Spin My Love (My Love #1)(8)

I’m playing my second game with Parker when I notice Gage staring at me with a weird look on his face. His eyes flicker between Parker and me. I wonder if I’ve done something wrong. They seem pretty casual around the kid, but maybe I said something inappropriate.

“Everything cool, man?” I ask.

He shakes his head, as if clearing it. “Yep. Prepare to get your ass, ah, I mean butt, kicked.”

I smile, game-face on. “Yeah, we’ll see.”

Parker beats us all.

Once Parker goes to sleep, Gage, Levi and I chill out. It gets late, so Gage tells me to crash in the guest room so I don’t have to drive all the way home. I take him up on his offer, feeling too tired to drive.

For the first time in ages, I go to sleep thinking things just might get better for me.





Chapter Three

Giselle

I open the door with my key, pausing to pick my handbag up from the floor. I just finished my kickboxing class. I started doing it after I gave birth to Parker, to lose the extra baby weight, and it had become addictive. I’ve gone every week since then.

“Parker?” I call out, heading straight to the kitchen. I come to a stop when I take in the scene before me.

Tane Miller is making breakfast. For my son. Two identical pairs of pale-green eyes raise when they see me enter. Parker gives me a huge grin. I force a smile, blinking slowly a few times. This was not something I’d ever thought I’d see: Parker and his father, standing side by side. It’s so obvious that Parker is his son; did Gage and Levi notice? I look around the room before my eyes find Tane again. Feeling a little unsure, I take a step closer, wondering how much Tane knows.

“Giselle,” Tane says almost reverently.

So now he addresses me. Why not before when we were at Keira’s? Did he not recognise me? Maybe he’s trying to play that night off like it never happened.

“Tane,” I say sharply, in what I supposed was a greeting. I see his forehead wrinkle in confusion, most likely surprised by my dismissiveness. I realise he probably wasn’t used to women who didn’t fawn over his every movement.

“I’m sorry about yesterday, Giselle, I had no idea that …”

“Don’t worry about it, Tane. What you do isn’t my business,” I say, cutting him off. He thinks I’m upset because I saw him about to have sex with Keira? And while yes, that hurt badly, it’s nothing compared to what he’s done before. My whole body tenses when I see his gaze trail over the tattoos on my arms, his eyes widening.

Is it possible that he doesn’t remember that night between us?

*****

Tane

“Giselle,” I say again softly. I love saying her name. She looks beautiful. Now that I have time, I look over her every feature. That jet-black hair is tied up in a messy ponytail. Her face is flushed and her bright, blue eyes are piercing.

“Parker go into your uncle’s room for a minute, please,” she tells the kid, fussing with one of the bracelets piled on her wrist. I can’t help but check out her body. The tight pants and tank top she’s wearing hug her every curve. She must have come here from the gym or something.

“Okay,” Parker answers, doing just that. I stare at her beautiful inked artwork. Something about the pieces are slightly familiar.

“How have you been? You look so different,” I tell her honestly.

“And you haven’t changed at all,” she says. The tone of her voice is surprisingly harsh. Her words sting.

“I guess it’s not just your appearance that’s different,” I say, eyebrows raised. “You used to be so quiet and sweet.” I had meant for it to be a light-hearted comment.

I didn’t expect to hear her laugh coldly. “I used to be a lot of things.”

She has changed. And it’s something more than the weight she’s obviously lost, the hair, tattoos and makeup. I can’t help but miss the old Giselle. She was something else. Kind to everybody. I was always protective of her. Sweetness like Giselle’s needed to be savoured, because it doesn’t come along very often. I left before I had a chance to do that.

I rub my chest where it suddenly burns.

“What brings you back home? Slumming it?” she asks as she walks into the kitchen and pulls an apple out of the fridge, slamming the door closed behind her.

“I’m taking a break,” I tell her. “Finally visiting home.”

“How long before you leave again?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.

“You know why I left last time, Giselle,” I tell her. She sighs, her body releasing some of the tension she was obviously trying to hold. She washes her apple, and then takes a small bite out of it.

“Do I?” she replies. “I think it was about more than just losing your mum.”

It was, but I don’t say anything.

“I’m sorry, but you left a lot of people behind as well, Tane,” she says frankly. “It’s been years since any of us heard from you.” I swallow hard when I see the emotion blazing in her blue eyes.

“Hey sis,” Gage greets her as he walks out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. I watch as she walks over to her brother and kisses him on the cheek, before disappearing into one of the rooms. Gage gives me a curious look as she walks away, but says nothing.