I never really feared loving and losing someone. Not losing them to death anyway.”
He lays the remote on the armrest of the couch. “Have you ever tried to figure out why you do the stupid shit you do?”
“What do you mean?”
He chuckles and holds up his hands. “Listen, I’m a survivalist. Have I found myself in shitty situations? Yeah. But I trained to get out of those. It’s not the thrill I’m seeking, it’s the challenge. Now that I have Cleo.” He glances at the ceiling and a sly smile crosses his lips. “I’m extra careful. That doesn’t mean I plan on just sitting around on my ass. I love the uncharted territories, but you bet my ass I’m gonna do anything needed to make sure I return home to her. Can you say the same?”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not trying to kill myself.”
His eyebrows draw up. “You sure about that? Because from where I stand, I agree with Stella—you have no regard for your life.”
“Says the man who picked fights, raced cars, and did how many other stupid things back in the day.”
He pats my knee and stands. “Back in the day. When I was stupid and young. You’re twenty-five now. Eventually you’ll need to figure out your priorities and where they lay.” He disappears into the kitchen and returns with a beer for me. “I don’t know, King, maybe Cleo just settles me. I still have the urge to do the Alaska Adventure thing you talked about. But you can bet your ass I’ll make sure I’m trained and ready for anything we’d face, because coming home to her is my first priority.”
I crack open my beer and guzzle down a hearty amount.
“Do you love her?” he asks. “Like really love her? You’re sure this isn’t because of Owen and some sense of competition between you guys?”
“Hell no.” That’s one thing I know for certain. My feelings for Stella have not and never did have anything to do with Owen. They were there before he ever asked her out and he knew it.
“I’m just making sure because you and Owen’s competitiveness is next level. You do know Stella could be thinking the same thing—that she’s the prize for winning the fight.”
“No.” But shit, he might be right. That’s what it always appeared to be from the outside. It’s what the townspeople thought. Stella in the center and Owen and me always tugging from either side.
“Maybe it’s time to find some neutral ground. When you offered friendship, I thought you’d finally grown up. Don’t get me wrong, I get the ‘fight for the one you want until you win her’ thing, but you and Stella have always had such an intense relationship, even as friends growing up. I think friends is