Page 31 of My Favorite Sin

Chelsea’s hand slides to my inner thigh beneath the table. I push it away, but she gets the wrong idea and thinks I’m trying to hold her hand and weaves our fingers. She’s got some kink for brothers? I’m going to kill Felix the next time I see him.

I break free from her grip by waving the waitress over. “I assume we’re all ready to order?” I ask the group.

Ally and Liam give me a quick yes before returning to their conversation about coins. I shove my fists into my pockets to avoid any more hand holding. Something pointed grazes against my right hand, and it takes me less than a second to realize what it is—a corner of the deck of cards I’ve started carrying around again. The neon cards Ally bought me. I pull them out and start shuffling, needing to calm down.

“How many of the coins do you have?” Ally asks Liam. Her gaze flicks to my shuffling, not seeming the least bit fazed until she recognizes the neon cards.

Her smile drops and she’s staring at them, in a world of her own while Liam answers her question, perhaps remembering everything the cards symbolize between us. Ally glares at me, as if I pulled the cards out on purpose to sabotage her date, then returns her focus to Liam.

“The coins are expensive, so I’ve been prioritizing thejazz composers,” Liam says. “I have all of them except George Gershwin.”

“Oh, I have him!” Ally gasps. “It took me five years to track him down and ten thousand dollars. It was an eighteenth birthday present from my parents.”

“You’re serious? There are only ten of George Gershwin in the world. Youhaveto show me sometime.”

“Yeah, of course I will.”

“Wait, so you were collecting these coins when you were thirteen?”

She gives a shy smile and chews on her bottom lip. “Yeah, weird, huh?”

Liam smiles right back at her. “Definitely weird, but I like it.”

Oh, fuck off. I’ve never seen anyone geek out over this stuff as much as Ally. I picked well for her when thinking of Liam. Perhaps a little too well. But there’s no way I’ll stand back and let him take her from me.

The waitress steps up to the table and asks for our order. As Liam lists off the items he’d like, Ally looks at Chelsea, at the sheer bra she’s wearing, and scowls. I said I’d give Chelsea my jacket but never did. I shrug out of my jacket and drape it across Chelsea’s shoulders.

“Thanks, handsome.” Chelsea kisses me on the cheek.

Ally groans, and when I look back at her, she’s throwing daggers at me with her eyes. The anger in her expression pleases me. Perhaps I’m not the only one of us who feels possessive.

I try not to smirk, but seeing Ally like this is fucking hot, igniting so much anger in her, all from offering another girl my jacket. She’s told me before she doesn’t like seeing me with other girls—it was the first time Iwalked in on Ally touching herself, and I asked what she thinks about to get turned on.

“You, fucking me. Only me. You want me and no one else. No other girl turns you on.”

I wipe a hand over my mouth, covering the smirk I worked hard to keep at bay. My sweet little stepsister was the jealous type before Paris. Apparently, not much has changed. She’s trying real hard to move on from me, but my queen is still in there.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

ALLY

“Can I come back to your place?” Chelsea asks Dan as the four of us exit the restaurant, stepping out to the cool night.

Traffic is dense. There are many people on the sidewalk, but it all blurs out of existence as I fixate on Chelsea’s question. She’s been looking at Dan all night like she can’t wait to sink her claws into him. I don’t know what kind of sex Dan is into but given the nature of Chelsea’s outfit and that Dan asked a woman like her to be his date, he’s probably into BDSM. It wouldn’t surprise me, given the dynamic we used to have. Each time I got naked for him, he took a more dominant role, instructing me on what to do with my body. I enjoyed submitting to him.

Those moments felt so uniquely us. I can’t imagine doing the same thing with anyone else and it makes me sick to think that Dan would. Somehow, I have to try and act like none of this bothers me.

“Rain check,” Dan tells her. “Ally is staying at my place tonight.”

My gaze whips to Dan. We never discussed me stayingat his apartment. He knows there’s a car service waiting at his place to drive me back to The Hamptons tonight.

“Too bad.” Chelsea pretends to pout, her voice all sex. “We’ll arrange something for another night.” She pecks Dan’s cheek and heads for the subway without saying goodbye to me or Liam.

“Kind of rude,” Liam mutters to me, watching her leave. We look at each other and laugh a little. Though my laugh is forced.

“You ready to go home?” Dan asks me.

“To your place?” I clarify.

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