Priceless (Forbidden Men #8)(45)

Since the moment he’d defended me in the school hall to Chloe Hilliard the first time we’d met, he’d been the most faithful presence in my life. He could take as much time as he needed to adjust to this. I knew he’d be back.

And I was content.

*

“So, how ‘bout that first kiss, huh?”

Stunned by the question, I ripped my fingers from my lips where I’d been touching them in thoughtful consternation and whirled to gape at my sister-in-law behind the wheel of my SUV.

“What?”

How the heck did she know?

It was mid-Saturday morning, and we were on our way to a checkup because my doctor had a new antispasmodic medicine he wanted me to try.

Ahh, the joys of CP.

Mason had been planning on going with me to my appointment, but at the last minute, Reese had swept in and taken his place, leaving him home with the twins. I should’ve known then it was because she’d wanted to girl-talk, but I’d been in too much of a daze to realize.

Glancing over at me, she wiggled her eyebrows. “It was everything you thought it’d be, wasn’t it?”

I shook my head. “Wha-what makes you think I was kissed?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she answered, though she laughed knowingly. “Maybe it’s that dazed look you have on your face as if you’re still reeling from it. Like you’ve been ruined for all other kisses ever. It must’ve been really good, huh?”

Good couldn’t even come close to what that kiss had been.

I still felt like a melted puddle of estrogen all these hours later.

“Mason was so sure Seth had done something wrong after Brandt ended up bringing you home last night, but I’m going to be honest. You’re glowing way too much for anything bad to have gone down.”

My body jerked with surprise at the mention of Seth. And I was sure the glow slunk right off my face.

But hell, I hadn’t even thought of Seth yet this morning. Or last night. Not after Brandt had left.

The only thing I’d been able to do was touch my tingling lips and just...grin.

Upon remembering him now, the sick swirl in my stomach returned with a vengeance. The text messages I’d read, the look on Seth’s face when he’d returned to the living room with two glasses of wine, as he was being forced to do something he dreaded…they were suddenly right there, back in my head again.

The last thing he’d wanted to do was touch me. It made me feel vile, as if I wasn’t worthy of anyone’s touch. Ever.

And here Reese was, grinning at me encouragingly. She probably assumed he’d been the one to kiss me.

“No.” I shook my head, unable to let her think that for even a second longer. “I mean...Seth and I...we didn’t...no. There was no kiss there.”

With a little moan of defeat, Reese slumped her shoulders and winced. “It was a bad date then, wasn’t it? Crap. Mason never did get out of Brandt what happened.”

When she glanced at me as if expecting the entire story, I sighed. Telling her was the last thing I wanted to do. In fact, I’d been quite happy forgetting it entirely until she’d brought it up. But everyone was going to keep wondering until I gave them something, so I glanced out the passenger side window.

Going with a half-truth, I mumbled, “He...Seth called me...the c-word.”

Reese gasped. “Cunt?”

I laughed softly and shook my head. “No. Cripple.”

“Oh.” She straightened her spine and scowled out the front windshield, her lips flat with displeasure. To her, heck, to all of us, that was a worse offense than being called a cunt. “Well, he’s out, then,” she said flippantly, when really, I knew Seth was completely and utterly dead to her now. “Which, honestly, is fine with me because I always thought you’d end up with Brandt, anyway.”

I choked on my surprise and gaped at her. “Say what?”

“Yeah, don’t even act surprised, chickie. That boy is completely and irrevocably in love with you. He worships the ground you roll upon. And it’s clear as day you love him back. Besides...” She sounded a little too smug as her lips hitched up with a superior grin. “I know you got kissed last night. And if it wasn’t from Seth, then...that leaves Brandt.”

Damn it. I hated how well she could read me.

Sinking deeper into my seat, I reluctantly admitted, “I whined to him about missing out on my first kiss, so...he gave me one.”

“Mmm hmm,” she murmured, though the look in her eyes said she knew otherwise. “If you say so.”

“What?” I demanded, surprised. “That’s exactly what happened.”

“And I totally believe you.” She reached out to pat my knee. “I just find it curious that after nine years of knowing you and being your friend without a single smooch, he waited until the very night you went out with someone else to give you your first kiss.”

I frowned, confused. “What’re you saying?”

“I’m saying he was jealous as hell. Some other dog was sniffing around his piece of meat, and he didn’t like that.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head. “I cannot believe you just called me a piece of meat. Or him a dog. And that was totally not the case. He just felt bad for me; that’s all.”

She laughed. “Oh, sweetie. Guys do not kiss you because they feel bad for you. Ever.” I opened my mouth to argue, but she held up a finger. “Just be glad human men mark their territory with kisses and not by peeing on you.”