“I don’t want to know him. Not that way—not right down to where it matters. I’m not ready for that.” I blow into my coffee. “I just needed to say it out loud.” I take a large gulp of coffee. Ouch.
“Okay. But you do know…”
“That’s he’s a sex addict? Yep. What are the chances, right? A sex addict and a love addict in a relationship that’s not really a relationship at all. We should sell our story to Disney and see if they can create a happily ever after out of this shit.”
“Looking for tips?” Dayton teases.
“Happily ever after? A way out? I’m not fussy.” I snort.
The apartment door opens and Tyler walks through with Aaron. Neither looks happy.
“What did you do to them?” I whisper to Dayton.
She grins. “Did you get your suits fitted?”
Well, that’ll be it.
“Men shouldn’t be pricked,” Tyler answers, chucking his jacket on the sofa. He picks it up again at Dayton’s sharp cough. “We do the pricking, but I’m a f**king voodoo doll after that.”
“He’s right, sweetheart. You’re lucky I love you after that.” Aaron kisses her and sits down next to her. “I need some coffee.”
“You’re aware of where the coffee machine is, Mr. Stone. You put it there,” she retorts, picking up a wedding magazine.
“I’m done with this stuff today.” Aaron snatches it from her and throws it across the room.
She gasps and sits up straight. “You did not just throw that on the floor!”
“It’s a well-known fact that the only things that should be thrown on the floor are clothes,” I add, earning an agreeing nod from Dayton.
“Is that right?” Tyler leans over the back of the sofa next to me.
“I don’t know. British dickheads would look good there, too.”
“Only if there’s his American bitch on top of him,” he whispers, nipping my earlobe.
Now I gasp. He gives me a suggestive look, but I narrow my eyes. His phone rings before I can say anything back to him and he pulls it from his pocket.
“What do you want? ... Tessa? Tess? What’s wrong?” He walks into the kitchen, and I look at Dayton and Aaron. Both of them are sitting straight, their eyes on Tyler. I know Tessa is his sister, but only because Day mentioned it before.
“What? Are you f**king joking? ... You did what?” Tyler runs a hand through his hair. “I can’t believe this! That bastard is lucky I’m on the other side of the world or I’d break his f**king neck!”
“Uh-oh,” Dayton whispers.
Aaron shushes her and stands up.
“Tessa, the knobhead has been cheating on you. Like I’m gonna be f**king calm! You’re my sister! ... I don’t give a flying f**k if you’re five minutes older. You’re still my f**king sister!”
“Ty, man,” Aaron says across the room. “You aren’t helping her. Calm down and call her later. Day will call her in a minute.”
Tyler turns back to us, fury written all over his face.
Dayton mouths, “Twins,” at me. Yeah, well, I gathered that much, Sherlock.
“Dayton will call you. Yeah… I’ll speak to you later. Love you.” He hangs up and drops his phone on the bar. He rubs his hands through his hair. His anger is palpable, and I know he’d give anything to be in London, tracking his sister’s husband down.
Right now, I’m learning one more thing about Tyler Stone. He’s fiercely protective of the people he loves.
I get up and hesitate for a moment. But just a moment—then I run to him, wrap my legs around his waist, and kiss him firmly. He steps back in shock, but he wraps one arm around my back and the other cups my ass and holds me up.
My hands frame his face as our lips move together. Slowly, with each kiss, the tension seeps from his body. I nip his bottom lip and he lightly sucks on mine. I grip his hair and he digs his fingers into my skin.
And neither of us cares for a second that it’s the first time we’ve kissed in front of someone else.
I just know, instinctively, that this will calm him down.
“Thank you,” he murmurs against my mouth.
I lower myself to the floor and kiss him one more time. “You’re welcome.”
His eyes dart over my shoulder and his lips quirk. “Your best friend is looking at you like you’ve grown an extra head.”
I turn around and stare at her. “What? Never seen two people kissing before?”
“It was sudden and unexpected.” She giggles. “I thought we’d have to give you a room.”
“You’d do that?” Tyler asks from behind me.
I elbow him in the stomach and sit back down. Dayton glances at us both before grabbing her phone and waving it at us. “I’m gonna go call Tessa.”
“Thanks.” Tyler sighs at her name.
We sit in silence until Day leaves the room. Then Aaron asks, ”What the hell happened?”
“That bastard she married has been bloody cheating on her with some aspiring model for two months. She found him f**king her on their couch yesterday morning.”
“She’s seen her lawyer, right?”
“Yep. She went straight to his office. There’s a clause in their prenup about cheating. I remember Mum insisting she put it in there. I guess she didn’t trust him.”
“I hope she takes him for everything he has,” I mutter.
Aaron smirks. “Oh, she will. Tessa is the female version of Tyler. Strong, pigheaded, and stubborn as shit. She’ll take everything without a second thought.”
“I’m not pigheaded,” Tyler argues.
I raise my eyebrows. “Um, you are.”
“Whatever. Look, cuz. Can you tell Day I’m sorry? I gotta go. I’m not in the mood for dinner now. I’m gonna call Mum and see if she knows anything.”
Aaron nods. “Sure. I’ll get Day to call you later if you want.”
“Thanks.”
I rub my thumb along my bottom lip as he leaves. Aaron stares at me, his lips quirked to one side.
“Go,” he says. “He won’t admit it because he’s a pigheaded bastard, but he needs someone to calm him down.”
“I’m sure he can find plenty of people to calm him down.”
“You’re not fooling anyone, Liv, and neither is he. We’ll do dinner next weekend. Go after him. He needs you to.”
I stand and grab my coat, giving Aaron one last look before I slip out the door after him.