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I sit in the back seat of Willa’s SUV next to Amberly while Scarlet and Willa discretely buy a pregnancy test. That’s when I realize I’ve never actually had a conversation with Amberly. I’ve talked to her over the years, but I don’t know much about her. Other than Tiller is madly in love with her.
I know what you’re thinking… that monster loves someone? Yep. He does. And her name is Amberly Johnson. She’s tiny, feisty, and doesn’t put up with any of his bullshit. You might be curious about the lilac-haired girl who has held Tiller’s attention since he was a kid. He’s known her since he was five and she kicked him in the balls. Or so the story goes.
Much like me, she grew up around the Sawyer brothers. With a four-year age difference between us, I think she’s always looked at me like I was just Carl’s daughter and the kid who fell helplessly in love with Roan.
And sadly, also, the one who slept with her boyfriend.
I’m almost afraid to say anything to her about it, but I do. I start with, “I’m sorry about what I, well, I’m… sorry I slept with Tiller.”
She looks up from her phone in what appears to be a heated texting war with what I assume is Tiller. She stares at me. “Recently?”
I gasp. “No way! When I was eighteen. He took my virginity.” It feels weird saying that because in so many ways, all my firsts were with Roan, other than him actually entering me.
“Oh, yeah.” Amberly blows out a relieved breath. “I knew about that. He stole mine too, and probably a hundred others.” She laughs.
“I just wanted to make sure you knew.”
“I did.” She looks up from her phone again. “But since we’re in the biz of telling our pasts, I made out with Roan once. It didn’t get past kissing before we stopped.” My eyes widen and she’s quick to add. “It was six years ago so before you got with him.”
Not technically before I was with him, but I’m not going to get into all that. Heat licks my face thinking about Roan kissing another woman, especially one I have to see daily. But I can’t imagine how Amberly must feel either. “I didn’t know that, but I’m not surprised either.”
Amberly’s phone dings, her eyes dropping to the screen.
“Is everything okay?”
She growls. Actually growls. “Tiller’s a fucking dumbass.”
“You shouldn’t sound so surprised by that.” I snort. “What did he do now?”
“He let River jump off the roof on the rope swing and she nailed her chin on the diving board.”
I gasp. “Oh my God. Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. He has her at the ER with Ricky. She’s getting two stitches in her chin.” Dropping her phone in her lap, her eyes bore into mine. “He knows better than this though. We have to be careful and we literally just got the adoption finalized and now this!”
Tiller is River’s biological father, but Amberly’s her aunt. Yeah, I know, it’s confusing and I’ll try to explain it for you the best I can. Tiller slept with Amberly’s older sister, Ava, one time. Told you he was a dirty motherfucker. Oh, and by the way, she was married! Anyways, Ava got pregnant, had the baby, and stayed with her husband. She never told Tiller about the kid and then three years later, she died with her husband in a car accident.
You follow all that? Super tragic, but the way I understand it is that Ava left River to her with the hopes that she’d end up with Tiller. It’s a long, complicated story and I don’t blame you if you didn’t follow it, but I think the moral of this story is Tiller doesn’t think things through. Clearly.
Scarlet and Willa return. We rush back to the house and the test is forgotten when Tiller and River walk in the house. Shade and Roan aren’t back yet. I have a feeling they wouldn’t want to be here for what’s about to happen.
Amberly lays into him the moment River is occupied with Berlin. “I can’t freaking believe you!”
“Jesus Christ,” Tiller groans, flopping himself onto the couch in a dramatic fashion. “She’s fine. It was two stitches.” He even holds up two fingers in her face to get his point across.
Amberly scowls at him, her eyes tiny slits of beady anger. “You never think things through.”
His head shoots up. “That is not true. I thought the entire time about how pissed you were going to be.”
“You’re damn right.”
They continue to argue. Roan and Shade walk through the door, take in the scene before them and look as if they want to leave. Roan holds up a bag tentatively glancing around the kitchen we’re all in. “We brought dinner back.”
A few things happen in the following seconds.
Scarlet rushes over to them, grabs the bag, takes one sniff and runs to the bathroom with her hand clasped over her mouth.
River jumps up, points to her chin, and says, “I got stitches, bitches.”