Page 82 of Depraved

Drew rolls her eyes and looks to me.

“No,” I answer, dragging out the word, and chuckling at the end.

Drew picks up the glass and brings it to her lips, taking a small dainty sip. Without saying a word, she turns around and empties the contents into the sink as we both erupt into laughter.

“Fine.” She grabs a bottle of wine. “But G is right—you are so hot for Dante, and honestly, I’ve never seen him so smitten before.”

“I swear I thought he was gay.” Gretchen smiles, tilting her head to take in the guys’ boisterous conversation.

Drew swats her shoulder. “G, that was wishful thinking.” Gretchen’s head swings back to us.

“True.” Gretchen shrugs. “Man on man is hot. But he’s never brought a girl here or anywhere for that matter.”

Holding out my wineglass for Drew as she wiggles the bottle at me, I look over my shoulder. I can’t help the smile that lives inside of me at the thought that I’m the first…and last?

Not if I leave.

“He’s definitely not gay.” I smirk, taking a sip of my wine.

“I knew it. You had sex at my wedding, didn’t you?” Gretchen teases.

“No…it was after.” I laugh, and they almost explode.

Questions are lobbied at me left and right. I can barely turn them down before they ask something else.

“I’m not telling details. I’m just saying he’s pretty amazing and knows what he’s doing. The end. Now stop asking—this is why I don’t have friends.”

Drew rolls her eyes at me and shakes her head. But Gretchen tilts her head toward me. “You know, these guys aren’t like other men. When they set their sights on something, nothing stands in their way.”

“You act as if I don’t have a choice,” I muse, taking a sip of wine.

Drew leans over the bar, touching her finger against my bracelet, and gives me a knowing wink. “It’s cute you pretend you want the choice.”

I take another sip of my wine, wondering just how kinky the King brothers are.

Gretchen smiles at me then looks outside at Luca. “Love is never a choice. It’s an affliction that you’ll want to die of. And there’s no better love than one from a man who wallows in his devotion to you.”

We’re both pushed into silence at her words. I stare at the rim of my wineglass and think about the word devotion, because I think that’s what’s after love. The thing I’ve been headed toward. I’m devoted to him, and the idea that I could leave is unimaginable. But then so was the idea that I would spend my life running from my family.

I’ll do what I need to in the end because I’m devoted to him, in spite of my love.

When I look up, the girls are watching me, waiting for me to say something, so I go with the truth.

“I love him. There, I said it. But I don’t know if he loves me back, and I’m not sure it’s enough to weather the storm my life brings,” I confess quietly.

Drew comes from around the bar and stands next to me. “If you need someone strong, then you found him. I don’t think there’s anything Dante can’t handle.”

Gretchen nods. “Yeah, and he’s gone over you—there’s nothing that he won’t try and handle.”

I give her a soft laugh, knowing she recognizes his bulldozing ways. Taking the empty glass that’s Dante’s drink, I hand it to a smiling Drew for a refill. “Maybe, but everything is so complicated that it makes me unsure where that leaves us.”

Gretchen rolls her eyes at me and takes one of my hands. “There’s nothing complicated about your life for him. You two speak the same language, Sarah. He’s perfect for you. If he were a baker or an accountant, I’d worry for you two. But he isn’t. Get out of his way, and let him love you back.”

First, he has to say it.

Drew brings Dante’s refilled drink back to me and grins. “You can ignore us, but don’t say we didn’t warn you. That man wants you. Nothing will stand in his way, Sarah.”

My brow furrows at her words, and I look between her eyes and Gretchen’s.