Page 67 of Don't Say You're Sorry

Once he’s done, he pulls back to look at me before dropping his forehead to mine, both of us catching our breaths. He’s just as worked up as I am.

I tilt my head slightly, slowly going in for a kiss, but he dodges my lips, a wicked grin on his face as he stands. “No kissing.”

I make a noise in my throat and look at my lap, adjusting myself. I don’t ask him why this time, too afraid of the answer.

“Later, straight boy,” he says to Axel’s back, mocking Carter’s earlier words to him.

Axel flips him off without turning around.

Easton gives me one last look before turning away, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. When the front door closes and it’s just me and my brother, he looks at me over his shoulder. I stay in my seat, still hard, a helpless look on my face.

“Are you fucking him?” he asks.

My jaw tics. That’s none of his business, but I answer anyway. “No. I mean, we’ve…done things, but we haven’t slept together since…”

He nods, filling in the blanks. “You remember what I told you when I found out about you two? You didn’t listen, but I’m gonna tell you again. End it before it’s too late. Before he traps you under his spell again.”

Doesn’t he realize it’s already too late for that?

“No.”

No.

I’m aware I convinced myself I was coming back here to be his brother and friend again, not his lover, but who the fuck am I kidding? He wants me back. He wants to beusagain. I know it. Ifeelit. And like hell am I going to say no to that. It might take a while for him to trust me again, but I’m working on it. I’ll do whatever it takes, whatever he wants me to do. Every day, for as long as he needs me to, I’ll prove to him that I’minthis time.All in.

And one of these days, he’ll kiss me again.

I’ll make sure of it.

Axel sighs, not letting it go. “Adam, be serious. Are you gonna be his dirty little secret for the rest of your life? Is that what you want?”

No hesitation. “Yes.”

I’d love to be his and for him to be mine in public. But if that’s not in the cards for us, so be it. I’d rather have him in secret than not have him at all. I already know what that feels like, and it broke me. I won’t go through that again.

Axel rolls his eyes. “Why can’t you find a nice, normal boy to settle down with? An artist. Or a gamer. Someone who doesn’t want to fuck up my face just for sharing DNA with you.”

“No, I don’t want anyone else. I want him.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s…mine. He’s my person, Axel. He’s the one I’m supposed to be with.”

He lifts an unimpressed brow. “Like fate?”

I shrug. He can call it whatever he wants.

“Why would fate look at you and your person and say,Hey, I know a way to get these fuckers together.Let’s make their parents fall in love and get married?”

“Maybe she thinks she’s funny.”

He laughs, nodding as he turns back to the dishes. I don’t think he’s talking about me and Easton when he says, “Yeah. Maybe she does.”

CHAPTER 24

ADAM

FOUR YEARS AGO