Page 86 of The Rowdy Ones

She steps closer to the sound of his voice and lifts her chin, cutting him off with her hissed words. “Consensual. Yes. It’s a private matter. Leave it at that. If you care about either of us, you won’t say anything.”

He blinks in shock and then cuts his eyes over to me. The hurt shining in them guts me. I’d thought with him sleeping with Talia, he would be over the whole being in love with me. Apparently, I was wrong.

“You were fine when you thought I was hooking up with Lila,” I say lamely, needing for him to understand.

“Because she didn’t matter!” he cries out, throwing his hands in the air. “Destiny matters. You fucking love her.”

Of course I do. She’s my sister.

“We didn’t have sex,” I tell him. What I don’t say out loud isyet. We didn’t have sexyet.

“It’s only a matter of time,” Wild rasps. “You know how fucked up this is? Mom was onto your shit. I had a feeling with the way you two have been acting, but I thought, no way. Not Rowdy. He’s a good guy, not a sister fucker. Wrong.”

I grit my teeth and pin him with a hard glare. “Keep your voice down.”

“Why?” Wild demands. “You want to keep this a dirty little secret?” Then, to Destiny, he says, “And what about you? You want to be your brother’s secret fuck? What happened with Weston?”

Releasing Destiny, I charge for Wild and grip onto the front of his hoodie. He stumbles as I force him back and into a dresser. Perfume bottles on top clatter and scatter.

“Watch the way you speak to her,” I snarl. “Treat her like trash again and I’ll fucking end you.”

He gawks at me in shock. “You’re serious right now. Do you see how delusional you’re being? What part of you sleeping with your sister do you thinkanyonewill be okay with?”

“It’s not their business.”

Destiny’s palm on my back sends calm radiating through me. “Rowdy…”

“Maybe not,” Wild bites back, “but it’ll get your ass thrown in jail. It’s called incest, asshole. I’m not a cop, yet, but I bet that shit is illegal.”

I release him and step back. “Then we’ll go back home. Away from civilization and rules. Right, Dez?”

She goes silent and I whip my head over to look at her. Her face is twisted into a frown. “Home? But what about the clinic and everything I’m learning?”

My chest aches.

We were too careless and now Wild knows. Is it over even before it began?

“Whatever,” Wild says, pushing past me. “Do what you want. You’ve made it clear I’ll never have my shot with you. That’s fucking fine. I’ll get over it. But I won’t sit and watch the two of you together. In fact, I’m sleeping here tonight with Talia. Fuck your sister in the RV where I don’t have to listen.”

“Wild,” I bark out. “Stop.”

He yanks his keys from his pocket and heaves them at the bed. “No. I’m already too drunk and too pissed to deal with this shit tonight. I’ll see you two dumb fucks later.”

This is bad.

Dammit.

Uncle Atticus is waiting for us when we get back. It’s as if he knows. I don’t think Wild would snitch on us, but he might have done something else to be spiteful. Like tell his dad he was sleeping over with Talia and that we’d be coming back with the truck. It’s not like I could have gotten away with sneaking her into the RV anyway.

“It’s late,” Uncle Atticus murmurs, motioning for the cabin. “Night, Rowdy.”

I don’t have to say anything to Destiny. She knows. I’m coming for her as soon as they all go to bed.

Why?

Because I can’t get enough of her.

My life is spiraling, just like all those years ago, and I can’t seem to stop it. Honestly, I don’t want to. I’ve never wanted anything more badly than Destiny. Who needs a job or a hobby? She’s everything all at once. I don’t care about other shit. Just her. Just my sweet Dez.