She heaved a deep breath, holding it in for a few beats before she said, “He cheated on me.”
I blinked slowly, trying to get my brain to process those words. That little shit had the most stunning woman I’ve ever known—inside and out—and he stepped out in her? Fucking hell, the rage I’d felt for him before was nothing compared to thehot, insistent anger coursing through me now, demanding I seek retribution for all the ways she’d been wronged.
“Fuck, Wildflower,” I said, the softness of my tone completely belying my inner turmoil. “I’m so sorry.”
And I was. For the way she’d been hurt, for having her trust broken. And because I knew all too well what it felt like to be on the receiving end of that level of unfaithfulness.
She waved me off, clearly not wanting my sympathy. “I thought I was over it, but that kind of thing sticks with you. Like a bone deep bruise that takes a lot longer than you hoped to completely heal.” I only nodded, not wanting to interrupt her when she was on a roll. And anyway, I was more than a little familiar with that particular phenomenon.
“I think I knew something like that was happening, and I just didn’t want to admit it,” she continued. “He was on the road pretty frequently after Delia accidentally put him on the map, and I was content to live my life in Apple Blossom Bay and let him do his thing.” Pausing, she shook her head with a disbelieving laugh. “God, I should’ve ended it years ago. I’m not sure I ever even loved him, you know? I think…maybe I just didn’t want to be alone, and I secretly liked the attention he gave me. At least at the beginning.”
“How did you find out?”
“A few girls DMed me on Instagram to let me know. They were friends of girls he’d cheated with, and it didn’t sit right with them that I was oblivious to the whole thing.”
“Girls’ girls, then,” I said, grinning.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Ella said, one side of her mouth twitching up. “These months since the breakup haven’t been hard in thesense that I miss what we had, because I really don’t. They’ve been hard because I’m so fucking mad at myself for wasting so much time on him, and for turning a blind eye, burying my head in the sand when I knew something was off. And the people in town bring it upevery fucking timethey see me,” she seethed. “How am I supposed to move on if they won’t let me forget about it?”
“You need to be honest with them.”
Ella only barreled ahead, apparently not having heard me. “It doesn’t help that I can still hear his voice ringing in my head, telling me all the things that are wrong with me. I’m not pretty and skinny like Alix Earle, I’m not—”
“Alix who?”
“—talented like he is,” she proceeded without missing a beat, ignoring my interruption. “I ruined myself with my tattoos.” She held her arms out and shoved the sleeves of her robe up, revealing her ink. “They were my silent rebellion, you know. I mean, I had quite a few when we started dating, but I just kept getting more while we were together because I knew how much he hated them.”
“I love them,” I assured her, exposing my own forearms. “I-I loveyou. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, Ella. I’ve been mesmerized by you since the first time I met you. And I love you for telling me this. The fact that you trusted me enough to let me shoulder some of the burden…I promise you’re always safe with me.”
I was surprised by the evenness of my tone, of how steady and sure I felt giving her the truth of those three words—giving hermytruth at last.
Her entire face lit up, expression softening, and looked like she wanted to say she loved me in return, but honestly? I didn’t want to hear it right then. Not on the heels of such an exhausting emotional purge. I wanted her to be happy when she said them, not crying because another man had broken her and her trust so thoroughly.
“In the end, he was the one who threw it all away. Spit on the years I’d given him, all the fights with my family, all the time with them I’d missed for him. But all that wasted time just led me right here, to this trip with you.”
I folded her into an embrace and held her there, feeling her entire body go lax against me. I knew she was long past crying—she’d had a lot of time to come to terms with the shit he’d put her through, but sharing with me seemed to take the wind out of her.
I wanted to bring her back to herself—back tome, so I made a crazy declaration.
“What do you say we give him a taste of his own medicine?”
Ella pulled back, eyes flashing. “What’d you have in mind?”
I grinned mischievously down at her.
“Take off your clothes, Wildflower.”
“Liam!” I protested. “I’mnot sending him a naked photo.”
“You’re not. It’ll be very tasteful,” he said with a wink.
Though I glared at him skeptically, I did as he asked, putting on a show for him as I slowly slipped from my robe, then my swimsuit top and bottoms and laid it all on a bench off to the side.
The way his eyes darkened with desire, how he licked his lips when he stared at me made my skin tingle and my core tighten deliciously, desperate for him to fill it. I’d never had anyone look at me the way he does, like he’s never seen anything quite as perfect as me. Like he could look forever and never get his fill.
“Like what you see, Wills?” I asked cheekily.
“I fucking love your body. Your skin is perfection, and I didn’t spend nearly enough time last night mapping those sexy tattoos with my mouth. But don’t worry, baby,” he said with a grin. “I’m going to reward you tonight for being such a good girl.”
