Page 119 of Pretty Little Lies

It’s no secret to myself that, even though I’ve kept this man at arm’s length, I’m drawn to him in a different way than I am Reeve.

While my surfer boy is easy to get along with, Torin is my challenge. Nothing with him comes easy. He pushes when I pull. There’s nothing that Torin allows to make me feel comfortable. He’s always shoving the bar and keeping me on my feet.

It’s like training for a fight with him. I never know when he’s going to throw a punch to which I’d have to dodge out of the way.

“Why is it that every time you’re around, you look more fuckin’ edible than the last?”

I blush.

Blush.

Cheeks flaming red, and Torin notices without a doubt as a cocky smirk coils at his perfect set of lips.

“What was it that you were saying?” he asks.

“I said behave,” I chide lightly, hating my body for never being able to chill the hell out when he’s around. “Your daddy is in the other room.”

Torin’s face lifts as if what I’m saying is stupid because we’re not children who can get grounded for groping each other in the foyer. “No,yourdaddy is in the other room. Mine’s dead.”

My face immediately falls. “Torin…”

“Yeah?”

“When…” I suddenly feel nervous for asking, because we just don’t talk about things besides fucking, staying out of The Landings, and his dick. “When did he die?”

“When I was six. Emilio killed him.” The oxygen in my lungs flees my body at the same time my gut twists. A small gasp leaves my lips, and Torin gives me a small smile. “He was abusive. Hit my mom a lot. There’s no loss there.”

One of the dogs nudges my thigh with its nose, but I don’t steer my focus from Torin. Losing my dad would be devastating for me, but it doesn’t sound like Torin’s father was present and, if he was, not a good role model for such a young kid.

“Are you sure?”

Torin pulls me tighter into his chest. “Positive.”

“How do you know?”

“How do I know what?”

“That he was a bad man. You remember him?”

He shakes his head. “No, my brother told me.”

I nod. “Ramsey.”

“Lennox.”

My face lifts. “Who?”

Torin stares down at me. His expression is void of any emotion as if he’s explaining physics or how lightning is formed. “Myotherbrother. He’s dead, so—” My arms wrap around Torin’s waist as I place the side of my face along his chest in a hug.

I don’t want to hear anymore, but it’s the reality.

I know Torin is a grade-A asshole, but I’d never wishthisfor him. First his father than his brother…I’m praying to God that Emilio didn’t off him too for not eating his Spagetti-O’s.

Torin returns my hug with one of his own, resting his face into the nest of my hair as he lightly squeezes me to his body. “That’s why I’ve been tryin’ to tell you to stay away from Emilio, Wildfire. Rival gangs are no joke. My brother died at the hands ofhisenemies to get back at him. My stepfather has no bounds. There’s no limit to what he would do. And, in turn, you would become collateral damage.”

“What about you?” I mutter into his chest, feeling my eyes burn in empathy for him. That he’d suffer at such a young age over the loss of his family. “Have you—” The crook of Torin’s finger tucks under my chin as he pulls my face up to look at him.

“I can’t hear you,” he croons, immediately noticing my eyes swelling up with tears. “And don’t cry for me. It is what it is.”

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