Lib Novel Page 148
“Please!” The little boy bounced. “Please, please, please. Mummy said I’d get a puppy. I can see them. Over there.” He twisted to point at the kennel-barn. “I want one!”
Rupe gave me the look that offered to take over, but I wouldn’t let him fight my battles for me. Michelle had no power over me. Not anymore.
And unfortunately, as much as I wanted nothing more than to kick her ass off my property, if she offered a good home for a dog and her son would benefit from a canine best friend, then I had to be the bigger man.
Glancing quickly at Vesper, I touched her hand. “Go with Rupert. I won’t be long.” Sighing heavily, I glared at Michelle. “Fine. I’ll take you over there. But then you’re leaving. I have a party and unfinished important business to get back to.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
———————
Vesper
MY CLAWS WERE OUT.
I wanted to sink them into Ryder and pull him back. I wanted to scratch the she-devil walking beside him across the meadow to the dog’s barn. And yet all I could do was stand there. Like an idiot. With a damn bleeding heart and snarling stomach.
Rupert came up beside me and nudged my shoulder with his. “I figure you understand enough to know who Michelle is? She’s the one who lied and made Ry a laughingstock at school. I don’t like her.”
“I don’t like her, either.” My voice was venom inside my throat. “Bloody ex-girlfriend. What the hell is she doing here? Where did she come from?”
“Not just an ex.” Rupert lowered his voice. “The ex. She lives in this town. Always has. But you have nothing to worry about. She never deserved him, and she will never be welcome here. Ever. Ryder will finally give her a piece of his mind and kick her out. Don’t you worry.”
I swallowed my raging pain, howling at how quickly today had gone from perfect to painful. “Don’t experts say that if you’re still pissed at an ex, it means there’s unsolved emotions? That if you can look them in the eye and feel nothing then you’re truly over them?” Angry tears balled in my throat. “Ryder looked at her with rage. Rage is an emotion. Hate is love with a little poison mixed in.”
Oh God, could he still have feelings for her?
I didn’t see a wedding ring on Michelle’s finger which meant she had a child and was most likely on the prowl for a baby daddy.
Rupert took a sip before passing me his beer. I clung to it even though I didn’t like the tangy stuff. “Don’t torture yourself, Ves. I’ve never seen my brother with anyone the way he is with you. You gotta know that he cares a lot for you.”
Cares but has never come out and said how much.
Neither had I.
Did that mean we were both uncertain about the longevity of what lived between us? Were we still on the lookout for something better without even knowing it?
Without thinking, I tipped the beer bottle to my lips and drank the entire thing. Gross cold stuff mingled with the buzz from the vodka mixes. The moment the bottle was empty, I threw it at Rupert and sprinted after Michelle and Ryder.
“Hey!” Rupert called, but I didn’t turn around.
I just kept running like a spy, dodging around the large oak tree, and ignoring the way my heart bled at the sight of a little boy walking in the middle of a woman I hated and a man I loved as if he belonged to both of them.
* * *
“And this is Corn and Chip. They’re Chiweenies.” Ryder scowled, unwilling to do any more than the bare necessities of introduction.
“Oh, they’re so cute!” Nate dropped to his knees and bear hugged the two tiny critters. Instead of running away, the dogs stayed put. One even tentatively licked the little boy’s face.
Ouch, that hurt.
It hurt because I’d earned a whine and terror from that little dog when trying to heal him. And now a complete stranger from a woman who had Ryder’s heart before I ever did, earned a lick.
It was a slap in the damn face.
Hiding around the barndoor, I spied on the trio.
For fifteen minutes, Ryder had leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and barked off names and breeds whenever Michelle pointed to one of interest. The dogs came ambling over from the garden, all wriggling and wagging.