Page 25 of My Favorite Sin

Leaving him and Amabella alone, I head out back to the pool, slumping onto a sun lounger with my eyes closed and listening to the ocean while contemplating how best to approach this teaching thing with Ally. We’ll start with getting her a friend. Make it a guy too. That will give her practice talking to the opposite sex. The thought of helping Ally meet a guy who is intended for friendship only is a whole lot easier for me to stomach than helping her find a date.

I run through a mental list of who could be a good friend for Ally. The selection of guys I know isn’t appealing. The majority only view women as opportunities for sex. The remaining guys are in committed relationships whose partner would be suspicious of their man getting friendly with a girl as beautiful as Ally.

One guy comes to mind.

I dial Theo Wilson’s number. He’s a couple years older than me and frequents poker games at The Scarlet Mirage. He’s friends with Felix and I’ve learned a lot about poker from him too. We have a few drinks every time we cross paths but rarely play together anymore since I know all his tricks.

Theo answers my call right away. “Blackwood, good to hear from you.”

“Hey, man, I’ve got a random question for you.”

“Hit me.”

“Your brother, Liam, the jazz musician, he’d be about twenty, right?”

I’ve met Liam a couple times in passing when his band has performed at The Scarlet Mirage. We’ve had a few casual conversations and he’s a friendly guy. Average in looks. Respects women and isn’t fucking everything in sight from what I can tell. Perhaps Ally and Liam can bond over music.

“Yeah, Liam is twenty-one. Why?”

“My… sister—” Fuck, that label never stops feeling dirty on my lips. I never stop liking it. “Ally is back from a year abroad. She’s looking to meet some new people and make friends. Do you think Liam would be interested in getting to know her? They’re both musicians. I thought it could be a good match.”

“I’ll text him about it now and get back to you.”

“All right, man. Good talking to you.”

No sooner than I end the call, Ally enters the pool area with a bowl of fruit and is wearing nothing but a white bikini. What the actual fuck. Is she trying to kill me? Or is she that adamant about us being friends and siblings that she has no care factor of me seeing her half-naked?

“You’re going for a swim right after a shower?”

“I skipped the shower,” she says. “Thought a cold swim would be more refreshing.”

Ally places the bowl on the sun lounger beside me and I get a glimpse of her from behind, of the fabric that barely covers her ass. My cock is more than aware of her body too. With the little amount of fabric covering Ally, I’m reminded of all the times I saw her naked. She’s thinner than I remember. Too thin, but I can picture what her body wouldlook like beneath the bikini. The perfect shape of her tits. Her smooth pussy. I can hear her breathy moans from the time she teased me by leaving the bathroom door open while showering, giving herself an orgasm with the showerhead.

Ally dives into the water, surfacing with her hair slicked back. She places her forearms on the pool ledge, resting her chin on the backs of her hands. “Do you mind passing me an apple?”

Not with the situation that’s going on in my pants. I toss her the apple instead, hoping she doesn’t clue onto my reason for staying seated. Luckily, she catches it.

“Why are you glaring at me?” she asks, biting into the flesh.

I only realize the harsh look on my face once she points it out. “You’re too thin. Did you even eat in Paris?”

She frowns. “I told you last night, Paris was rough. I was lonely and… the panic attacks were an issue. I guess I didn’t take care of myself as well as I could have but it wasn’t on purpose.”

“Fuck, Ally. I wish you would have—” I don’t let myself finish that sentence. It will be no use. What am I going to say, that I wish she would have reached out to me for help? Or that she should have let me be with her in Paris, which had been my plan all along when I applied to that scholarship for her. Speaking those words won’t achieve anything.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds. I got through the panic attacks like you taught me to.” There’s a quietness to her voice but I can hear the shame. I understand everything her words don’t say.

That night at the party when she was sixteen and I was able to calm her panic attack by holding her hands and telling her to focus on my eyes as I instructed her throughbreathing exercises. Afterward, giving her the Queen of Hearts card. Over the following years, Ally told me she always thinks back to that moment when needing to calm herself during a panic attack.

From the current shame in her eyes, it’s clear she still uses that intimate memory to calm herself. I realize I’m staring at her when she blushes and drops her gaze.

“Ally…”

“So, what’s my first lesson going to be?” She takes another bite from the apple.

My God, she’s infuriating how she avoids speaking about…us. We’renota thing of the past. I can see it so clearly in her eyes. She just doesn’t want to have feelings for me.

Before I can say anything more, I get a text from Theo.

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