Page 77 of Resist Me

I tried to ignore the deep reverberation of his laugh. Looking around his place, I found myself wanting to know more about his life. He’d proven to be a bit of a conundrum. He was definitely different than I expected, which just intrigued me more.

“How long have you had this place?” I asked.

“A couple of years. I was tired of being around people all the time.”

“Antisocial much?”

“A little.” He slipped an arm underneath me and pulled me close. I tried to protest, but I was starting to understand that it was pointless. Besides, his chest was warm and solid. When I laid my head on it, I could hear his heartbeat.

“You don’t work and I know housing is far from affordable here. You must have a rich dad.”

His fingers trailed down the bare skin of my back, making me shiver. “I have a dead dad who left me money.”

“Damn. Kinda wish mine was.”

“That’s a… weird thing to say.”

I grimaced. “Sorry. That was rude.”

“Yeah, but I think it’s one of the most genuine things I’ve heard you say, so… I guess there’s that.”

I ran my hand across his chest, then down his torso. His muscles flexed under my touch, reminding me just how strong he was. He picked me up earlier and it was stupidly hot that he could do that.

“What happened to him?” I hoped the question didn’t offend him.

He took a deep breath. “Both of my parents died in a car accident when I was seventeen.”

“Shit. I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need to be. I’m not really a grief guy.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that I’m not burdened by death. They lived good, happy lives. We were close as a family and I have a lot of great memories of them. Obviously, it’s hard sometimes, but I’ve decided that the best thing to do is live my life in a way they’d be proud of. I carry what’s left of them in this world.”

That was profound. I wondered if I could find a way to think of things that way. My mom was dead, so I could convince myself that I was somehow making her proud. Maybe she’d be just as disgusted by me as my dad, but I could pretend.

My dad was still around, spreading nothing but negativity in the world. I had this overwhelming fear that I’d turn out like him, but if I tried to be positive for a minute, maybe I could find the pieces of him that existed before James. I had his sense of humor. Once upon a time, he’d been outgoing and likable. He was an engineer, which was probably far outside of my capabilities, but I was moderately smart.

Thinking too much about it all made my head hurt. I’d rather hear about someone else’s life.

“What did your parents do for a living?”

I looked up to find Linc smiling. “They were music teachers. My mom was part of a Broadway orchestra before she had me. Shewanted to make sure she was around more than it would’ve allowed, so she started teaching at a university back home in Tennessee.”

“The music thing makes more sense now. What instruments can you play?”

He blew out a short raspberry. “Too many. Most of them I don’t enjoy. I can play the flute, clarinet, guitar, cello, I’m decent with a violin. Piano is what I like the most.”

“Why do you hide all these things about you? You’re ridiculously impressive.”

“I don’t hide anything about myself. I just don’t live my life for others and I don’t care about impressing them. Most of the people on the team are just casual friends. They don’t ask and I don’t tell.”

“We’re sort of opposites, you know. I’m an attention whore and you like to hole yourself up in your secret apartment to avoid people.”

He chuckled, leaning down to press his lips to my head. “There’s nothing wrong with telling people who you are. You do keep a lot of things to yourself, though.” He shifted as if uncomfortable. When I glanced at him, he looked hesitant. “I think I should tell you something.”

“Uh oh. You’re married, aren’t you?”

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