Page 29

Aah, there it is. The dissing comments about my body. I certainly didn’t miss them, but I wished I had punched the jerk when I was young and stupid in love to take his words seriously.

He had left me with a child, homeless, and full of body insecurity.

“So do you.” I gave him a sweet, saccharine smile. “And a lot balder as well.”

He scowled, mumbling something underneath his breath.

“What’s with the creepy messages?” I asked, itching to go back to the reception. I didn’t feel good being alone with him. It was strange how I’d do anything to get his attention when I was younger, but now I couldn’t stand him. “What do you want?”

He ran a hand through his hair. I saw a hint of his tattoos underneath the dress shirt. I guess he got more than ever since he was in prison. “You should be grateful I reached out. You didn’t even come to pick me up when I was released.”

I let out a loud chuckle, bubbles of laughter spilling out of me. “You’re so delusional, Timothy.” I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye. His scowl got worse, twisting his features in the low light. “You have the audacity to come here to my son’s wedding and ask me, your ex-girlfriend, who you hit in a drunken mess, that I didn’t pick you up from a prison for selling drugs to kids? Did you hit your head somewhere? How stupid can you be?”

I was disgusted. Speaking those words made me wish I could gargle my mouth.

He was a terrible person, and I didn’t want him meddling in my life or my children’s.

“You...” He took a step towards me, but I raised my head high and stared at him. If I was the same old Anna, I might have cowered and apologized to him. “Stop acting like a bitch when I was the one who took you in when your family cut you off!”

“Anna?”

I turned around to look at Kyle and his furrowed brows. I didn’t know he was following me, but I was grateful. Relief washed over me seeing him step closer. He looked between me and Timothy. He stood beside me and asked, “Is everything okay?”

This close, I could smell his sweet, musky perfume with a hint of forest, and it reminded me of rainy weather. It suited him. It was different from the sexy, woody cologne Caleb wore.

Wait, why am I comparing them?

“I-it’s okay, Kyle,” I smiled up at him and looked at Timothy, noticing the height difference between them. Kyle was over six-three, but he never made me feel crowded even though he worked out.

But Timothy…

I sighed. “He was just leaving.”

“Who the fuck is this?” Timothy demanded. “Your ex? I didn’t know you liked ‘em young, Anna.”

“Oh, but she does.” My eyes widened when I saw Caleb strolling in the alcove with a smirk, like he owned the entire land. “She’s such a sexy little cougar in bed. Aren’t you, sugar?”

Sexy cougar?

Sugar?

It wasn’t the right time, but my cheeks heated when he winked at me before looking at Timothy and making a face.

“The question is, which dumpster did you crawl out from and have the balls to talk to her like that?” Caleb said, tilting his head, his dark locks gleaming in the light.

“I was handling it fine, Caleb,” Kyle spoke, making my brows raise.

Why was he… he didn’t even pretend to ignore Caleb’s previous words? I knew it. He had seen us by the pool.

“Really? I didn’t see you handle it and you’re too close to her,” Caleb said, standing on my right.

I swallowed, my mouth feeling dry, standing between two handsome men who were younger than me.

“What the hell? You’ve been up to sleeping around with anyone, Anna?” Timothy glared at me. “You should be ashamed!”

Caleb and Kyle were about to speak up, but I stopped them and said, “I should say that to you. I’m going to be nice because it’s my son’s special day and give you a warning.” I stepped closer and pressed the envelope of money he had left for Aaron to his chest. “Take your filthy money, and never show your face to me or my family again. If you do, I’ll get a restraining order.”

His eyes widened, and I knew he wanted to say much more, try to belittle me, but I could feel the burning death stares from over my shoulder where Kyle and Caleb were standing.