Page 137 of Bred

“So,letmegetthis straight. He shows up at the bar after all this time, tells you his brother lied to you because he didn’t want you waiting for him when he was locked up, but then comes back for you, anyway?”

“Yup.”

“And instead of telling him to fuck off, you go home with him and fuck him senseless?” Hailey asks incredulously.

I bring my lemonade to my lips and take a refreshing sip. “That about sums it up, yeah.”

“Huh.” Hailey sits back in her chair, stunned. “You nasty hoe.”

I let out a startled laugh but then groan, covering my face with my hands. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“I’ll tell you what you were thinking,” Hailey says, stealing a fry off my plate and popping it in her mouth. “You were thinking that you haven’t gotten laid in a long-ass time, and you knew loverboy would deliver.”

Bristol grimaces as she grabs her own lemonade. “Must you be so crude?”

“Must you be such a prude?” Hailey counters.

Bristol’s eyes widen. “I am not a prude. I just think—”

“Anyway,” I interrupt loudly before they can start bickering. “I’m not really sure where I should go from here.”

We’re all sitting in the outside dining area of our favorite lunch spot, Katz. It’s been a few days since my reunion with Lucas, and I haven’t seen him since that night at his house, but he’s been texting me relentlessly. The messages range from sweet to downright dirty with a periodic episode of deranged psycho. His stupid brother told him he heard I was banging some guy who frequents the bar, and Lucas was none too pleased about it despite it beinghisdumb idea to force me to move on without him, anyway.

Once I assured him it was bullshit and that I never even went out with Lane, he calmed back down.

His irrational possessiveness reminded me of the fierce love I always felt when we were together, and I can’t deny having missed it ever since he went away.

My phone vibrates on the table, and in unison we glance down at it.

Hailey and I dive for it at the same time.

“I miss the taste of you in my mouth,” Hailey reads aloud. She raises a brow as she scrolls through more of his messages. “Prison was good for his creativity, I’ll tell ya that.”

“Hailey!” I snatch my phone back, face flaming. “Invasion of privacy much?”

She waves me off dismissively.“Are you going to see him again?”

I sigh. “I don’t know.”

“You want to though, don’t you?”

I bite my lip, thinking how much I want to admit to myself, let alone the girls.

The truth is, Idowant to see him again. I might have convinced myself that I was over him when he was gone, but now that he’s back, it’s clear that I was only fooling myself.

I still love him.

He’s the only man I’ve loved, and even though I hate what he did, I know his heart was in the right place.

It was so easy to go back to how we were before. We spent the whole night making love and making up for lost time. When he wasn’t fucking me into oblivion, we were talking. He wanted to know everything he’s missed in my life.

And when I told him about my miscarriage… I’ve never seen him so vulnerable. He was heartbroken. Even though I told him it wasn’t anyone’s fault, he still blamed himself.

“Yes,” I admit. “He wants a second chance, and I’m tempted to give it to him. I still love him. I never stopped.”

Bristol’s brow furrows with concern and her lips press in a thin line, but she doesn’t say anything. Not that she has to—it’s clear she doesn’t approve.

I get it. She’s seen all the tears I’ve cried over him, and she doesn’t want him to hurt me all over again.