“You want to know what I meant?” Hunter didn’t get to respond because I shoved her into the kitchen island behind her, but instead of slapping her for lying to me, I trapped her there with my body and pressed my lips against hers.
Hunter’s eyes were wide, and her lips were unmoving as I kissed her—as I broke the rules.
The boundaries we set after Darius broke up with me. And then Hunter, desperately seeking to comfort a friend out of guilt, had thrown us into murky waters. Later, when I tried to tell her how I felt, she made me swear we wouldn’t let it happen again. She said we had to protect our friendship no matter the cost.
And now here I was, shattering that promise with one reckless kiss.
Finally, Hunter’s eyes lowered. I felt her lips moving under mine and my hand drifting between us to untie her robe. She moaned into my mouth while I curved a hand around her breast, smearing her dark nipples with blueberry frosting before bending my head to lick them clean. All I could think about was doing the same to her pussy. I wanted it more than air. Instead, I forced myself to end the kiss and rest my forehead against hers.
“Maybe you were right, Hunter.”
She was still panting with her eyes closed when she asked, “About what?”
“If you hadn’t fucked me and then broken my heart two years ago, I never would have met Ocean. I never would’ve known what it felt like to be owned by him.” I shifted my head to kiss her again. “And neither would you.”
Moving my hand down her belly and between her thick thighs, Hunter made a sound of shock when I circled her swollen clit.
“Coby… what are you doing? You can’t.”
“Can’t I? I know your pussy is as sore as mine right now, and I know thattrainingdidn’t do it.”Holding her gaze, I swished my fingers through her fat lips and her wetness, knowing it wasn’t just her arousal I was feeling. “You’re hoarding my husband’s cum in your pussy. I can do whatever I want with it.” Bringing my fingers coated in Hunter, Ocean, and blueberry frosting to my lips, I licked them clean.
“I’m sorry,” Hunter said as she watched me taste her. Taste them. “He…we—”
Dropping my hand with a scoff, I backed away and drank in the sight of Hunter, dazed and undone. She stared at me as if I had slapped her. “I know exactly what you two have been doing, Hunter. No need to explain. You can fuck Ocean. You can fuck me. But you can’t be with either of us, right?”
“Coby, wait,” she pleaded.
I turned to go. “Thanks for the cake.”
I stood on a dais in the bridal boutique in Black Veil, staring into the wall-length mirror but not seeing myself. The gold and crystal chandelier above me glittered, showing off my glowing skin.
I only wish I felt the same inside.
I wore a satin-and-lace number with a sweetheart neckline, a firm bodice, a long train, and an oversized bow at the back. I looked like a princess—like the angel Ocean called me—but today…
Today, I felt truly wicked.
It was a little late for a final fitting, but money talked, and bullshit walked. With the help of Ocean’s cousins, I’d found the perfect wedding dress weeks ago. But I couldn’t stop reliving last night to care. I couldn’t stop missing my mom and wishing she were here to help.
No one could ever replace her, but at least I wasn’t alone.
“Some girls dream about this day, but your mind seems a million miles away,” Effie noted as she gently touched my hand. “You’re thinking about your mother, aren’t you?”
Tearing up, I looked down at Ocean’s mom and saw her son’s eyes staring back at me.
They looked a lot alike.
Just picture a softer, tinier, feminine version of Ocean, and you have Euphemia Kilpatrick.
She was breathtaking, and her kindness made her even more so. The only thing Ocean had inherited from his father was his power, money, and penchant for cruelty.
Except Ocean wielded his for good. He used it to protect, not to crush those around him indiscriminately.
“Yes,” I answered plainly, not wanting to say more and risk sobbing like a baby all over my future mother-in-law. “And I haven’t been getting much sleep lately.”
“This life,” she stated knowingly. “It can be a lot. I know.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, because blaming my sorrow on being in a whole new world was an easy scapegoat.
