Page 159 of Ruthless Desires: Vol. One

I bite back the ten replies that rush to the front of my mind, all of which are different ways to convince her to come with us. If she doesn’t want to, that’s upto her. And odds are, she’ll be perfectly safe here. With Finn watching her back, no one will be able to get within ten feet of her.

“Can I ask you a question about Rhett?” she says quietly.

“Can’t guarantee I’ll answer, but go for it.”

“Should I ask him about Sammy? And about why he’s so…”

“Closed off?”

She nods. “I want to know. But I don’t want to push him before he’s ready to open up about it.”

“I don’t think he’ll ever be ready, love.”

She sags against me with a sigh. “I understand that.”

I squeeze her lightly. Reliving his past is a nightmare for Rhett. His mom passed from cancer not long after Sammy was born. Rhett’s dad put him through hell before her death, and it only got worse after. And then Sammy was killed, and Rhett was absolutely done with his father. He moved in with me and my parents for the remainder of our senior year.

To this day, Oliver and I don’t even know the extent of abuse that Rhett went through. Just what he’s decided to share.

There are things Wren needs to know. At some point, she should know everything that Oliver and I do. But it’ll be slow going for Rhett. You can’t force trust.

We stay in the bath for a few more minutes. After I help her out of the tub, she presses her body into mine. We’re both dripping a ton of water onto the bath mat, but I don’t care. Any shred of closeness I can get to her, I’ll take.

“Thank you for taking care of me,” she says.

I brush a hand down her back. “It’s the bare minimum, love.”

Wren places a tender kiss to my chest before we dry off and get dressed. As much as I want to keep her all to myself for as long as I can, it’s not fair to the other guys. We only have tonight to be with her, and I love them too much to be selfish.

Downstairs, Rhett and Oliver are in the kitchen. Oliver hands Wren a bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, planting a kiss on her lips as he does.

“What’s this for?” she asks with a smile, popping a spoonful into her mouth.

“Tradition,” Oliver says. “We always have ice cream the night before a job. Helps with the jitters.”

Wren raises an eyebrow. “Ice cream before, sex after. Any others?”

“You’ll have to wait and see,” I say, taking my own bowl from Rhett. “For now, just enjoy.”

We settle in the living room. I sink into one of the armchairs facing the couch, where Wren sits down with Rhett and Oliver on either side of her. Rhett hasn’t said a word since we came down, and he seems more pensive than usual.

Maybe he’s still tired.

Sneaking an arm around Wren, Oliver balances his ice cream bowl in his lap. “Five.”

“Five?” she asks.

“Five orgasms a day.”

A slow smile creeps onto Wren’s face. “Can you come that much in a day?”

“Not for me, princess. For you. I promise I’ll give youat leastfive orgasms a day on this trip if you come with us.”

“Oliver,” I scold. “She already said no.”

Wren hides her giggles by taking another bite of her ice cream. “It’s a little late for me to change my mind. You guys are leaving while I’ll still be at work.”

He pouts, but she kisses him, and when she pulls away he’s grinning.