Page 3 of Brutal Little Secrets

“Damon should be home soon.” I brush my thumb across her cheek.

She stiffens and looks away, biting her lip. She believes something happened between Olivia and Damon. But there’s no way. Damon should be the one to tell her this, but I take her chin between my thumb and finger and make her look at me.

“He doesn’t break promises or rules or whatever the fuck we have.”

Her wide eyes blink. The hurt lingers. Another reason to fuck Chase up. His fucking around on her made her doubt her desirability. And then Damon goes and lets Olivia hang all over him like he’s going to fuck her.

“Damon’s not going to fuck anyone else.” I blow out a breath. Her eyes search mine. “He might make it look like he’s fucking someone else, but he wouldn’t actually do it.”

She swallows.

Fuck, I hope I’m right. He’s been tense with the current condition of our agreement. He wants to fuck Annie. Who doesn’t? He wanted to push her, and he got her to change the original agreement, but what if it wasn’t enough?

What if he wanted to hurt Annie because he couldn’t handle seeing Chase kiss her? Fuck. I have to trust he did the right thing, but it might set him back with Annie again.

“Let’s get you cleaned up and in bed.”

She nods. “It’s been a long night.”

I lift her down to her feet and give her a bottle of water. I take the other one and the vegetable tray and lead the way to the staircase.

When we get to her room, she walks in and hesitates. She doesn’t look at me when she asks, “Are you going to leave?”

I set everything down on her desk and turn to look at her. The more time I spend with her, the more she captivates me.

She’s always been as smart as me, maybe even smarter. Before her, I’ve never really sat down and discussed Shakespeare with a girl, or anyone else for that matter. Usually when I’m with a girl, I have other intentions. I lean back on the desk and cross my arms over my chest. I don’t know which way she’s headed with that question.

“Do you want me to?”

Her blue eyes meet mine before she lowers them again and shrugs.

I’m across the room with her face in my hands before she can gasp.

“Tell me what you want, baby girl. I’ll give it to you.”

Her hands come up and tentatively rest on my waist. Her stormy eyes search mine. “Stay.”

I kiss her softly. “Always.”

She leans into me. I take her into my arms and hold her. She’s had a rough night and needs me to be gentle. I can give that to her.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.” She releases me and I step back, giving her space. “He didn’t do more than kiss me. And I really didn’t have time to stop him. I didn’t want him to kiss me.”

She drags in a rough breath, and her fingers play with the label on the water bottle. “I don’t want to do this anymore, Hawk.”

I arch an eyebrow when she lifts her gaze to mine.

“Date Chase,” she clarifies. “He keeps pushing for more, and I don’t even want to be alone with him. I never thought he’d... That he would...”

Her eyes well with tears again. I take her water and set it on the nightstand.

“It’s been a long night.” I thread my fingers with hers and pull her toward the bathroom. “Let’s take a quick shower, and we’ll crawl into bed. Things should be brighter in the morning.”

She looks at me doubtfully but lets me bring her into the bathroom. She slips into the water closet while I start the shower. When she comes out, I’ve stripped down to my boxers.

“I wasn’t sure if you wanted to share or take turns,” I explain and step into her, lifting Damon’s shirt off over her head.