Chapter 33
THIRTY-THREE
COLE
M y sister is a genius.
She’s evil, but she’s a fucking genius.
I’m not saying that she lied to Lana about me being in a shit mood, but what she did, getting Lana here? Fucking perfection.
My annoyance vanished as soon as I felt Lana’s body pressed against mine, and now I just need to try and figure out what the hell I’m going to do once I get out of the shower.
I’ve already established that taking her on a date is out of the question, so I need to think of something that we can do that she won’t immediately see as a glaring red flag while also enjoying it, and I also need an excuse about why we’re doing it together.
Jesus Christ, things were a lot easier when I would just glare at her from across the room without her even noticing me.
I’m almost in a trance as I shower, doing each step without even thinking about it as I mull over options for what to do tonight .
And then it hits me.
I don’t need to do anything to trick her into a date.
Lana said that Gracie basically forced her to be here, but I know my sister. She no doubt batted her puppy-dog eyes and laid on the sympathy, and that type of thing shouldn’t work on Lana.
Not unless she actually cares.
Which means she’s here of her own free will, because she wanted to be.
She wanted to be here with me. She wanted to check on me. She was even maybe a little concerned?
Well, fuck me. I guess it only took a week or so of us fucking for her to catch up.
She just needs to see it for herself now, if she hasn’t already.
Once I’m done in the shower, I dry off before wrapping the towel around my waist and head back into the bedroom to face Lana. I find her lying sideways across my bed, flicking through a textbook that was no doubt left lying around somewhere.
“Why did you come?” I ask and turn my back to her, digging through the dresser for some clothes.
I hear her turn another page in the book before she replies, “What do you mean?”
I chuckle and drop the towel before pulling my boxers up my legs.
I turn to see Lana checking me out, and I snap the waistband against my hips.
Her eyes meet mine, and I raise a brow. “We both know that my sweet, innocent little sister could never force you into anything, so why did you really come?”
She snorts a laugh and goes back to looking at the textbook. “Exactly how sure are you that your sister is sweet and innocent?”
What the fuck?
“I’m sorry, have you met Gracie?” I ask with chuckle. “Stop avoiding the subject and answer me.”
Lana sighs before sitting up. She rakes her eyes across my torso before they find the marks she’s left on me so far—the LAN that are carved into my skin.
She did the latest one two days ago when I maybe not-so accidentally bumped into her at the gym and we ended up fucking against the mirrored wall.
Fair to say, the mirror wasn’t in the best condition when we left.
I’m talking, shattered across the floor, with my blood on one of the shards after she used it to cut me.
Okay, that sounds kind of insane when I think about it.
Maybe we’re a match made in hell, but Lucifer sounds like a fun kind of guy, so I guess we’ll see how it goes.
She rakes a hand through her unruly curls. She’s wearing eyeliner today, which is rare for her, but it isn’t the first time and is wearing black jeans and a cropped red sweater.
She’s been dressing more college girl and a little less murdery psycho lately. It suits her.
Not that the whole black cargos and hoodie didn’t suit her, but she looks a little more… human? Like this.
“I came because I wanted to make sure you were okay, okay? And now that I’ve seen that you, I’m gonna get out of here,” she mutters and goes to stand, but I stride across the room and shove her shoulder so she falls back onto the bed before she can react to what’s happening.
She may have quick reflexes, but so do I, so when her hand flies out to grab ahold of me, I counter it with my own and grab her wrist. Usually when we get like this, I’d end up plastering myself on top of her, which would lead to us fucking.
But not this time.
Rather than do any of that, I pull on her arm until she’s standing in front of me and lean down to whisper in her ear, “Thank you, little menace.”
I step back and pull a pair of black sweats on before rummaging around in the closet for a hoodie. Once I find one, I shrug it over my head and turn to her. She’s still standing in the middle of the room, looking at me as though I’ve grown another head.
I grin, loving how confused she’s getting by all this.
She might be an expert in playing with knives, but she’s clueless when it comes to social interaction.
It’s cute, really.
Oh Jesus. Have I really turned into the type of guy who thinks something is cute ?
Oh well, fuck it. I’m already riding the crazy train when it comes to this girl. I may as well embrace everything that comes with it.
“C’mon, baby,” I drawl. “It’s Sunday night.”
I leave the bedroom, letting her follow behind me.
“What does that mean? What’s Sunday night mean?” she asks, and I turn back and smirk at her.
“You’ve never gone to church on a Sunday? It’s the main event, little menace.”
“They literally go to the church every night of the week,” she deadpans. “What makes Sundays so different?”
“Sunday is the Lord’s day, baby.”
“ Jesus Christ ,” she mutters under her breath, barely loud enough for me to hear, but I do, and I can’t help but let out a snort .
“ God , Lana. Not Jesus.”
“Oh, go fuck yourself, asshole,” she throws back at me with a glower, and I tip my head back with a laugh. I’m just about to snark back at her when a throat clears and my head whips around to see the guys all sitting around the table, watching us with inscrutable expressions.
“Going somewhere?” Harley asks with a devious smirk.
“None of your damn business,” I snap at him. They’ve all been on my ass lately about what’s going on between me and Lana, and the last thing I need is for him to start up with the questions again while she’s standing right next to me.
“Aww, you’re such a delight to be around today, Cole. Maybe you should start fucking her—” he waves towards Lana “—in the mornings. That magic pussy of hers seems to brighten you up most of the time. Though clearly, you haven’t had any today yet.”
I’m going to kill him.
I’m going to string him up by the balls and fucking torture him.
I growl and go to take a step towards him, only Lana pushes past me in a flash and takes Harley by the throat.
Her grip on him is so tight he can barely breathe, and even though he’s bigger than she is by a good few inches, he’s no match for my girl.
“What did you just say?” Lana asks through clenched teeth, and I stare on in delight.
This is great; it’s like I have my own little pit bull to growl at people for me.
Though, I probably shouldn’t tell her that, because then it’ll end up with me on a leash. And not in a metaphorical kind of way.
Harley’s wide eyes meet mine, and I smirk at him. The asshole won’t be getting any help from me. If she hadn’t done this, then I would have.
I don’t give a fuck if he’s one of my best friends and like a brother to me, he should know better than to talk about Lana like that.
Whether I’ve told them what’s been going on between us or not, they still know that there is something , and he should count his blessings that I know Lana won’t actually kill him for this.
I’ve figured out that she doesn’t get all stabby with innocent people.
I think.
“I asked you a question,” she insists, and he coughs a little before he starts to answer.
“Nothing. Nothing. Didn’t say a thing.”
She glares harder, staring into his eyes and I swear to God, I hear him whimper a little.
My best friend is afraid of my girl. How fitting.
Meanwhile, Logan watches on with a blank look on his face, and Noah looks like he wants to intervene but knows that he wouldn’t only be facing Lana’s wrath if he did, but mine too, if the way he keeps glancing from her to me is anything to go by.
“Enough,” I finally mutter. “Can we go now? I’m bored.”
Lana huffs but lets go of Harley—not without giving him a little shove in the process, though, and chuckling to herself as he leans back against the wall to catch his breath.
“ Jesus ,” he wheezes. “You’re both as crazy as each other. I’ve been in the same room as both of you twice, and each time I’ve ended up pinned by one of you.”
“That speaks more about you and your actions than it does about them,” Logan grunts and turns to his phone, seemingly done with the entire conversation.
“Right, I’m out of here,” I announce to anyone who actually bothers to listen.
Once we’re outside, Lana turns to me.
“Your friends are assholes.”
“Of course they are. I wouldn’t be friends with them if they weren’t.”