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Con will see you.
Her dad will come and then there’ll be hell to pay.
I glance at the window I used to break in. I could be squeezed through it and down the fire escape and be gone inside of ten seconds.
Fuck that.
Fuck my brother.
And while we’re at it, fuck her dad.
I’m not going anywhere.
The cat lets out a yowl.
I’ve been holding it the entire time.
Okay, Let me dump my backpack and—
She’s moving through the kitchen as she talks, down the hallway. Getting closer.
She opens the door and she sees me standing in the middle of her bedroom. Her eyes go wide. Her mouth opens.
But she doesn’t scream.
Casting one last look over her shoulder, she slips across the threshold and shuts the door. “How the hell did you get in here?” She hisses it at me, gaze flying around the room like she’s looking for a clue that will answer her own question.
“Window.” I drop the cat on her bed. “What’s my brother doing here?”
“It was locked.” She shakes her head, like I’m lying to her. “I always keep it locked.”
“Shitty lock.” It took me three seconds to break it. “What is my brother doing here?”
“You can’t just break into my house whenever you feel like it, Declan.” She drops her backpack off her shoulder and kicks it into a corner. She looks around, taking in the neatly stacked cans of cat food on her dresser. The litter box set up in the corner. The pile of cat toys on her desk. “How long have you been here?”
“Sure I can.” I ignore the question because the answer is just long enough to warrant a restraining order. “I can always go out there and ask him myself.” I take a step in her direction. “That might be fun.”
“What do you think he’s doing here?” She stands her ground, chin tipped up so she can glare at me. “Henley dumped him so clearly he’s here to fuck me.” When I snarl, she narrows her eyes and shakes her head like I’m the dumbest person alive. “Or maybe, he’s my friend and we’re going to hang out, because Henley did dump him, thanks to you, and he’s kind of a mess.”
A few days ago, knowing that I’d managed to cause enough trouble between my brother and his girlfriend to break them up gave me an immense feeling of satisfaction. Hearing it from Tess makes me feel something else. Like everything else she’s said that I don’t want to acknowledge, I ignore it—and the way it makes me feel.
“Con doesn’t have friends.” I take another step toward her, closing the distance between us completely. “Get rid of him.”
“Seriously?” She laughs at me. “You think you have the right to break into my house and tell me what to do, just because you—” She stops talking and her cheeks go pink at the memory of what happened the last time we were alone together.
“Made you come.” I plant a hand above her head and lean into her, my face hovering above hers. “That’s what happened. You fucked yourself on my cock while I licked and sucked your nipples until you came all over me.”
Somehow, she manages to blush and go pale, all at once. She licks her lips and shakes her head. “That was a mistake.” Tess is tiny. I’m a foot and a half taller than her, easy. Three times as wide. I’m used to people being intimidated by my size, whether I want them to be or not. Tess isn’t intimidated. She’s turned on and pissed about it.
“Didn’t feel like a mistake.” I say it even though I’ve been trying to convince myself of the same damn thing for days now. To prove my point, I lift my free hand, brushing my thumb across her nipple and she sucks in a breath when it hardens at my touch. “Get rid of him.”
“No.” She shakes her head for good measure, even as she’s pushing herself into the palm of my hand. “You don’t get to—”
The door she’s pressed against vibrates under my hand. “Tess?” Conner is on the other side of it, knocking. “Is everything okay?”
I open my mouth to tell him that she’s fine and to get the fuck out but before I can, she reaches up and slaps a hand over my mouth, and shakes her head, mouthing a single word.
Please.