Page 12 of Don't Look Away

“It’s better than us getting pulled into this shit, too.” Jackson looks at me. “What do you say, Roman?”

For some reason, my heart is pounding against my ribs. The idea of letting Lux go, of walking away from this, fills me with panic. Lux has gotten in my head.

Lucas starts laughing, loudly, tipping back in his chair, just fucking cracking up.

“What’s so damn funny?” his twin asks.

“Dude is losing it,” Jackson adds dismissively.

“He’s falling for her,” Lucas says between gasps, holding his stomach. “Oh, my God. How did we not see this coming?”

I scowl at him. “Shut the fuck up. You don’t know shit.”

“Nah, man, think about it,” Lucas says, sobering just enough to make his point. “He won’t take the final step and talk to her. Why? Because he’s fuckingafraid.”

“Lux could destroy me,” I say defensively.

Lucas shakes his head. “You’re afraid she’s going to run. You’re afraid she’s going to hate you.” He laughs again like this is the most amusing thing ever.Asshole.“She’s got you in a chokehold, Roman.”

The other two scrutinize me with horrified looks on their faces like they’re looking at me for signs of disease.

“Dude, how good is that pussy?” Christian asks.

Jackson stares at me. “That bitch has got some dark witchy siren shit going on, man. If you’re falling for her—”

“I’mnotfalling for her,” I yell before he can finish. “She’s our last shot. That’s it. That’s all she is to me—a means to an end.”

They don’t need to know that my heart speeds up in her presence, or that my cock swells at the merethoughtof her. They don’t need to know that I crave her smell, or the sound of her breathless moans when she comes.

I have my feelings for her under control. I mean, mostly. I can walk away from her at any time. Do I want to? No. But I could if I had to, and that’s the point.

Even I know that’s a fucking lie, but I cling to it because I have to. I have to believe I can walk away, otherwise, I’m falling into the trap my brother warned me about.

Once you get a taste of her, trust me, brother, you’ll always want her.

“So what do we do?” Christian asks, breaking my train of thought.

I shrug one shoulder. “I guess I just stay the course. What other choice do we have? I still have one week to convince her…”

CHAPTERFOUR

Lux

I’m in my underwear,tearing through boxes, looking for my favorite shirt when there’s a light knock on the door. I know it’s not Roman, because he’d just barge right in, and I know it can’t be any of the guys. They’re barbarians, and they’d practically beat the door down if it was one of them knocking.

“Yeah?” I call out, elbow-deep in a box full of my random clothes. Whoever packed these boxes did a shit job. The boxes all have handwritten labels, but inside, there’s no organization whatsoever. Lotion and toiletries were tossed into the same box as socks and sweaters. It’s maddening.

The door opens slowly, and when I turn, Wyn is in the doorway, peeking in through the cracked door. “Hey, girl. I saw Roman downstairs, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to check on you.”

“Come in,” I say. I don’t find my shirt, but I find a plain blue baby-t that will work, and I shrug it on. “Sorry, I’m just looking for something to wear.” I find a pair of my gray sweats, too, and pull those on.

“Yeah, no worries.” She steps deeper into the room. “Did you hear the news about Tyler?”

I suck in a sharp breath. “Um, yeah. Roman told me. Crazy.”

It’s probably a weird response, but whatever. I just lost my best friend. Maybe she’ll chalk my reaction up to that.

“Yeah, it is.” She sits down in the armchair by the fire, watching me. “You doing okay? Everyone is really worried about you.”

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