28
Boo raises his eyebrows at me from his spot on the recliner. The judgment is clear, I’m just not sure why — Hayes and I are keeping a respectable distance. There’s an entire sectional cushion between us.
“What?” I ask, a little exasperated. “We’re not doing anything wrong.”
“Oh, I know. You’re not doing anything right, either.”
Hayes’ eyes flick to mine a second before he thinks of some kind of excuse. “Uh... that’s because we’re fighting. She got mad at me for eating her chips. Tell her to stop being a drama queen and get over here.”
He raises an eyebrow at me challengingly, like we’re not actually fighting now.
“Drama queen?” I ask. “Are you sure that’s what I am?” Turning just enough that Boo can’t see my hand, I ghost my fingers over the fading cut he left above my breast. I don’t think I’m the dramatic one in this fake relationship.
The way he sucks in a breath proves my point. “Come here.”
Ugh. I really am annoyed that’s what he went with, but I scoot closer to him anyway. Not close enough to touch, but... you know. Closer.
He huffs, reaching over to pull me in with ease and wrap his arm around me. “Forgive me, Hurricane.”
The butterflies in my chest can go to hell.
“Maybe.”
“I’ll take it.” He leans his face against my hair and inhales, convincing more than my brother that this is real. I wish he wouldn’t do that.
“Tone it down now, bro. I wasn’t commenting on it because I wanted a show. It’s just weird.”
“There’s nothing weird about it. It’d be more weird if we never fucked, right? All that... tension.”
I can hear the grin in his words as my brother audibly shudders. “If that’s what you want to call it, sure. Just watch the damn movie.”
Easy for him to say. I’m laser-focused on the man holding me, the monster running his fingertips over my bare shoulder. Sex isn’t involved this time. Beyond putting on a show, he has no reason to be so... tender.
“ Maybe I always have.”
Or maybe he does.
What am I going to do if he’s falling for me?
Something happens on screen that makes my brother chuckle, but when Hayes gives no reaction, I know I’ve got all of his attention too. He continues touching my skin adoringly, softly. Such a stark contrast to what we did a couple of nights ago.
The dichotomy makes my stomach hurt. He’s proving he’s not the man I thought he was, and yet... when I picture myself falling for him and him moving on, all I feel is sorrow.
I think I accidentally let him under my skin when he cut it open.
He’s nestling in there and sprouting roots at a rate I can’t control, and I know if I don’t find a way to slow this down, he’s going to completely consume me.
Fuck, I need air.
Carefully but maybe a little too quickly, I stand up and speed walk toward the bathroom. I just need a second .
Hayes, however, has other plans. The door opens before I can even breathe, and he moves his giant body inside to trap me there. “You ran.”
“I had to pee,” I lie. “Can you go now?”
“No.” Again, that challenging look appears. “Go on.”
Son of a bitch. “I have a nervous bladder. I can’t pee with people around.”
“You wouldn’t be lying to me... would you, Hurricane?”
He tilts his head as he reaches for the door handle, seeing right through me.
We promised we’d never lie.
“Yeah, I am. I just needed a second, okay? This is... confusing for me.”
Nodding, Hayes opens the door to leave, but before he does he grabs the back of my neck and pulls me in for one chaste kiss. “Take your second.”
And then he’s gone, taking all the air in the room with him. The one time I need him to push me, he doesn’t — but that’s fine. I can figure this out on my own.
As I catch a glimpse of my reflection though, I barely recognize myself. My cheeks are fuller, more colorful. My jawline is softer. My eyes look clearer than they have in years. Even my hair looks healthier. Maybe it’s the cleaner water or the food, maybe it’s something else.
Like Hayes.
This can’t be happening to me.
Flipping off the dumb bitch in the mirror, I make my way back out to the couch with more confidence than I really feel. It seems easy to curl up against him this time, easy to let my face nuzzle into his chest so his smell can surround me in a way I don’t want to admit I crave.
When he grips my shoulder like he’s not going to let me go again, I forget my brother’s in the room with us at all. Real or fake, this might be the closest thing I’ve ever felt to true intimacy.
The beat of his heart begins to slow the longer we stay there, bringing us both to a level of comfort I don’t think we’ve ever felt. It’s just easy like this.
It feels right.
“Oh my god, you two really are in love,” Boo jokes. “Sorry for doubting you.”
“Shut up,” Hayes grumbles, but he pulls me even closer like he thinks I might run away again. “Worry about your own love life.”
“That’s not funny,” he mumbles. “I’m pretty sure she really is feeding them information.”
“Think they know how small your dick is?” Hayes teases, but after the words leave his lips, I know he immediately regrets them. “Shit, I shouldn’t be joking about those assholes. My bad.”
Boo shakes his head and gets up, waving us off as he disappears to his room. I can feel the irritation radiating off of him right up until his door shuts, and even then, the air still feels charged.
“Will this shit ever be over?” I ask quietly.
He’s still frowning at where my brother disappeared when he nods. “It has to. One way or another we’ll figure this shit out.”
They keep saying that, yet we seem no closer to a resolution since Boo won’t turn over the evidence he already has.
I just hope we’re all alive at the end of it.