River of Love(49)

“What is that asshole doing here?” Vivian seethed, already on the move with Faith clutching her arm.

Faith hadn’t seen JJ since she’d moved, and even though cognitively she knew it was him—the man who’d broken her heart and forced her away from the life she’d spent years building—seeing him there, talking with Sam, didn’t make sense.

JJ laughed at something Sam said.

Her brain stumbled. She stumbled. Oh shit. He knew Sam? How? What the hell was going on?

“I’ve got this,” Faith said to Vivian. She was sure smoke was pluming from her ears, and she didn’t care. He didn’t deserve to be there, with her boyfriend, in her happy place. Anger obliterated hurt, propelling her fast and determined to reclaim her space beside Sam.

“Man, Sam, that trip changed my life,” JJ said.

“We had a killer climb,” Sam said.

“No, man. Not that.” JJ abruptly silenced as Vivian pulled her forward. His eyes filled with confusion. “Faith?” JJ shook his head, as if he, too, was trying to piece together this fucked-up reunion  .

“Hey, baby.” Sam reached an arm around her waist, where he inevitably felt her muscles tighten like concrete. His eyes turned serious. “You okay?”

JJ’s eyes dropped to Faith’s shirt. “Wait. Sam’s Girl? You two?” He waved a finger at the two of them. “You’re together?”

“Warner, this is my girlfriend, Faith,” Sam said with the same pride and confidence he always had.

“You know JJ?” She couldn’t keep the disbelief from her voice.

Tightening his grip on her, he said, “JJ? As in your ex?”

“Yes.” They both turned to look at JJ, who had a big-ass grin on his face.

Anger clenched Sam’s jaw, tightening each of his features as it made its way into his narrowing eyes. “Goddamn,” he muttered. He crossed his arms over his chest, lowered his chin, and stepped toward JJ, planting his legs like columns of strength and creating a barrier between him and Faith.

“This is freaking ironic,” JJ scoffed. He took a step back and scrubbed a hand over his face. “This can’t be happening.”

Faith’s mind spun. Why was he here? How did he know Sam? Why didn’t she know he knew Sam?

JJ locked amused eyes on Faith. “You’re dating this guy? The guy who told me to cheat on you?”

The air left Faith’s lungs. She stumbled backward, reaching for Vivian.

“I said a lot of shit back then,” Sam said adamantly. “But I never would have told you—or anyone else—to cheat on a girlfriend.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t remember hanging out in that bar with one chick under each arm,” JJ spat. “Going on about how monogamy wasn’t natural, and...”

His words blurred together. Sam told him to cheat? Monogamy’s not natural? She turned away, feeling a fissure make its way down the center of her heart as Vivian guided her away.

“Faith, wait.”

Vivian turned to say something, but she must have seen something in Sam, because she let him gather Faith in his arms. God. In your arms. My favorite place. I have so many. All with you. Faith looked into his loving eyes, and for the first time ever, fear looked back at her.

Seeing Sam’s fear frightened her. Was she making a mistake with him?

“Did you say those things?” Her voice sounded frail and foreign.

“Baby, I said all types of things back then, but I never would have told him to cheat. That’s never been a part of who I am. You know that. But could I have said that monogamy wasn’t natural or being tied down sucked?” He searched her eyes as they filled with tears, and the pain in his nearly took her to her knees. “Yes, I could have. I probably did. But that’s not who I am now.”

Honest Sam. Her Sam. She closed her eyes and pressed her lips to the center of his chest. “I need time to process this. You should go back. This is an important event, and people are still here.”





Chapter Thirty-One


FAITH PACED BY the water’s edge after finally convincing Sam to return to his guests. She wasn’t about to let JJ “the Asshole” Warner ruin Sam’s event, even if she felt like someone had torn her guts out and spread them over the sand, then put them back inside her, gritty and ill fitting. At least she’d kept it together enough to control herself from telling JJ what he could do with that snarky-ass amusement she’d seen in his eyes.

“Tell me what I can do,” Vivian said for the tenth time in the past half hour.

Faith sat on the sand, staring out at the water. “Nothing.”

“You sound so calm. I wanted to haul off and hit JJ for being such a smarmy bastard.”

“That’s why I love you.” Faith pulled her down beside her. “I’m not calm. I’m terrified. And I’m trying to figure out what the hell just happened.”

She turned toward her best friend, who had been with her when JJ had accidentally texted her an invitation meant for someone else. Vivian had helped her get ready for their clandestine date, which she’d stupidly been elated about. Who wouldn’t be excited to meet their boyfriend at a hotel room? Someone who would have clued in to the fact that he’d told her he was going out of town with his buddies for the weekend. She’d knocked on the hotel room door with a swarm of butterflies in her belly, mentally wondering if this was it. The night he was going to propose. She hadn’t been prepared for the lingerie-clad woman coming out of the bathroom when he’d answered the door in nothing but a pair of boxers, or the feeling of devastation and humiliation when she’d run through the lobby crying, feeling like she’d fallen through a wormhole to a place where nothing made sense.

Vivian had been her savior, her sounding board, and she’d given Faith the tough love she hadn’t realized she’d needed to pull her shit together and move on.

“Viv, you’ve seen me and Sam together. Am I looking at us through orgasm-colored glasses?” As she choked out the words, their acidic taste burned all the way to her gut, and she knew her answer. This was nothing like what happened with JJ. And as much as she’d needed Vivian during that awful time, this was different. Vivian was no longer the person she needed to get through this. She could do that. She and Sam. “Wait. Don’t answer that.”

“How can I not answer? Of course you’re not looking at him through orgasm-colored glasses. I think you found a diamond in the rough with that man. Although”—Vivian bumped shoulders with Faith and pointed to Sam walking up the beach toward them—“I don’t think it would matter what glasses you wore. You can only see him as who he is. He’s been brutally honest with you from the very first time he asked you out, remember? You asked him if he’d already gone through all the women, and he told you there were still a few left.”

At the sight of Sam closing in on them, Faith’s mind scrambled. Luckily, she didn’t need to think. She remembered every word they’d spoken that night.

“He said he wanted me.”

Sam crouched beside her. “Hey, baby.”

“Your guests…?”

“Ty and Tex are wrapping things up. You’ve been down here a long time.” Every word was laced with worry. “I can’t take being away from you for another second. This is where I want to be. With you, dealing with all the shit that went down. Please don’t send me away.”

Tears filled her eyes. “The last thing I want is to send you away.”

Vivian touched Faith’s arm, a silent message of support passing between them—I’ll leave you guys alone, okay?

“I’ll help Ty and Tex clean up, and then Tex can take me back to pick up my car.” Vivian hugged Faith and whispered, “Don’t judge. His tats are hot and I’ve been on a long hiatus.”

Faith needed the smile Vivian’s words gave her, but when she turned back to Sam, he was reaching for her hand, and her heart tumbled anew.

“Want to walk and talk or sit?” he asked.

She silently pulled him down to the sand and drew in a deep breath. Gazing out over the river brought memories of their rafting trip and the night Sam told her he was falling in love with her. She’d had such big plans for tonight, none of which included the uncomfortable tension hovering around them.

“I’m sorry, Sam. I hope I didn’t make a scene up there and embarrass you.”

“You didn’t make a scene, but it would take a lot more than that to embarrass me.” He reached for her hand, and she was glad he did, because it meant he needed the connection as much as she did. “Baby, I’m sorry for whatever I said to Warner—JJ—that might have led him to hurt you.”

“I know you are. I’ve been thinking about everything we’ve gone through. Everything I’ve gone through since he and I broke up. I thought he’d broken me back then. He devastated me completely. Shattered my safe little life into a million pieces, but he didn’t break me. He kicked me in the gut and woke me up. I think I needed it. No man is that unhappy in a relationship unless there’s a reason. I was the reason. He was right about that.”

“Faith—”