A Redo (Sterling Shore 6)

She rolls her eyes. “Ha. He’s a douche. I dumped him.”

“Is Benjamin a prick, loser, or asshole?” I ask absently, adding frustrating to the Con column.

“Nope. Which means he’s not at all my type. He’s also not a douchebag.”

Sighing, I toss my pen down.

“I’ll pass on the date offer. You need to get going if you’re meeting him.”

She stands before grabbing her purse, and glances over at the clock. “Alright. You sure you don’t want to come?”

I give her a no-way-in-hell-am-I-tagging-along look, and she shrugs before going to the door. As soon as she swings it open, a squeal bubbles out of her lips, and I whip my head over just as a guy laughs.

“Sorry. I was just about to knock. Is Allie home?”

I can’t see him, but he sounds familiar.

“Yes,” Bella hisses, still trying to catch her breath. She hates being scared or surprised.

I walk over to see Billy Prize standing on my front porch, and he grins at me. What the hell is he doing here? Why isn’t he in Aspen?

“What’s up, Billy?” I ask, trying not to sound as rude as I’d like to be.

I still don’t like him, but he’s Wren’s brother—and Angel’s uncle.

Bella’s head whips toward me when she realizes who he is, and she eyes me questioningly. I don’t have any damn answers to those questions.

“I guess I’ll see you later,” she says to me very hesitantly, still giving me a chance to scream for help.

Billy is a jerk, but he’s a harmless jerk.

“Yeah. I’ll see ya.”

She lets Billy in, and then she mouths, “What the fuck?”

I shrug, and she glances at the back of Billy’s head one last time before leaving me alone with him.

“I hope you don’t mind. I thought I’d drop by the plane ticket, since I heard Ash talking about how you and Wren seem a little tense around each other lately.”

I shift uncomfortably. I really don’t want to discuss Wren with him.

“I was going to buy my own ticket. And for the record, Wren and I are fine. Ash shouldn’t be discussing things like that if she doesn’t know what’s going on.”

He barks out a laugh that startles me. “She’d kick my ass if she thought I was stirring shit. Let me rephrase that. Ash asked Wren if everything was okay between the two of you, and he told her to butt out. She just mentioned it to Mom in front of me, trying to find out if she needed to have Tag kick Wren’s ass. Don’t get mad at her. She’s looking out for you. That’s how she is.”

Ash’s maternal instincts are kicking in heavily. I remember being pregnant, and I swear I made Bella’s life hell by constantly threatening every guy she came into contact with. It’s almost embarrassing to look back at it now.

“Can I sit?” he asks when I get lost in thought.

“Why?” I say, sounding much more defensive than I mean to.

He grins like I’m amusing him. “Because I’d like to get to know the mother of my niece. Angel is wary of new people, and I don’t think she’s too crazy about me.”

I immediately feel more defensive. “She loves Wren. He’s her father. If you want to have a relationship with Angel, you’ll have to treat Wren like you love him. Angel is very loyal. She wouldn’t give Wren a real chance until I did. Now he’s solidly in her life, and she’s just as dedicated to him as she is me or Bella.”

His smile falters, and he blows out a breath while taking a seat on my sofa. “My relationship with my brother is… complicated. Saying that it’s strained would be putting it too nicely. But we’ll eventually work through all our issues. I’d really like to be a part of her life. Yours too. You’re great, Allie. You deserve a hell of a lot better than Wren can ever offer.”

Taking a deep breath, my fists clench until my nails dig into my palms. But he continues before I can let my mouth run wild.

“Wren will hurt you. He’s loyal to Tag and Ethan. He’s loyal to Mom. He’s loyal to Kade and Rye. But that’s about it. Everyone hates Erica for what she did, but she was just lonely and drunk, and I was just there. She needed attention, and even though it was stupid, I was the one willing to give her that attention. Wren isn’t the kind of guy to give a damn about what someone else needs, and he doesn’t defend too many people from the verbal attacks that come. He’s just… well, he’s not really selfish, per se, but he’s too self-involved. He genuinely doesn’t care about anyone or anything other than who I’ve already listed. I’d hate to see you get hurt by him. Again.”

To hell with niceties.