Filthy Beautiful Love by Kendall Ryan Read Free Book Online

take my breath away and suddenly complaining to her about my dilemma with Colton seems childish and immature.
    "What’s wrong?" she asks.
    "Nothing," the lie slips easily from my mouth. "I just might be staying here longer than I expected."
    "Oh? Did Mr. Sexy, Rich and Handsome win you back already?"
    "Sort of," I admit. Colton had been more open and exposed than I had expected, and it tugged at something inside me. "He proposed that I continue living here and working with Kylie."
    "And I take it you accepted?" she asks.
    "I’m gonna try it," I confirm.
    "I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t live with Mom and Dad either if I didn’t have to."
    We don’t discuss the fact that she isn’t able to live on her own for health reasons. It hurts to even think about.
    "And what about you guys?" she asks. "Are you a couple again, or what?"
    "No." This time my voice is firm. "He said just as friends and I agreed. We’re going to take things slow while he works on his past."
    "I think that’s a good idea. I know you were happy there. But what made you reconsider? He’s hung like a baby elephant, isn’t he?"
    "Becca!" I chastise her. "Always with the sex on the brain."
    "I can’t help it. It’s better to let my mind drift there than to something more morbid. Penis is my happy place."
    I can hear her smile through the phone and I like it. "Penis is a good thing."
    "So…what are you going to do about Colton’s peen?"
    "Take it slow, just like he proposed. I’m pretty sure that means there’s no peen in my future."
    "Boo. You’re boring. I’m going to go to McGilroy’s and get a hot fudge sundae."
    "Appetite’s back?" I ask.
    "Yup. I’ll be fat before you know it."
    Yeah right. The idea of Becca anything other than stick-skinny would be a miracle. She has a hard time keeping food down and thus trouble with her weight. "Have fun. Love you."
    "Love you too, but you’re the one who needs to have fun. Figure out a way to speed up his divorce so you can jump that boy."
    "On it." I smile, and end the call.
    I cradle the phone in my hands for several minutes after we end the call. God, I love my sister. After organizing my room the best I can, I decide to go off in search of Colton.
    I find him sitting on a stool at the kitchen island, his tablet in front of him with an inbox full of emails that he’s clicking his way through.
    "Am I interrupting?" I ask, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.
    "Of course not. Are you okay?"
    I nod. "I just called Becca to tell her I’m staying."
    He’s quiet, but his calm demeanor tells me this makes him happy.
    Rather than sitting at the stool next to him, I round the kitchen island and stand across from him, leaning my elbows against the slab of granite.
    He chuckles at me. "What’s on your mind, sweetness?"
    I didn’t realize I was that obvious. I straighten my shoulders and relax the line crinkling my brow. "You and Stella…" I shouldn’t ask, I’m only torturing myself, but I can’t help it. I need to know, because I just can’t picture him with her. "I want to know the nature of your relationship. Was it like a regular marriage, with all the perks and benefits of marriage?"
    He presses a button darkening the screen on his tablet and draws a steading breath. "What are you asking?"
    "You lived here with her. I’m assuming this house is full of memories for you, and it’s just strange for me to think of you with another woman living here, sleeping together in the bed I shared with you…"
    "What do you want to know?" Colton asks.
    "I guess what I want to know is…were you happy? Stella, in my very brief interaction, seemed quite different from me." She was all hardened exterior, sharp edges and manicured to the last inch of her.
    "You were different. Fuck, you are different, Sophie."
    I like knowing that perhaps what he and I shared was different from what he had with her. "How so?"
    "You’re soft and sweet and gentle. You make me laugh."
    "I hate that you have memories with