Divided Interests (Southern Bride 3)

He stared in disbelief as I snapped my mouth shut. I wanted to punch myself for making that sound so sexual. What in the hell is the matter with me?

“I mean, I always liked the bedroom upstairs. That bedroom. That particular bedroom. Not that I want to be upstairs all the time, of course. The kitchen and everything is down here, so that would be ridiculous.”

The corners of his mouth twitched ever so slightly. “Are you done yet?”

I pressed my mouth into a tight line. Lucas looked at his tea, and I could tell he was fighting a smile.

Then he let out a long sigh. “You need to just sell me your half, Paige.”

“No, you need to sell me yours.”

“I’m not selling you mine,” he stated.

“I’m not selling you mine.”

With a frustrated groan, he stood. “Then what the fuck are we going to do because I can’t own a house with you.”

“Then let me buy you out.”

“No!”

I gave him a half shrug as I remained seated. “Then it looks like you own half a house and twenty-five acres of land. Oh wait, I know what we can do!”

His eyes lit up. “What, do you have an idea?”

“Yes! I’ll take the house and ten acres of the land and you can keep the rest and sell it to whoever the hell you want.”

I could practically see the steam coming from his ears. “I want it all.”

I lifted a brow and smirked. “I see some things never change.”

I stood and took the tray. Turning away, I made my way to the door.

“Still walking away from me. You certainly have that down, don’t you?”

Stopping, I slowly turned back. “I wasn’t the one who walked away, or did you forget that, Lucas?”

He looked as if he might be sorry for his decision all those years ago, then a cold expression moved over his face. “And look how well we’ve done for ourselves, all the places we’ve seen?”

I didn’t want that jab to make me feel the way it did. A part of me wasn’t even sure how I felt. Sad, angry, jealous? It all mixed together in one flash.

“Fuck you, Lucas.”

He smirked. “You wish you could.”

I forced a smile. “Why would I wish that when I’ve got Milo?”

Lucas’s smug expression instantly faded, and I walked out of the room without another glance.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

What had I done? Milo was going to kill me for dragging him into this. Maybe, if I was lucky, he’d be in the mood for a bit of fun.

Who was I kidding? He’d add this inconvenience onto the bill for painting the house, and I had a feeling the price of that upgrade was going to be a steep one.

Lucas

I DIDN’T WANT to admit how hard her words hit me, sending pain through my chest. Even though I had thrown out hurtful words at her, I hadn’t expected her to toss them back. I sat down at the desk and scrubbed my hands over my face. Seeing Paige had thrown me into a swarm of emotions. She was so goddamn beautiful, even more so now, and it took everything I had not to show any sort of reaction. When she was about to hug Milo, I nearly bolted up the steps to beat the shit out of him. I had no right, none whatsoever.

I groaned—I couldn’t get that moment out of my head. I pulled out my phone and hit Milo’s phone number to type a text.

Me: Are you sleeping with Paige?

His reply was instant.

Milo: Are you high or something?

Then another text came through.

Milo: Dude, why do you care? You’re with Bianca.

That response bothered me more than I wanted to admit.

Me: I don’t care.

Milo: Good, then it’s none of your business. When are you leaving? Bunch of us guys are going out for beer tonight. Guys’ night out. You in?

Staring at his text, I got even more pissed off. What did he mean it was none of my business? Paige was mine; that made her my business.

I scrubbed my hands down my face as I realized what I had just thought. Paige wasn’t mine. She hadn’t been since we were almost nineteen years old. When I had made the biggest freaking mistake of my life. After I had broken up with her, I spent nearly two years alone, only hooking up a few times for meaningless sex. By the time Bianca came into my life I was so fucking numb I wondered if my heart could feel anything for anyone other than the woman I now owned half a damn house with.

“Fuck.”

This woman was going to drive me mad. Moving around the desk, I made my way through the house until I found Paige. She was looking at her phone, probably telling Milo to play along with her bullshit game.