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Chapter Twenty-Five
When I got back tothe table, Sadie and Anne had returned with drinks and pastries.
“Got your note.” Sadie held up theReservednapkin. “Not your handwriting, though.”
Was I flushed? Scowling? My brain and heart were a jumbled mess.
“Did you talk to Owen?” Anne asked.
I nodded.
“It went that well?” Sadie’s question was a discordant blend of flat and teasing.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. It wasn’t bad. It was... kind of really good.”
Sadie toed an empty chair toward me. “What are you doing back here?”
“I don’t know. About any of it. Still.” I sank into the chair. I had my answer, knew what I wanted. Why couldn’t I embrace it?
Because part of me still argued I wasn’t worth this kind of hassle.
But you are. I didn’t know if that was Owen, Kingston, or even Sadie arguing with me.
Damn it.
We sat and chatted. Anne and Sadie never asked if I wanted to go, but they did both feed me sweets. They had six that looked incredible—cheese, cherries, chocolate, more chocolate, mint, and a fruit tart—and insisted we had to sample all of them.
They also insisted my baking was better. They were wrong. Owen’s recipes were different, but they were just as good as anything I made. I wasn’t surprised or upset about the confirmation.
More than an hour passed. We were taking up valuable table space, and I didn’t know what I wanted to accomplish. We should go.
“Lyn?” Kingston’s voice drew my attention. He stood a few feet away, watching me with an unreadable expression. “I thought you left.”
“Holy shit, Fattie Bush, Lyn, is that you?”
My gut curdled and the world around me slowed to a crawl. The new voice was one that still haunted my dreams. I looked up to see Samuel, my ex-boyfriend from school. The horror in my veins matched Sadie and Anne’s expressions.
Kingston radiated a rage I’d never seen before. He followed my gaze, and in a single, fluid motion, grabbed Samuel by the collar and pinned him to a nearby wall.
“What the fuck did you just say?” Kingston growled.
Samuel held up his hands and twisted, but didn’t break free. “What the fuck? This isn’t about you.”
