The most ironic part of this whole thing was that it was her damn family who had won the bet in the first place. So, if anyone should hate anyone, it should be me hating her. I had every right. Instead, all I could think about was getting my hands underneath that tight-as-hell skirt she currently wore and plunging my fingers inside her. I’d dreamed about the way Julia La Bella would feel underneath my touch for too many years. I’d salivated, just thinking about the way she must taste. I’d bet it was as sweet as the wine she made.

“You’ve had it bad for her since we were five years old.”

“Four,” I corrected. If the motherfucker was going to start spouting off ages, it was at least going to be the right one.

“What?” He looked at me, confused.

“I’ve had it bad for her since I was four. My birthday party, remember? It was the first time I ever saw her,” I explained like he hadn’t been standing next to me that day.

Our respective families had apparently done their damnedest to keep us apart since birth. I had no idea how we’d never seen each other before that day, but up until then, I had no clue there were any other kids around for miles. Someone must have gotten sloppy on my fourth birthday because Julia came running out of her house with a bright pink dress on, her hair in two pigtails, as she waved at me like we were long-lost friends before her father wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back inside the house, kicking and screaming.

Our lives crossed that morning, and they’d yet to come undone.

“Yeah, you asked me if I could see the angel, too, or if only you could see her,” Dane repeated the story that was seared in my brain.

I let out a soft laugh. “And you said you didn’t see any angel, but you saw some dumb girl.”

Dane shrugged. “I think, between the two of us, my assessment was more right. Julia La Bella is no angel.”

My gaze swung to him, narrowing. “Watch it,” I warned.

His hands raised in the air in defeat. “Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just saying, she’s no angel, is all.” He picked up a glass of wine and downed it in one gulp instead of sipping it like you were supposed to do. “This is good stuff.” He twirled the glass between his fingers before refilling it and downing it a second time. “It’s really fucking good.”

“I know.”

“Think it will beat hers?” He gave a head nod in Julia’s direction.

I swallowed hard as I looked at her for what had to be the thousandth time already. I blew out a quick breath, forcing my eyes away from her body. “Probably not.”