Page 70 of Legacy

The problem was, I didn’t know what to say.

I had been going through life pretty well. I’d had a dream career if only for a few moments, and I’d made enough money during those years, however short they were, to sustain the life that I wanted and my family’s.

I’d escaped this small town if only for the few years I needed to figure out how to breathe, and that was exactly what I had needed.

I had siblings that annoyed the fuck out of me most times but were pretty great. And I was making it through.

As long as I ignored the grief of not only my mother, stepmother, Mal, and my wife. If I ignored the fact that people never remembered her name. That they barely even knew I had been married, all would be well. If I ignored the fact that I had a craving for someone I shouldn’t, I would be fine. I wasn’t fine.

So here I was, in my home, with the one person who shouldn’t be here.

I wasn’t about to let her go across the street.

“I can just go home, you know. I was planning to just take a bath, have a glass of wine, and pretend that today wasn’t radically fucking weird.”

I raised a brow and gestured toward the kitchen.

“Finnian helped me set up the wine bar in here. Though I’m more of a beer guy. We’ll find you some wine.”

“You’re not going to make a scene about how I’m not old enough to drink?” She slid her hands on her hips.

I just stared at her.

“I was there for your twenty-first birthday. We both know that you’re old enough to drink. We both know that you are well past that. Come on, let’s get you some wine. You can take it back if you want, but I figured you’d want to watch a movie.”

“And how do you figure that? Callum, I do not understand you.”

I shrugged. “Just let me take care of you, okay?”

She froze, eyes going wide.

“Why? Why do you want to take care of me?”

“Because it’s what I do.”

I moved on to the kitchen, knowing she would follow. She was always curious like that.

“I’m not yours to take care of. I’m not one of your siblings, and you don’t need to take Atlas’s place because he’s not here. I have enough big brothers. I don’t need you to have some odd sense of responsibility when it comes to me.”

“Felicity, we both know I don’t think of you as my little sister, so just pick which wine you want.”

“Do you have a rosé?” she said after a moment, that resigned sigh of hers too damn cute.

I nodded and pulled one out of my wine fridge.

“Okay. Let’s get this ready for you.”

“You confuse me.”

“Felicity, baby, you confuse me every fucking day. Just call it payback.”

Chest rising and falling, she took a step forward as I pulled out her glass.

“I have no idea what that means. One minute, you’re kissing me, and the next, you’re pushing me away. And then, after that, you have your head between my legs, and I have no idea what the hell I’m supposed to be doing.”

“I don’t know either, if that helps.”

“No. It doesn’t help at all.”