Page 52 of My Brother's Bad Best Friend

Lizzie

He’s like a totally different person. I can feel the anger radiating off him in waves, almost palpable in my mouth. He parks the Jeep and stalks inside, forcing me to run to keep up.

He doesn’t say anything as we get into the apartment. He doesn’t need to. I know what he wants, I can see it in his eyes as he whirls on me. Truth is, I want it too, and that only confuses me more.

Jonas hurt my brother tonight, although my brother deserved it. Still, Jonas attacked him in front of everyone. I heard the things they were whispering about him, rumors, maybe some of them true, about how he’s violent and depraved and insane. Jonas the bastard, the killer and the thief. He owns a fancy dispensary now but he’ll always be from the streets.

That’s not the Jonas I see, even right now. I got a glimpse of that man out there in that backyard as he knocked my brother to the ground and growled in his face like an animal, but only a glimpse. He had my believing, just like he had everyone else believing.

That Jonas is gone now, though. Now it’s just the same Jonas I’ve been spending time with, trying to get to know, trying to understand.

All those whispers around me, I think those helped me figure him out better than anything else could have. All those people saying how evil he is, how bad he is, how he’s a dangerous person. If people said that about me over and over again, I think I’d start to believe it, too. Maybe that’s why Jonas thinks he’s a bad man.

I don’t think he’s bad, not really. What he did to Ezra he did because he had to. I heard what Ezra said. I was close enough to hear it all. Ezra’s selling drugs, he stole product from the shop to cover his debts, and he was dealing from the shop itself. Ezra screwed up and he deserved what he got.

It’s strange. I never thought I’d be more worried about Jonas than I am about my own brother, but here I am alone in the apartment with him, and afraid for his reputation. Stupid, but also amazing. I’m not even thinking about my own, and maybe, finally, I don’t care anymore.

Jonas steps toward me. “What you saw… what I did…”

“It had to be done,” I state firmly, meeting his eyes.

He looks so relieved it almost breaks my heart. “It did,” he agrees. “But it didn’t feel good.”

“I know it didn’t.”

He reaches out slowly and takes my hand. I let him lead me through the kitchen, away from my nest on the couch, and up the stairs. We go into his bedroom and shut the door. He locks it behind me as I get a look at his space, only my second glimpse.

It’s neat and orderly and almost perfectly balanced. Bed, desk, dresser, nightstand, all mid-century modern and clean white. The art is sparse and simple, and the only thing that’s a stain on the otherwise perfect appearance is the ashtray full of old joints and blunts, stubbed out and forgotten.

“Guess you haven’t been in a bed in a while,” he says softly.

I turn back to him and shrug. “It’s a comfortable couch.”

“Not that comfortable.” He steps toward me. “You know this is a mistake.”

“You keep saying that.”

“You need to keep hearing it.”

I bite my lip as he comes close enough to run a hand through my hair. He stops at the base of my skull and takes a grip, tilting my lips up toward him.

“I don’t want you to regret this,” he says softly, lips brushing against mine.

“I can’t. I won’t.”

“You will, sooner or later. If you let me inside, it’ll feel incredible until one day it won’t.”

“You’re not scaring me away.”

He smirks, almost relieved. “Good.” He presses his lips against mine and kisses me deep and hard.

I know what he’s trying to do. He’s playing a role, pretending to be the bad guy. He just beat up my brother and now he’s keeping that going, staying in character. He’s Jonas the bad boy, the heartbreaker, the drug dealer. But I don’t see that Jonas in here. Instead, I see Jonas the businessman, Jonas the clean and orderly, Jonas the friend and lover. He’s so much more than a combination of rumors and hearsay. He’s a person, flesh and blood, tattoos and clothes and beard and thick hair and gorgeous eyes and hands that know what they’re doing. He’s so much more, and it makes me want to be more, to become more.

His free hand slides down between my legs and unbuttons the fly on my jean shorts. He tugs them down over my hips and I do the same for him, pulling down his jeans, letting them drop onto the floor. He pulls me tight against him and I can feel his huge cock, hard and getting harder against my body as he kisses me. He releases my hair and squeezes my ass, moving me toward the bed.

I tumble down onto the comforter, Jonas not far behind. He smirks as he kisses my neck, hands on my body, tugging off my shirt and my bra, tossing my clothes onto the floor. I’m naked before I even realize what’s happening, his fingers sliding down my skin, caressing and kissing, his tongue inside my mouth as his fingers tease my wet pussy. I’m surprised at how soaked I am already but he doesn’t seem to skip a beat. He rolls the pad of his thumb against my clit before pressing two fingers inside my pussy, making me groan deep into his kiss.

He pulls back, smirking again, kissing my neck. “This is why you come back for more, isn’t it, little rose?”

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