Page 59 of Never You

Part of me has been flirting with the thought of breaking free. I’m a grown ass man. And my parents shouldn’t be able to dictate what I do or don’t. But Della makes me endure it all. She’s only seventeen. I can live being disowned and going completely rogue. I’m dying to. But if I take charge ofmyfuture,I don’t know what they will do to Della’s. I have my suspicions and I love my sister too much to find out.

She’s in high school, for crying out loud.

When the elevator doors open, my heart stops as my eyes land on the pretty girl that kept me up last night. She’s wearing jeans and a hoodie, swaying around on her sneakers to a country song in the foyer with a foam cup in her hands. Her blonde hair shines bright from the morning sun coming through the windows, like her personal spotlight.

She looks stunning.

“Oh, let me guess. It’s Goldilocks that’s been keeping you awake, is it?” Bodi snickers as we walk toward our third traveler.

“Shut up,” I snap, right before Rae’s brown eyes lock with mine.

They glitter like gold, her smile reserved as if she’s back to professional Rae, and I clench my jaw in response. I’ve been enjoying a relaxed, happy Rae, and I’m not ready to see her go just yet.

“Good morning, Goldilocks.” Bodi holds up his hands, shooting her a friendly smile when he notices her discomfort. Before she can reply, his phone rings, and he mutters something to excuse himself.

“Good morning,” I say, taking a step closer to her when Bodi walks away. I want to fold my arms around her and take in the sweet scent of her shampoo.

But instead, I shoot her a coy smile.

“Morning.” She looks at me in anticipation, holding her cup in front of her lips as if she’s hiding from me, though I can see a ghost of a smile lingering under the surface and relief twists inside me.

“You okay?” she asks, taking a sip.

A whim of cinnamon and honey enters my nose, a scent that is the exact sum of how I look at her. The perfect mix between spice and sweet, filled with sass.

“Yeah. Are you?”

“I’m good.”

“What are you drinking?” I ask, curious.

“Ginger tea with pumpkin spice.”

Quirking up my eyebrows, my lips curl. “Tea with pumpkin spice?”

“Do you want a taste?” She doesn’t mean to flirt with me, but the question has me glancing at her lips nonetheless, desperately to know if they taste like cinnamon too. “They don’t sell it everywhere. I had to go and ask the chef if he had pumpkin spice.”

“Bet he didn’t mind giving into your request.” I smirk.

She shrugs with a straight face. “He wanted a kiss in return.”

“A kiss?” My jaw ticks. My eyes blink,I think.

“Oh yeah. He wanted a real one, you know? Tongue, hands in hair. The whole charade. I mean, I thought it was a little much for a bit of pumpkin spice, but I really like my tea with pumpkin spice, and he was kinda hot. Old, but hot.”

“Hot?” I parrot, my eyes narrowing.

“Yeah, like George Clooney hot? Anyway, I just went for it. We only live once, right? So I went like—” Her lips part, her eyes hooded as her tongue darts out, accompanied with a soft moan. “And then, he went like—” Her head twists, completely going for it as she kisses the air.

Pressing my tongue against my cheek, I watch her public display of affection for the sky as she reenacts her morning activities.

“Rae?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you fucking with me?”

She presses a hand to her mouth to stifle her giggles. When her hand falls back down, a smile from ear-to-ear sits on her face, her eyes mischievous.

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