Page 24 of Off-Limits Mate

I can tell that this is a little less popular of an idea, because she freezes. “Jasper…”

“I’m going to talk to him, Amara. I want him to know about us.”

“But you guys are best friends.”

“And we’re adults. We can figure out how to work this out. I’m not going to just pretend this didn’t happen. I want more,” I say calmly.

Amara’s mine. I have no idea what that looks like. I have no idea what my future is going to be. Just that she’s going to be part of it. Come hell or high water, her brother’s opinion be damned. Amara’s mine.

I wake up before dawn to leave Amara’s bedroom.

I’m not exactly worried about Nolan finding out. I definitely don’t want him to walk in on his sister and me naked or anything, but I’m going to tell him soon, because I’m going to ask for his permission to date his sister. Nolan’s my best friend. He’s even-tempered; he’s got a good head on his shoulders. Once I tell him how I feel about her, how badly I want this with her, he’ll be a little mad, but he won’t freak out.

Yeah. I have to tell him.

I never thought of myself as a domestic guy. Not even once. I thought that since I had no fucking clue how to be in a family or operate with one, I would have no idea what to do. That it wasn’t for me. That I’d just fuck it up. But if it’s like this…

I can do this. Making Amara happy. Doing shit to keep the days rolling. Having crappy wine and breakfast and lunch and sitting on a porch with her, watching the sun set.

I’ve seen a lot of the world. Lots of sunrises, because I’ve been out after a late night. It never really was intentional, or something that I was particularly proud of. Usually, the fact that the sun was rising felt like an inconvenience. Like something that just got in the way of the party, the work, the evening that I wanted to keep going.

Sitting with Amara, though, I finally see it. The peace of a sunset, instead of the chaos of a sunrise. I want that peace.

Sitting back in my room, I watch the wall go from black to dove gray, to the bluish color that lets me know that the sun is fully up and shining onto Nolan’s silly Earthship, and then I get up. I’m going to make some fucking breakfast for Amara. And Nolan, I guess.

I’m about halfway through figuring out how to make a pancake—my phone set to a video that I can barely see—when I hear soft steps coming into the kitchen. It’s Amara.

“A video on how to make pancakes?”

“Absolutely. This is my first time.”

She sighs. “I feel like you’re going to learn a whole new career just by watching videos.”

“Maybe I will. Be pretty cool, huh?”

“If you say so.”

I laugh, leaning over to kiss her, then pull back. Nolan could be home at any moment.

The air between us feels charged, like there’s a little electricity there, but I look away before either of us can comment on it.

Amara settles into a kitchen chair. “Why pancakes?”

“Why do you think?”

She rolls her eyes. “I literally wouldn’t have asked if I knew the answer, smartass.”

I smile at her. “They’re your favorite. Of course.”

“Oh, of course?—”

“Since when do you cook, dude?”

Nolan’s voice makes us both freeze.

“Nolan,” Amara says, defrosting her smile slightly faster than I can. “You’re back.”

He walks into the kitchen, falling into a chair with a sigh.

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