Crazy For You by Alexander, S.B. (best ebook reader ubuntu .TXT) 📕

We needed a backup plan in the event Mr. Wilson couldn’t do anything to replace my aunt with Nan. Yet I didn’t want to use Ashley in that way. I didn’t want to give her any false hopes if she had expectations of me welcoming her with open arms. I certainly wasn’t ready to do that. I wasn’t even sure how I was going to react when I met her.

He nodded. “I won’t leave your side unless you want me to.”

“I’m nervous, Colton.”

“You’re also the strongest person I know.”

“I’m not. I just have great friends, and the best boyfriend on the planet.”

In a flash, his tongue was in my mouth, all gentle strokes and soft kisses.

I moaned, getting lost in him, forgetting for the moment what I was about to do.

He brushed his nose against mine. “I love you. No matter what happens when you walk in there, know that if you fall, I’ll be right there to pick you up.”

My chin trembled as tears threatened to spill, and not because I was sad. Quite the opposite. “How did I get so lucky?”

His grin was electrifying. “I’m the one who won the lottery with you.”

The love pouring off him tempered the trepidation that had been causing my stomach to pitch and roll for the last few minutes.

38

The front door opened before we reached the porch. Grady stood with a hand inside a pocket of his sweatpants. “It’s about time. You’ve been sitting out there forever.”

Grady and Colton swapped a manly hug. “Can it, man,” Colton said. “This is hard for her.”

Grady raised his hands, setting his blue gaze on me. “Sorry.”

My mouth should’ve fallen open at his apology. Grady had never apologized to me. Instead, I smiled at him. “No biggie. Are Mia and Georgia still coming over?”

Grady closed the front door. “Maybe later. My dad and his friend are in the kitchen.” He gave me the impression he was nervous too. Maybe he was. Upon closer inspection, a muscle jumped along his sharp jaw.

Colton closed his hand over mine as we trailed behind Grady. With each step, my heartbeat ramped up. If I hadn’t been tethered to Colton, I would have turned around and ran.

A light, airy laugh trickled out of the kitchen before I heard Mr. Dyson say, “I miss him.”

Grady ambled in, not saying a word, and beelined to the fridge.

Three rounded black pendant lights shone over the island, highlighting specks of gold in the marble top.

Mr. Dyson set his wine glass down and regarded Colton and me. “Skyler. Colton.” Mr. Dyson’s deep voice penetrated through the shock that had me rooted to the floor. “Come in.”

Colton nudged me, but I didn’t move. I was fixated on Ashley as if she was the most fascinating person I’d ever seen. I was trying to find the resemblance in the woman who had given birth to me. She had a small nose and maybe similar hair color, but I found her prettier in person than in her photo. Her light-brown hair was thick and wavy, spilling down around her shoulders. Her skin appeared to be smooth, with the right amount of blush to accentuate her high cheekbones.

Colton let go of me, jolting me out of my haze.

“This is Ashley,” Mr. Dyson said.

I swallowed a pail of sand.

Her brown eyes locked on mine with an unspoken plea that said, “Forgive me.”

I’d had no idea how I would react when I met her, but for some reason a slow, simmering anger deep in the recesses of my psyche took root.

Silence seemed to drop from the high ceiling and splatter down around us. My brain was processing, and with Ashley studying me, I suddenly had no desire to ask my myriad questions about why she’d given me up.

I couldn’t get past the expensive dress she was wearing or the diamond-studded earrings that beamed like a beacon in the night. My gaze lowered to her hands to see if she was married, but I didn’t see a ring. She gave me the impression she’d done quite well for herself—a nice cushy life, one where she didn’t have any kids to support, and one where she’d given up her child for a better future.

That simmering anger bubbled to the surface, and I ground my back teeth.

“Hey,” Colton whispered.

I broke free from Ashley’s scrutiny. I needed air and a moment to gather my thoughts. I spun on my heel, hurried through the house, and went out to the front porch. The warm salt air hit me like a slap in the face, just what I needed to clear the fog from my head. Inhaling, I ran around the house and onto the narrow, lighted path that led to the beach. The Atlantic was calm beneath the full moon, a stark contrast to the turbulence in my stomach.

I stopped before my feet hit the sand and took in a humongous breath.

“Skyler.” Ashley’s soft voice only served to fray my emotions even more. “Can we talk?”

I expelled all the air in my lungs. I wanted to tell her no, but my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth.

She stood beside me. “I’ve thought about this moment for many years.” Her voice was barely audible over the music of the waves.

Funny, I hadn’t. Not that I was complaining or blaming Dad for not telling me. He’d done what he thought was best. Maybe she did too.

“Is Mr. Dyson my father?” That came out of nowhere. They did look chummy when I’d walked in, and if they’d known each other since high school, it was quite possible Mr. Dyson could be my bio dad. If that were true, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about that, and Grady might wig out.

She tensed, hunching her shoulders as a light wind ruffled her hair. “Your father was Mr. Dyson’s best friend in high school.”

I jerked my head her way. “Was?”

She frowned. “He died in a motorcycle accident in his senior year.”

I dropped my chin to my chest,