Page 96 of Foul Territory

“Put me down.” She pushes and pulls at my forearms.

“Are you going to behave?” I ask.

“Probably not,” she says, making me chuckle.

“Try for me, trouble.” I loosen my grip on her, letting her stand on her own two feet.

“I really am sorry, Syd. You know I love you and would never do anything to intentionally hurt you. I needed to know Koa was serious about you. That he deserved you.”

“What about what I deserved? All I’ve ever heard about for years was what you and Koa wanted. What about me?” She slaps a hand against her chest. “I deserved a chance to make my own choices. You stole that from me.”

“I thought I was doing the right thing,” he says, placing his hands in his pockets.

My head swivels between my best friend and the woman I love. They’re both hurting. This isn’t going to be resolved today and I would rather her be in a better mood when I finally tell her what I need to.

“Why don’t you go upstairs? I’ll grab your stuff.” I give her a quick kiss before she nods leaving us alone. Once she’s out of view, I face Nash.

“You just kissed my sister in front of me,” he comments dryly.

“Get used to it.”

“Are you together now?”

“Yes,” I say as confidently as I can, knowing full well she may never speak to me again once she finds out I’m the guy she’s been talking to online.

“It’s kind of bullshit that she’s forgiven you so easily and won’t even accept my apology.”

“You think she’s forgiven me? Not even close, man. Getting to where I am with Sydney was far from easy. It’s work and I will gladly put in that work every day if that’s what it takes to keep her.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Just make sure I don’t hear anything else.” He shudders.

I grab her bags off the couch. “I suggest you invest in ear plugs,” I say, as I make my way up the stairs. I’ve been waiting too long to be with Sydney. The last thing I’m going to do is ask her to be quiet.

“I’ll have to go back down and get the snacks,” I say, as I enter the room. “Are you okay?” I shut the door and place her things on my desk. “Baby?” I ask again since she’s ignoring me.

She’s sitting on the side of my bed with an open book in her lap. One of my books. It’s one we read together a few years ago. Well, she doesn’t know that we read it together but we did.

“Say something please,” I plead, as I sit down beside her.

“Are they all like this?” she asks, flipping another page. Her finger traces over the highlighted passages and my notes in the margins.

“Almost all the books on that shelf.” I nod toward the bookshelf over my bed. I keep all my favorites there. I like seeing them first thing when I walk into my room. “The stack on the other shelf are books I still need to read. I’ve gotten behind since the season started.”

“How long have you been doing this?” She closes the book. Then stands on the bed to exchange it for another one. Her fingers slide over the titles until she finds the one she wants.

Sitting crossed-legged in the middle of my bed, she looks like every dream I’ve ever had come true. I have to blink my eyes a few times to make sure this is really happening.

I flip over on my stomach and lay down in front of her. Grazing my hands over her thighs, I expel a slow breath as her vanilla—and cinnamon maybe—scent envelops me.

“Since the first day,” I confess.

“The first day?” she questions, her eyes meeting mine.

“The first day you came over and read to me while I practiced. You had all your smelly pens in different colors and highlighters.”

“I forgot about those,” she says with a quiet laugh.

“I didn’t.”