A Redo (Sterling Shore 6)

He doesn’t really seem sorry, even though he doesn’t have anything to be sorry for.

He keeps touching me, and I keep falling just a little bit more near that jagged edge. “I’m fine. It wasn’t serious. And it wasn’t your fault.”

“For the record, you’re way too good for him. Guy couldn’t even iron his shirt before stalking you.”

My laughter bubbles out, and his lazy grin spreads, forcing me to smile until it hurts. He brushes his thumb over my cheek again, and I hold my breath when our eyes meet, locking on each other. Looks like these… They mess with my mind.

“See? I’m a princess,” Angel announces, twirling around in her gown that has a tutu sewn into the middle, and forcing our attention to turn to her immediately.

Wren claps, then bows before her like a humble servant, and Angel giggles, trying to stand as tall as she can. Bella clears her throat while grabbing a napkin and dabbing her eyes, proving she’s just as emotionally tied to this as I am.

“Well, Angel, my princess, I need to go home and shower and change. Then I’ll come back and pick you and your mom up for some extreme bike shopping. Sound like a deal?”

She nods rapidly, and rushes to start tugging on my hand.

“Let’s get ready in a hurry.”

I’m not sure when Wren Prize shed his skin, but I wish I had met this man instead of the snake that bit me all those years ago. Life would have been so much better for Angel and me.

Chapter 10

WREN

“You look happy,” Kade Colton says while taking the seat across from me.

My smile won’t disappear. Allie is finally in a place where she doesn’t hate me, and Angel is slowly warming up to me. I’ve picked her up twice this week, and it’s been great. Today is the first Friday I get to pick her up, and I’m eager to take her out wherever she wants to go, since she doesn’t have a strict curfew on Friday nights.

Quickly, I check my phone to make sure of the time, sighing in relief to see it’s only one. I’m bad about losing track of time when I’m working. Until Angel, I never really had to keep track of time.

I always try to get to the school early to pick Angel up, because I refuse to be late. I’ll leave around two—get there forty minutes early.

“Angel is pretty awesome. She was at Aunt Melanie’s house with Allie yesterday. They were having dinner.”

My stomach tightens. I wanted to go, but Allie didn’t invite me.

“Mom is determined to spend as much time with Angel as possible. She’s working hard to gain Allie’s trust.”

“So are you. Seems like Allie holds all the cards.”

It feels like he’s casting judgment, but it’s easy to do when you know the real me. It’s harder if you know the me that fucked a girl, threw out a condom, and left her alone in a hotel room with a fake name tossed out along the way.

“She’s raised Angel without much help because I did something incredibly stupid a long time ago. She deserves to hold the cards. What’s up? I know you didn’t come here to talk about Allie and Angel.”

“True,” Kade says, leaning back. “I actually came to talk about my wedding. Raya has set a new date, one that she refuses to ever change again. It’ll be a little longer than I want, but she wants to make sure everyone can be there. And she’s hoping my mother will grow bored during that time and stop planning a thousand things to make our big day look like Cirque de Solei. And I came to ask you to be my best man.”

I drop the pen I’m holding so that I can look up at him.

“Seriously?” I ask with a slow smile spreading.

“Seriously. I love Tag, but you’re the man that will get me through this. So, say yes. I need to get Raya the details as soon as possible.”

I nod and stand to hug him, keeping it as masculine of an embrace as possible.

“Good,” Kade says while stepping out, still smiling. “I’ll talk to you later. Mom is planning some massive and elaborate engagement party for us, so be prepared.”

I laugh while nodding again, still shocked that he picked me. It feels good.

My eyes move to my phone once more, but it still says one. My smile falls as I think back to the last couple of times I checked it. They were at a glance, and I was distracted… but… Oh shit!

I dash through the house, finding the first clock I can, and I pale as horror washes over me.

It’s after three. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

Grabbing my keys, I dive into the garage and pick the first car I stumble into. It seems to take forever for the garage door to open, but I’m barreling out the second I can clear it. The drive to their new house is much shorter, and I cut the corners without regards for my safety. Allie would have already picked her up since I screwed up.