Page 5 of Ruin

“I am, you’re…”

“Google it.”

“What? No.”

She sends me a link. “Click on it. It’s clean and they regulate everything.”

“This isn’t what I’m worried about. I told you, it’s fucking weird. I’m not going to sit next to you while we watch people fuck.”

“You know the ancient romans did this, right? They just watched people have sex and everyone was cool with it. But I had to be born here, so I guess I get to be boring.”

I laugh. “You’re comparing yourself to the romans now? You realize they also used urine like mouth wash and ate goat shit, right?”

“Whatever. No, they didn’t.”

I laugh. “They did, and they used gladiator blood like cough syrup. So… I’m not sure you should be taking advise from the romans.”

“Ruin, can I tell you something? Something real. Don’t get weird like you did earlier.”

Fucking hell. I don’t want to know anything else. Knowing things makes me want her more, without fail, every time.

“What’s up?” I groan.

“Look, I’m twenty-three tomorrow. Twenty-three and I haven’t even had sex yet. It’s embarrassing.”

My heart picks up its pace and I stagger in a breath, attempting to control my breathing. I’m glad she can’t see me right now. “That’s not a big deal.”

“Yeah, it is!”

Air won’t filter back into my lungs. “Honey, why do you want to do this so badly? Don’t you want your first time to be special?”

She laughs under her breath. “No, I don’t. I want to take control. I want to have fun. I want to do crazy things and have an adventure.”

I could give her an adventure. Calm the fuck down, man.

“I want to be wanted, Ruin.” She pauses and sighs. “I read online that virgins are like… a top commodity at this place.”

I clear my throat. “Why not try a dating site? You could hook up with a guy your age, go slow, get to know each other, and do it right.”

“I don’t want a guy my age. Guys my age are fucking assholes. They drag their feet, they don’t know what they want, and they talk like idiots. I want someone who’s already figured all this out.”

A wave of jealousy rolls over me. I don’t own Peach. I can’t own her. I know that. I know she’s not mine. That said, none of that reasoning stops the explosion rattling up through me.

To the world, she may not belong to me… but she’s mine.

I roll my neck in circles and glance up at the ceiling fan whirring above me. This is a horrid idea, but I can’t let her go alone. I couldn’t sit here knowing some filthy fuck had his hands all over my peach. “I’ll take you, but I’m coming inside, and I stay next to you the whole night.”

She swallows hard. “The whole night? You’re not weird about it? I thought you were?”

“I love you, and I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

I expect her to squeal with excitement, but instead she gets quiet. “I love you, too. This’ll be fun.”

“You don’t sound so sure anymore.”

“No, I am. I just… you’re so much more experienced than me. And, I don’t know, I hadn’t thought about how the women at that place will be all over you.”

“Is that a problem?” I don’t know why I like the jealousy in her tone, though I might be misreading it.

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