Page 123 of Demise

He trails off, closing his eyes with a disgusted sneer before he looks at me again.

“I’m gonna kill him, Wes.”

I nod. “I know—”

“No,” Ronan says, a dark lilt to his words as he speaks. “I mean it. We can’t live under him forever. I’m going to kill him or die fucking trying.”

I clap my hand on his shoulder, nodding in solidarity.

“I’m with you, brother. Until the very end.”

He nods, his rigid stance shaking a little. I’m not sure if it’s from anger, fear of what’s to come, or something in between. I pull him into me. Wrapping my arms around him as I pat his back encouragingly. He tenses, and I wait for him to relax, but he doesn’t.

Frowning, I pull away as I look at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“What?” he asks nonchalantly.

I lift a brow and wait for him to explain before I shake my head.

“Am I not allowed to hug you? Comfort you?”

Ronan tries to brush it off, pocketing his hands into his pants.

“I’m not in the mood for your kind of ‘comforting,’ Wes.”

I screw my face up at that.

“What the fuck? You think I was making a move on you?”

“When aren’t you? Anytime I’m at the house, you’re watching me. When we’re with my girlfriend—”

“Our girlfriend,” I correct.

“You’re always approaching me, initiating things with me,” he continues.

“I’m sorry, I’ve yet to hear a complaint,” I fire back. “In fact, all I hear fall from your lips are moans when I’m ‘initiating.’”

Something flashes in Ronan’s eyes as he shakes his head.

“Things are getting too intense, I don’t want to lead you on. It’s best if we stop fucking around together. Just focus on Skyla,” he says.

I tilt my head to the side curiously, taking a step towards him. Surprisingly, he takes a quick step back. Then another and another until I have him pinned against the wall. He’s not a coward, he doesn’t back down from anything, yet he seems hell bent on running far and wide from me right now. Interesting.

Slowly, I rest my hand on his hip, taking note of the way his breath slightly catches as I slip it beneath his shirt, dragging my fingers against his rippled abs until I reach his throat. I grip it tightly, keeping him in place as I keep my mouth just inches from his.

“I think things are getting too intense foryou. I’ve never been led on, never expected anything. Ro, you’ve used me as your dirty little secret cock sucker for years and I haven’t minded. Fuck, you cheated on Madi with me…often,” I say, knowing that will strike a nerve.

He pushes against me, but I bring my other hand up, pinning his shoulder in place.

“Don’t,” he says. “Just…don’t.”

“No, you don’t,” I say. “I’ve always known the score. I’ve always been a lot more easy going about sexuality than you, and hey, nothing wrong with that. Don’t act like I’m some kind of degenerate that is hopelessly in love with you, seducing you at every turn,” I say, squeezing his throat a little harder with that.

He grits his teeth together, his voice coming out strained.

“What about right now? Are you telling me you aren’t seducing me?”

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