Page 58 of Dirty Monsters

Probably.

Did I want to anyhow?

Fuck, yes.

But the truth was, she needed to move on to the Green House. She needed to get the hell out of rehab because, at the end of the day, she was my patient, and what we were doing was wrong. Even though not one bit of it felt wrong.

She needed to leave so she could finally move on and rid herself of me. Her well-being was more important than my lust. I had to tamper down those feelings wielding up inside me and remember it was all about her.

I was doing what was best for my sister when I couldn’t all those years ago. In a few days, she’d be moved to the Green House, and I would have to be okay with whatever happened next.

I still had her for the next couple of days, though, and I would make sure to make the most of them.

My phone vibrated angrily across the side table, and I ignored it. I knew who was calling. The same person who’d been calling me for days now, and I kept hitting ignore. Eventually, I’d have to answer, but it wasn’t today.

“You going to get that?” Wren sat up from the bed and glanced across my chest.

My eyes found hers, and I shook my head. “Nope.”

“Don’t you want to know who it is?” A frown marred her face, and she furrowed her eyebrows.

“It’s probably another telemarketing call. I get them all the time. They can talk to my voicemail.” I let the lie slip past my lips so easily it barely even registered with me.

She lay back down, hands entwined over her midsection. “You know this doesn’t have to end when I leave, right?”

“Yes, it does. We’re not good for each other, Wren. We’re fire and gasoline. We’ll blow this whole damnthingup before it even gets started. You said it yourself, we're monsters, and monsters don’t get happily ever afters.”

She nodded, but a pout grew across her face. I loved the way her lower lip puffed out and her eyes grew solemn. Like I’d taken away her favorite toy. In the past few weeks, I’d grown to like the many different faces of Wren. I saw so many more of them than I once did since we had let our guards down around one another. But still, my favorite was her feisty, angry face. At this point, I could admit it was hot.

I glanced over at the clock and noticed it was almost dinnertime, and the day had slipped away from us. If we stayed there much longer, they’d come searching for Wren, and I didn’t want her to get in trouble anymore.

I wanted to see her thrive.

I’d done my best to chase away the nightmares Kane left her with. I wanted to erase them from her mind, but I knew sometimes he still visited in the dead of night when the rest of the world was asleep.

I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to live in fear of closing your eyes. Afraid the monster who abused you would wreak havoc and come back to haunt you. It was the main reason I never told Wren about Kane still being a part of my life. There was no sense in bringing him into whatever we had together.

But I bet Kane would lose his shit if he knew I had found Wren, and we were together. I’d hid both of them from each other. Since Wren had been spending every waking minute with me, I hadn't bothered with Kane. Eventually, I’d have to answer the damn phone, but I was too much of a coward at the moment. I liked where things were, and I didn’t want him to ruin it.

“I should head upstairs,” Wren said as she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. My eyes roamed over the smooth lines of her naked back, and I couldn’t help my lingering touch as the desire to feel her smooth skin against my fingertips overwhelmed me.

She glanced back over her shoulder at me and gave me a smile. My fingers glided down her arm, trying to touch as much of her as I could and commit it to memory. I was still in shock at how much had changed, at how much I cared about the small things with Wren.

She must have noticed my gloomy demeanor because she turned to peer down at me. “What’s wrong?”

“Absolutely nothing,” I lied again. I couldn't tell her about the weird feeling bubbling in my chest every time I thought about her leaving me. It was something I hadn’t experienced before.

“Okay.” Standing up and bending over to grab her clothes, she accepted my answer. Because even if it was a lie, she knew it didn’t matter.

My eyes trailed along the curve of her hip, over her voluptuous backside, and down to where the light ceased to exist. One of my new favorite places. She grabbed her shirt before leaning down—tits in my face—to kiss me once more on the lips.

I watched as she covered her gorgeous body up in clothes before I stood from the bed and headed toward the door. I had to check to see if the coast was clear before she left. Her being down there in my room would be a dead giveaway at what we were up to, and we didn’t need that shit.

I poked my head out and scanned both ways before leaning back to face her—the coast was clear. I moved to the side and let her pass as her lips found my cheek one last time before she slipped away.

“I’ll see you later,” I whispered, and she gave me a quiet thumbs-up.

Leaning back on the door, I sighed loudly to myself. Almost hating to put up the façade once she left. I had to get back to hating her again.

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