Forbidden Kisses (3:AM Kisses Book 9) by Addison Moore

matter what the outcome, we would survive this. But I also happen to know how much divorce hurts and how the wounds never seem to heal, and lastly, and pathetically so, no matter how old you get, you still have that underlying craving for your parents to fall madly back in love and stitch your family up again. And, ironically, that’s exactly why I’m here.
    I head up the driveway to the sunny yellow house with its chipped brown trim. Knox’s truck and Trixy’s Beamer are parked in the driveway, so I know they’re home. Just as I’m about to give a wallop over the front door, it glides open, and I’m greeted with my father’s smiling face—a mirror image of my own if you add about twenty-eight years.
    “Hold your fire,” he teases, pulling me in. “Saw you walking up the driveway, kiddo.”
    He feels strong, safe, is wearing the same cologne I’ve known him to since the day I was born, and everything about this one simple physical exchange makes me miss him a hundred times more.
    “You don’t have to be such a stranger, you know.” He leans back, his hand clasping over mine as he leads me inside.
    “I don’t want to be.” But I have been. The last three years have been the toughest. First, there was the divorce—an axe that drove itself through the forehead of my family—then my mother’s far more painful spiral, the nails securely set in the Toberman family coffin. No thanks to the questionable moves of my father’s business partner, Toberman Global has disbanded and is no longer a viable entity. But he’s rebuilding his life, one dollar at a time, and my mother is rebuilding her life with Bradley.
    “Your brother and sister are in the pool. You can borrow a suit if you like. I was just about to join them.”
    “Maybe I will.” I swallow hard as I spot them splashing at one another in the water, having a good time, and I want them to. Knox and Trixy clung to our father during that hellish era of our lives. My mother seemed so isolated and alone that I seemed to favor her in that time, trying to help her navigate her downfall from being a socialite to social parasite back in Bel Terra. Even at home, the three of us were forced to favor one parent over the other. It felt like battle lines were drawn, sides were being taken, and now that the nightmare is in the rearview mirror, relations are still strained. We never fully recovered. We may never do so. I’m not sure if that’s entirely Bradley Kent’s fault, but I damn well know he isn’t helping us heal.
    “So, what brings you to my neck of the woods?” He smiles over the rim of his glasses while holding up his coffee. “Would you like a cup?”
    “No thanks.” We take a seat at the kitchen barstools and watch as Knox and Trixy slow their playful game of trying to drown one another. I can hear them speaking between themselves, trying to make out where we might have gone in the house. Scarlett was right when she said they were so close it’s creepy, but I like it, and I’m glad they’re close. In fact, one of my goals this summer is to mend the bridges I might have burned down in an attempt to support my mother.
    “How’s school? Are you still on target to graduate on time?”
    “Yes. Finals went well. I just got my grades back—straight A’s this time. Next semester should be a breeze. Law school should be happening for me before we know it.”
    “Sounds like you have it all figured out.” He smiles so hard his eyes disappear in half moons. That’s the great thing about my father. It takes so little to get that genuine response out of him. He’s always been happy-go-lucky, rolling with the punches no matter how hard the beatdown. “So, how’s your mother?”
    No matter where our conversations start off they always end up at the same maternal destination.
    “She’s great. Perhaps a little too great,” I grunt.
    “The kids told me about the engagement. Can’t say I didn’t see it coming.” His forehead wrinkles into a