Page 85 of Resist Me

He huffed. “Enough to get her through the year. What exactly is this about, West?”

Rubbing my brow with two fingers, I tried not to explode. “I know you’re trying to help her in some way, but I need her to get a job and make her own money. Someday, she’ll have to get her own place. What happens when she isn’t ready for it?”

“Then she comes home.”

“No. That’s not what’s good for her. If she wanted that, she wouldn’t have been so desperate to leave.”

His laugh made my stomach curdle. “She wants to be with you. That’s the only reason. I’m her father, West. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of. We all know that you can’t.”

The call ended, those last words still echoing in my head. Even when I was trying to help Willow, I was somehow the bad guy. If she wanted money from him, that was up to her, and it wasn’t my intention to condemn that. I hated that he tried to throw these material things at her so that she wouldn’t hate him. How could he not understand that the only thing either of us ever wanted was for him to be our dad again?

I went inside and bypassed my room, instead stopping in front of Willow’s door. When I knocked, she told me to come in. Her eyes widened when she saw me, but she didn’t ask. I dropped onto her bed, lying on my stomach as traitorous tears pooled in my eyes.

Willow took my hand, simply holding it while I let a few of the drops fall. She knew. There was only one thing that completely wrecked me like this. It dulled my shine and thrust me into a horrible state of self-awareness, which was why I sought out my sister or Kai in these instances. They were the only people who had ever loved me unconditionally and never made me question what I was worth to them. They were everything to me and right now, I’d never been more grateful that we were all under the same roof. It felt right. Even though I’d just been cut open and I’d left my insides on that patio, I was with Willow, and that made me feel whole.

Chapter 29

Lincoln

Lincoln:I’m here.

Willow:Door’s unlocked. I’m almost ready.

Lincoln:I’m good out here.

Willow:Don’t be a pussy. He’s still sleeping.

Shaking my head, I got off the bike. I had every reason to believe this was a ploy, but when she asked me for a ride to an interview, how could I say no? Willow automatically felt like a little sister to me and considering Kai was the only one with a car, I decided it couldn’t hurt to help her out.

Well, it could hurt.

When I walked through the door, I held my breath. Thankfully, it was quiet and empty. The shower was going, so apparently, ‘almost ready’ meant not at all ready. I saw that there was a pot of coffee made, so I took it upon myself to find a mug and used some of West’s white chocolate creamer. It was sickly sweet, but the sugar did wonders for the sad bitch inside of me.

Leaning against the counter, I started humming to pass the time. I’d heard that women took long showers, but I didn’t really have aframe of reference aside from my mom and grandma. I hadn’t paid attention to their showering habits because I wasn’t weird like that. Suffice it to say that the rumors were true. If I’d known, I would’ve driven around the block a few times to entertain myself.

I heard a door open and since the shower was still running, I prayed to god that it was Kai. I must’ve prayed to the wrong one because West stumbled sleepily into the kitchen.

Fuck. Why’d he look that adorable when he woke up?

He stopped when he saw me, his brow furrowing. “Is this a dream?”

“Depends. Do you dream about me?”

“If I did, you’d be less decent.”

“Hm.” Taking a drink of my coffee, I allowed myself to admire his bare torso. With all those powerful muscles, I wanted to know exactly how he’d handle me if I let him fuck me. “Before you ask, I’m here to take Willow to an interview.”

He pushed his lips out, which made him look like a duck. “I’ll just pretend you’re here for me.”

“But I’m not.”

“You can’t stop me.”

I groaned and turned around to pour myself another cup. Suddenly, West was behind me with his chest pressed against my back. His hands came down on the counters so that I was boxed in. When he dropped his lips to the side of my neck, I couldn’t stop myself from tilting my head to give him access.

“You haven’t texted me back in almost a week,” he said before biting down on my neck.

“You’re supposed to be figuring things out. On your own.”

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