Page 74 of Never You

I wake up feeling light as a feather, with a calmness inside me that wasn’t there before. Rae’s naked body is plastered against my chest, the swell of her ass pressing against my morning wood, and I let out a small grunt.

I graze my nose against her neck, breathing her in. She smells sweet like honey, with a hint of sweat etching through.

“Good morning,” I murmur, pressing my mouth against her skin.

She hums something, keeping her eyes closed, and my hand wanders over her stomach, stroking the soft skin, having every intention of waking her up with my tongue between her thighs. Softly, I start kissing her neck. She slowly begins to stir awake, when my phone starts to buzz on the nightstand.

I groan in annoyance and reach out to grab it.

“What?” I rumble.

“What is this? The animal shelter? Sorry, I couldn’t hear you over all the barking. I think I have the wrong number becauseI’m looking for my brother. Not a damn beagle,” my sister’s sassy voice says.

“A beagle? You know damn well I’d be a fucking pitbull if I were a dog.”

“One,” she starts, “you are a dog—most of the time. Two, you might bark like a bulldog, but you’d be a cute little chihuahua with a tutu. More bark than bite.”

“If I’m a chihuahua, you’re one of those damn pugs. You know, with the flat faces?”

“I hate you. I’m uninviting you to my birthday.”

“That's not for another month.”

“I know.”

“Good morning, Della,” I drawl, glancing at Rae, who’s looking at me with a lazy glaze in her gorgeous brown eyes. Her blonde hair is spread out over the pillow while her naked body is covered with the white sheets, the first rays of sunshine lighting up her bright eyes.

She looks like a goddess.

“Good morning, big brother. How have you been? You almost gave our mother a heart attack last night.”

“You mean it didn’t work?” I joke.

“Nope. She’s still alive and kicking. I was silently applauding you, though.”

My lips curl. “Thanks, sis. I’m just going to avoid her until I get to New York.”

“And then what? You’re gonna do as she says and fix it all?”

I push out the air in my lungs, running my fingers through Rae’s messy hair.

“Yeah, I guess.”

Staring at the gorgeous blonde makes it extremely difficult to see that happen, though.

“Which is what? Your loveless relationship? You don’t really want to get back together with Emily, right? I don’t like her.”

“I thought you got along with her just fine? You go shopping with her.”

“Because mom makes me,” she screeches incredulously, “but she’s boring. She only talks about how many followers she has or how much money everyone has.”

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose, just thinking of Emily. When we started dating, she was fun. She was hot. She was also busy most of the time, so even though we were dating, I still did whatever the fuck I wanted. It wasn’t until we became official, and she started hanging out with my mother on a regular basis, that I realized I was in deep shit.

Suddenly, she was invited to family events, spending Christmas with us on the East coast, and before I knew it, she silently moved herself into my condo. It wasn’t until Bodi made me realize I never really had a decent conversation with her that wasn’t about fashion, who fucked who, or whatever new designer bag she wanted next, that I knew it wasn’t going to work out. I’m a simple guy, but I still look for a bit more than that in a relationship.

“I know. It’s just—”

“It’s just you agreed to stay together until dad is elected?” Della interrupts.

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