Forbidden Fruit - A Naughty Collection

I don’t respond right away, letting my thoughts drift to last night. He was a perfect gentleman, like I always knew he would be. And I wonder where we go from here.

Since Dad is accepting of us, I wonder how everyone else would see the relationship that’s blossoming. Even though I wish it were easy, I know it won’t be.

“Mila, there’s someone here for you,” Dad calls to me from the living room. I thought Grayson was on his way, but he wouldn’t be here so soon. Pushing off the bed, I make my way into the living room to find Tyron, a boy from school who took me out on a couple of dates, but nothing ever came of it.

“What are you doing here, Tyron?” I glare at him. After walking in on him fucking someone else, I never wanted to see him again, but here he is.

“I want another chance, babe.” He steps toward me, and I take one back. “Look, I don’t expect you to forgive me right now, but . . .” He stares at me for a moment. “Mila, I love you.”

That makes me laugh. I can’t help it, but love? “You’re serious,” I snigger with incredulity dripping from my voice.

“I am. I need you, baby.” When he reaches for me, I can’t help but shudder at the thought of his hands on me; hands that were on another woman.

“You need to leave. My dad’s in his office with my—”

“And who might this be?” Grayson’s soothing tone comes from behind me. Like a whisky, dripping with a smoky growl.

“Uhm, this is Tyron. He was just leaving,” I explain, hoping to calm the shit storm that seems to be brewing in the air.

I push away from the wall, and that’s when everything fucks up. “Come with me, Mila.” Ty’s hand grips my wrist painfully. When I cry out, Grayson’s body is behind me, close, tugging me back, and that’s when I see it. A fist flying in front of me, and I hear the crack. The sound of Tyron’s nose breaking echoes through the surrounding space, and as if in a movie, everything plays in slow motion.

Tyron goes down in a split second, and when I spin on my heel, I find Grayson nursing bruising knuckles. “Are you okay?” I reach for his hand, and the hiss of pain startles me. I’ve never seen Grayson angry, livid in fact. As if he’s vibrating with rage.

“Who the fuck is that?” he bites out, pinning me with a glare filled with so much anger I feel it down to my bones.

“He . . . I . . .”

“One of your little fuck buddies?” he bites out, and I flinch at the tone he’s using.

“You know what? Fuck you, Grayson! I don’t need you to walk in here and act like you suddenly care. I fucked guys, and you fucked women. Do you even know how it felt when I saw you with them?” Prodding a finger in his chest, I’m shocked when he stumbles back. But I don’t stop. “Do you? It fucking hurt. It broke me. Every. Fucking. Time. My heart hurt so much the only way I could make it through was to go out and find a ‘fuck buddy’ as you put it. Because you didn’t want me!”

With that, I storm by him toward my bedroom. Once inside, I slam the door and lock it. Leaning with my back flush against it, I slide down, along with the tears that tumble down my cheeks.

“Mila,” the deep voice comes from the other side of my door, but I don’t answer. I can’t. My body wracks with a sob so fucking painful it feels as if my heart is being ripped from my body. “Princess, open the door. It’s only me.” My dad’s tone is soothing, and I manage to push away from the door and unlock it.

When he steps inside, he immediately falls to his knees and tugs me into his arms. “I . . .” My words can’t form. It hurts too much. The agony is unreal. Almost as bad as the day I lost my mother.

“Listen to me.” He cups my face in his big, strong hands, making sure I meet his gaze. “That asshole, my brother, he loves you. He only got angry because he was worried about you.”

Shaking my head, I push away from him and curl into myself. “He . . . What he said to me was uncalled for.” Gabriel sits back on the floor opposite me. He’s always been an incredible father, knowing when I needed space and knowing when to push.

He watches me. I can feel his gaze on mine.

“I’m not saying he’s right in what he said, but I’m asking for you to give him a chance. Don’t let something this small come between something so strong.”