Page 32 of Breaking the Sinner

Sophie frowned a little. “It’s part of the process, Gen. It’ll get easier. I promise.”

“Why haven’t you gone back?”

Sophie dragged her gaze up to meet Gen’s. There was pain there, confusion. A world that Gen understood without knowing the details. “It wasn’t the place for me. And you know, you can miss a place, even if you didn’t like living there. You can love a period of your life, even if it wasn’t great.” Sophie sniffed, and it was then that Gen realized there had been emotion clogging her voice. “Same goes for men, too.”

“Are you talking about Cobra now?”

Sophie sighed a little, maneuvering another bite of sushi into her mouth. She chewed quietly for a few moments. “You know, if you have an arrangement with him, that’s one thing. But you have to protect your heart. Making the time limit was smart, but he still has free rein to do whatever the hell he wants. And you don’t want his decisions coming back to bite you in the ass. Men will play the field as much as you’ll allow.”

The idea slithered through Gen’s veins, uncomfortable and icy. She had no say over what he did with his life. But what Sophie suggested seemed plain wrong.

Gen gripped a piece of sushi between thumb and forefinger. How did Sophie make it look so easy? “I don’t think he’d do that. Isn’t it an obvious thing? One person at a time.”

Sophie laughed so hard a piece of crab meat shot out of her mouth. “Dammit. I can’t keep this sushi in my mouth.”

“Don’t hold back,” Gen muttered, picking up a few pieces of rice from the carpet.

“Gen, this is why we need to talk about this stuff. Some men, from what I’ve heard, from what I’ve experienced myself, will lie to your face about loving you while they’re going behind your back fucking three other girls. Probably telling the same story to all of them. I know you and Cobra have…something else, but you should be clear and wary all the same.”

Gen nodded, staring at the green and smoked pink chunks inside the next roll. Sophie made sense. Sophie was wiser in this area.

“I already told him I make the rules,” Gen said, stabbing her fork into the center of a sushi piece.

“That’s not how you eat it,” Sophie said before deftly chop-sticking another California roll.

“Yeah, well, it’s how I eat it.” Gen scooped the sushi into her mouth, pieces of rice falling out along the way. “Because like I said, I make the rules.”

And she did. With Cobra, with sushi, with the whole dang thing. Sophie might be right to caution her, but only Gen could steer this ship. And she knew where to go from here.

Chapter 14

Cobra’s eyes burned, even though he had them shut. It was like the weed smoke had weaseled into his skull, scorching the sensitive fibers of his brain. No amount of eye drops helped. He’d been high every second since leaving work for the weekend.

Fuck it.He had some things he didn’t want to think about. Like why he wanted Gen to text him so bad. Of course she’d be the one person to listen to him when he told her not to get ahold of him. He’d known that. It was why he’d said it.

Like an asshole.

“I’m making some fucking brownies. You want any?” Klay yawned and scratched at his stomach as he stumbled from bedroom to kitchen. Klay’s brownies were the stuff of legend because he made weed butter so potent it could kill a deer.

“Nah, bro.” Cobra reached for his phone, flipping idly through the screens. Looking for something. Finding nothing. “Maybe later.”

Klay grunted. The sounds of pans and bowls clanking filled the small apartment. Cobra stared at his welcome screen. He wished he had a picture of her. Something to take the edge off. He’d been keeping his distance since Thursday, and now he wouldn’t even see her for another two days. The plan was backfiring.

There was an itch to see her, born bone-deep and aggressive. Like, no matter where he scratched, he couldn’t satisfy it. She was the only remedy.

His phone buzzed.

GEN: Hi Cobra! Wanna come to the library with me?

His mouth parted. This was some freaky shit. Like maybe he’d been thinking of her so much that it meant she could feel it. He typed out a response before he could run through the list of doubts and hedging.

COBRA: Yeah. Where?

Gen texted him an address and a time. She wanted to meet in a half hour. He pushed off the couch, headed for the bathroom. Fucking finally. Something to do. A place to go.Gen.

He’d forego a shower so he could make it on time. He pushed his short hair around with wet fingertips and stared at himself long enough to realize he was higher than shit. Gen was pure. He couldn’t see her like this. Not when his eyes were a roadmap to the capital of Blazedville.

Cobra fished out his phone, staring at their message thread for a few moments. His heart thudded, practically echoing in the quiet bathroom. He should cancel. Through the walls, he could hear Tyler groaning. Panting, like a fucking rhino in heat. Sounded a lot like jacking off.

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