Page 26 of Accidentally Forever

“Cold?”

“Maybe. The tequila was damn good though. Going to have to drink with you for always.”

“Somebody sure is getting bougie,” I teased.

“I can’t help it. I like pretty things.” She fluttered her eyelashes, and I chuckled, shaking my head. She checked her phone, for what I realized had to be the fifth or sixth time in a short amount of time, and I frowned.

“Waiting on a call?”

“Travis was supposed to meet me here.”

Just the sound of that man’s name set my teeth on edge, but I did my best to school my features. Aria hated when we questioned her about that man. He was useless, a user, and drained every ounce of spark from the woman in front of me. But if we said anything about it, she fought back. Because I knew she wanted to see the best in him. To try to keep him on the good path.

Only I knew it was a lost cause.

“Maybe he’ll show later,” I lied.

She met my gaze and sighed.

“Are you okay?”

She shrugged and looked down at her dress. That’s when I realized that one of the double straps had torn, and my jaw tensed.

“Did he do that?” I asked, my voice so low I could practically see the ice crystals forming in the air.

“It’s fine. It happened when I got out of his grip.”

I was already moving toward the back door, hoping I could catch that little asshole, before she could even say a word. I made it all the way to the hallway where it was just the two of us, before she put her hand on my arm to stop me.

One touch and I was in her control.

How fucking weak was that?

“Don’t. I don’t care about him. I’m fine.”

I let out a breath. “You shouldn’t be so nonchalant about a man groping you.”

“I’m not nonchalant. But security took care of it, and I don’t want to think about it anymore. Okay?”

I turned then, caging her to the wall. Her eyes dilated, and I looked down at her, both hands pressed against the wall beside her head. “Fine. But if I see him again, he’s a dead man.”

Her chest rose and fell as she took a deep breath. “Just don’t go looking for him. And you don’t have to keep protecting me. You’re not my brother.”

I narrowed my gaze. “Thinking about you as my little sister is the furthest thing from my mind.”

Aria’s lips parted, and I cursed.

“You should go home, Aria.”

“But what if I don’t want to?”

In answer, I broke my cardinal role, and I slammed my mouth to hers.

Now

“What do you have on your docket today?” I asked as I leaned against my kitchen counter. We hadeaten breakfast—after I had eaten her out again—and now I stood with my second cup of coffee, just watching thoughts pass over her face in quick succession. Sometimes I could read her. Sometimes she was an open book.

And other times, like now, I would do anything just to see what was going on in that mind of hers. A single note of the lyrics that was the melody of her soul. A single line of the verse that stroked against her heart.