Page 94 of The Casualty of Us (Philosophies of the Heart Duet #1)

Her head moves against my chest, turning until her eyes find mine. “That’s awfully risky.”

The instant worry there makes me move the hand still on her bracelet up to her face, running my thumb over her bottom lip while reminding her softly.

“Spring break, right?” I drop my thumb to lean down and bite at it, loving how it’s a bit fuller than the top.

“That’s the end of the line. No more playing games with stalkers or hiding behind closed doors. ”

“Right,” she breathes tensely, making me nip at her lip one more time before pulling back to smirk.

“So I get to take you on a date.”

She snorts softly, turning her head back and lifting a leg from the bath while droning, “I’m so glad the prospect of my stalker wanting to murder you is exciting.”

It is actually. I would have dropped a fucking pin for him already if I didn’t think she would have murdered me herself for it.

Which would be really sad for our future hypothetical babies.

“It is actually,” I repeat out loud, moving my hand down to her hip and pressing the issue that I’ve been putting off. “What are you going to say back?”

Knowing that if I don’t bring it up, I can’t get mad when she pops up with ten more notes a month from now. That some things happen so fast in her head that she really doesn’t think to share them. It’s just how she’s built.

“Really?” She glances back at me with a scowl. “On Christmas?”

“You already know what you’re going to say.” I squeeze her hip. “Out with it, Freckles.”

“Fine.” She pouts up at me with a blink before turning back and starting to run her foot along my shin. “I think a two-part approach is best considering the condensed timeline now.”

“And that means?”

“I throw something innocuous in there first.” She pauses, rushing out the rest with an empty voice.

“Like asking him his age or favorite color to play up the fact that it will make him think I’m interested at all.

” I clench my jaw to stop the word no from immediately springing out as she continues quietly.

“I’m hoping it will distract him enough from the second question that he won’t worry too much over it. ”

I lift my other hand to trace the shape of her collarbone, trying to force some normalcy into my voice. “What’s the second?”

“I need to know more about what escalated this,” she muses. “So I’m going to ask him what the moment was when he realized he wanted me.”

“Wouldn’t that be obvious though?” I argue, in part just because I don’t want her anywhere near this really. “With the kidnapping?”

“It could be.” She shrugs, shoulders moving against my skin before posing softly. “But what if it’s not?” Giving me the impression that she’s talking more to herself now. “What if everyone’s linchpin assumption is wrong?”

I frown. “What, baby?”

“What if it was never completely about the money?”

It takes a second for her words to click, but when they do, it has my stomach twisting hard because that would mean—

“What if for him it’s always been about me?”

“Fuck.” The curse falls from my lips sharply, my body tensing under hers like he’s about to start beating down the door any second, but if she’s right…

that definitely would put a whole different spin on things.

It has me quickly wrapping both of my arms around her waist, pulling her impossibly closer and dipping my head to her neck to breathe her in before pointing out the fault in her logic.

“Why give you back in the first place then?”

“I don’t know,” she admits, blowing out a frustrated breath while reaching a hand back to play with my hair. “Maybe something to do with the other two. I can’t make sense of that part yet.”

“You will,” I tell her, voice dropping as my body tenses up more around hers because I know it’s the truth. “You’ll figure it all out one day.”

And I hate the possibilities that could come from it, but I also know that fighting it would be like trying to stand in front of the train.

That me stopping her wouldn’t actually do anything to keep her more safe at the end of the day.

It would only remove me from the equation, possibly right as his train was getting there.

The only thing I can do is try to protect her as much as I possibly can through it.

The only thing I can do is hope that maybe somehow in the end, I can take the hit for her.

“You sound so sure.” She laughs softly.

“I am.”

She tilts her head back at my quiet words, a grin playing at her lips and blue eyes locking with mine. “Dimples.” Her hand in my hair pulls until I drop my lips to hers with a slow kiss passing between us just as lazily as this entire evening has. “Love you.”

“I know.” My lips lift against hers, and she pulls back with another giggle.

“So humble too.”

I lift a brow at her. “I don’t think you ever liked me for my humility.”

“Nope.” She leans down to bite my chest while looking up at me, making my cock twitch twice before perking right up. Fully ready to give her his undivided attention as she rises up with a mischievous look. “That one I had to teach you personally.”

A laugh escapes on my next breath and I narrow my eyes at her.

Quickly moving my hands to her hips and flipping her around with water splashing over the edge of the tub as I set her back down in my lap.

The way her legs wrap around me with no hesitation has that pride unfurling in my chest again.

Loving the way she lets me in so easily to see this side of her now.

Loving the way we play.

“Is that right?” I reach for her face before teasing back, “I don’t know if it took, baby.”

The spark that goes through the blue this time blows her pupils wide, and her breath hitches as I lift my hips—

“What’s that?”

Her brows fall, and I tilt my head at her, not catching on until a faint buzz filters through the desire enough to fill my ears.

“Ignore it.” I drop my hands to squeeze her hips with the order, and she rolls her eyes at me before standing. Not giving me any warning and dripping water all over as I drop my head back against the tub with a groan. “That’s fucking cruel, Freckles.”

She steps out of the tub one foot at a time before looking back over her shoulder to toss me a wink. “What are you going to do about it?”

Another groan leaves me at that, and I lift my fist up to bite down on it as she steps her way carefully over to the bathroom counter.

Appreciating her tiptoe approach to not slipping on multiple levels as the dimples on her lower back hypnotize me for a moment until she turns back with the phone in her hand.

“It’s Marley.”

“And you’re surprised?” I drop my hands over the side of the tub, sprawling out and giving my rapidly growing cock more room. “You did just FedEx your brother to her.”

She cringes. “True.” Her eyes drop back down to the phone, and she purses her lips before answering casually, “Hey, Marley.” Quickly putting it on speaker and setting it down on the towel that’s folded up on the counter. “Happy Holidays.”

“Don’t you Happy Holidays me, Ophelia Fitzroy!” Marley snaps back, voice low like she’s whispering and continuing as O’s brows lift. “Why is your brother at my house? Why? What have I done to you to deserve this—my god—Ophelia, do you know what you’ve done —”

“Calm down,” O sighs, rolling her eyes. “I’m glad to hear he made it safely.”

“Oh, he made it safely all right,” Marley shouts back quietly somehow.

“He’s currently telling my mother all the grand football-playing plans he has for the future as she freaking bats her eyelashes at him!

” The level of her voice rises before dropping suddenly again.

“I am in the pantry right now, Ophelia, the pantry .” Some bottles clink together before she grumbles out.

“Oh, and I’m pretty sure all my other sisters are making a sister wives schedule to go along with my cousin fucking! ”

“Wow,” O blows out slowly before cutting to the chase in a no bullshit voice. “You really must like him to be this deep in the spiral.”

“I—”

Marley’s voice dies out suddenly, and O’s eyes narrow, the gray in them starting to swirl. “What’s that?” she pushes. “Are you finally going to fess up to avoiding me instead of telling me what happened?”

“O.” Marley’s breath echoes over the phone with her name. “I didn’t want to trash talk your brother to you, but I didn’t know what to say either. I still don’t.”

I watch her nose wrinkle with a confused look. “Why?”

“Because I don’t know. I didn’t know if you’d be mad and—” She pauses before taking a deep breath and exhaling. “It’s just—it’s complicated and I’m mad, I guess.”

“Good,” O snorts, propping her hip up on the counter. “You should be. He messed up.”

Marley scoffs a frustrated noise. “Then why is he here?”

“Because my brother is a good guy and deserves the chance to explain himself even if you don’t give him a shot after it,” she tosses back matter-of-factly. “Both of which are things that you already know, so why am I having to explain them?”

“O—”

“Just because he checks all of the boxes doesn’t make him the enemy, Marley.” Her eyes drift to me, little specks of gray stilling. “You remember that advice you gave me at the beginning of the year about Achilles’ heels?”

“Fuck.” Marley’s voice quickly picks back up to the whisper shout. “Don’t toss that in my face! It is not the same thing, Ophelia. It’s not . You have no idea what you’ve done. I just need to get him out of—”

“Have a good Christmas, Marley,” O calls out cheerily, lifting her hand to the phone. “Take your own advice.”

She ends the call just as Marley full-on screeches, “Ophel—”

“Hmm.” She glances at me with a little hum. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s up to them now.” I dip my hand into the tub before flicking some water her way, the drops still falling from her body mesmerizing me. “And I think that you should come here and find out what I’m going to do about it.”

“Do you?” she sighs, turning to give me a full view of her front while reaching her hands high into the air. “I guess you could.” Her nipples perk up, breasts high, making my hips lift in the water a little involuntarily, honestly. “If you can catch me.”

She drops her hands with a giggle bursting out, darting from the room on her tiptoes and leaving me narrowing my eyes at her.

Giving her until she passes over the threshold of the bathroom before standing and getting out of the tub myself.

Heart thudding fast in my chest with the need to chase and lips lifting at the game.

I get my way in the other one we’re playing the next day too.

Giving everyone a lame excuse to run out and drop the next note in the mail for her before distracting Bobby a few days later so she can pick up the reply. Not at all expecting the stack of papers she somehow materializes from underneath her coat upon returning home.

But I guess I should have—our trains were made the same, you see, and she saw it before anyone even knew what they were looking at.

Figuring it out just like I said.

Heartbeats too late, unfortunately.