Page 62 of Double Down

“Right. I have shit to do, and I thought maybe you would like to…”

Jesus fucking Christ, this is hard for him.

“You want me to babysit the babysitter?” I raise my brow, waiting to see if that is what he really thinks she needs.

“Yeah, I don’t want her running off again and causing more problems. Especially since we don’t know who is after us and I don’t want her being used against us.”

Con is so full of shit.

He doesn’t want her to wake up alone, in case she goes through some kind of drop. He also doesn’t have the balls to be the one who holds her. He doesn’t want to be vulnerable with her, and after the marathon of orgasms it's clear she had, she’s going to need that.

I’m not sure I can blame him for that one.

He opened up to her once before, completely, and when she left him…it destroyed something in him. Maybe having her back will help him heal the gaping hole in his chest that she created, but he isn’t ready to trust yet.

I, on the other hand, have no problem being there for her. I crave it. Crave the comfort I’ll give her. The post-orgasm haze she’s going to have is more erotic than watching her suck Conrad’s dick.

“Fine,” I say, crossing my arms like it’s some big inconvenience. “But I’m not staying with her here. If I’m doing this, it’s in my bed.”

I take Phoenix from his arms and carry her into my room, lying her down on my smooth satin sheets.

Zeus, the world’s best wing-dog I’ve decided, follows me in and plops himself down on the dog bed that I definitely didn’t order as soon as it was clear we were keeping the pup.

This wasn’t how I was planning on getting Phoenix today, but fuck it. Carefully, I slide that monstrosity she’s wearing off of her and tuck her into one side of my bed, then kick off my shoes. I throw my shirt across the room and crawl in next to her.

“Conrad?” she asks, low and groggy, as the mattress dips beneath me.

My head drops, the sound of his name on her lips slicing through me.

I clear my throat. “No, Firebird. It’s me. Sleep. You need to rest. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Maverick,” she purrs and snuggles into my arms, her head resting on my chest above my heart. That should be enough to soothe my irritation at her calling me his name, but it doesn’t. I wind a piece of her hair around my finger and stare up at the ceiling.

I can’t help it. All day I have looked at the faces of people expecting Conrad and getting me instead. Everyone from the front-of-house managers in the restaurants to the women I escorted out of the business center. Even the managers of the teams looked at me like they were getting the second best.

Even now, Phoenix, who’s sexually satisfied and asleep in my arms, is only like that because of him.

I push down those thoughts.

Conrad is my brother.

He doesn’t act as if he’s better than me, even if everyone else thinks it.

I close my eyes and go through the breathing technique Phoenix taught me when we were children. We couldn’t have been older than ten.

It was in the middle of summer when I first saw her for the first time. And god, once I saw her, I couldn't ever look away.

Her clothes were cheap and wrinkled, her honey hair all wild tangled curls, freckles dotting her nose.

“Whose child is that?” my mother asked from between clenched teeth. We were in the lobby, just getting back from a morning out on the boat.

“I—uh, I’m not sure,” the front desk girl said, shaking at the irritated look my mother was giving her.

“Well, find out,” she hissed.

“I think her dad is at one of the poker tables,” I said. I don’t know how I knew who she was. The Titans and I never went to a public school, but I knew who the girl running around the hotel was. “She doesn’t have a mother. Her father works as a mechanic here. I think he’s the head mechanic, and he pretty much signs his paychecks over to the casino as soon as he gets them.”

“What?” My mother’s glare swung in my direction. I forced myself not to shrink away. That glare always made me feel…wrong.