Page 37 of My End

“Boone isn’t going to like that you’re in here,” I said, more for my sanity than hers.

She rolled her eyes. “As if Boone has any say over what I do.”

I narrowed my gaze. “If I were Boone, I wouldn’t like you being in here.”

She tilted her head. “You assume he’s possessive, but would you really be that possessive of a stepsister?”

I froze. “Stepsister?” I echoed.

She blinked. “Yeah. Boone’s dad married my mom when I was a kid. You didn’t know that?”

“You live with him,” I said, voice flat. “He’s your stepbrother, and you live here?”

She laughed, light and easy. “Not because I want to. Six months ago, he came to me saying he wanted to make a show of family unity with the election coming up. Said the press might harass me. So he asked me to move in.” She shrugged. “I had my own place. But can you blame me? There’s a chef here. A studio. Drivers. More space than I could ever use. Boone thinks he’s protecting me, but really I’m just here for the perks.”

She gave me a grin like it was the most natural thing in the world.

The knot in my chest came undone.

“Did you think Boone and I were…” She trailed off, and her face went pale. “Oh my god. No. No!” She laughed again, a little more breathlessly this time. “I’m actually a little insulted. Boone isn’t even close to my type.”

I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.

The only thing—the only goddamn thing—keeping me from touching her had just been ripped out from under me.

My restraint? Gone.

She crossed toward me, those long paint-streaked legs drawing my eyes like a magnet.

“You thought Boone and I were a thing,” she teased, and stepped even closer. “That’s why you kept looking at me like you wanted to say something but didn’t.”

She was just two steps away now. Her gaze was on my mouth.

“Guess that excuse is gone,” I murmured.

She blinked. “Excuse?”

“To stay away from you.”

Her breath hitched.

The silence stretched.

And then she tripped.

Her foot caught the edge of the rug as she stepped forward, and I moved before I thought. I caught her around the waist, and her hands landed on my chest.

My fingers gripped her waist firmly.

I looked down.

She looked up.

And the space between us disappeared.

“Fuck it,” I growled, and I kissed her.

Hard. Fast. No hesitation.