Page 68 of Slay Ride

His shoulders deflate a bit, and he pulls me even closer, wrapping his arms around me so that I can fully relax in his hold. “Tell me about him.”

The way Bennett holds me and wants to know more about my brother has undone some tight thing inside me. It uncoils and loosens until the knot in my throat dissolves.

“His name was Seth. He had blond hair and blue eyes, just like me, but his eyelashes were way fuller than mine.”

“Eyelashes, huh? I bet he got all the ladies.”

I chuckle against his neck. “Oh, the nurses loved him, that’s for sure. He couldn’t express himself with words or actions, but his eyes held so much life. It might sound crazy, but hecouldcommunicate. When I would play around his chair or place a toy into his hand or lap, there was joy. When Dad fell through the ceiling while trying to remodel the upstairs bathroom, there was concern. He spoke through his eyes.”

“How’d you deal with his loss?”

I take a deep breath and try to find the right words. Nothing seems to convey the anguish my family felt—and continues to feel—in my brother’s absence.

“I don’t think we ever really dealt with it,” I say. “Not in a healthy way, at least. Mom locked up his room and sold all of his medical equipment to recoup some of the costs. She and Dad kind of act like I never had a brother at all, which is hard for me because Idid.”

“I never knew you had a brother,” he says. “I don’t think Kindra knows, either. She’s said you’re an only child on several occasions.”

“It’s not something I tell many people.”

“Including your best friend?” His fingers land beneath my chin and raise my face so that I’m looking into his blue eyes. “Kitten, it seems I’m not the only one on an island.”

“Well, maybe I was partly wrong. Maybe islands aren’t so bad if you let people visit every now and again.”

“Is that all we’re doing?” he asks. “Just visiting? Because I’m not so sure anymore.”

His words register in my mind, but I don’t have time to respond as Bennett moves us to the other side of the hot tub. I spin in his arms and sit on the seat, facing him as he cages me between his biceps and hovers above me, his mouth so close to mine. I close my eyes, and he kisses me.

And this kiss is unlike any we’ve shared before.

The vulnerability transfers to the intimacy, and the kiss sparks something inside me. It’s wild, unbridled, and brimming with warm passion. It’s honey and peppermint. It’s devoid of familiar hatred and rife with something foreign.

It’s dangerous.

I push him away and gulp air. When he kisses me like that, so completely, I can’t breathe or think. He reduces me to a mindless blob of need.

“Bennett, what are you saying?” I ask.

He closes his eyes and presses his forehead to mine, but the words require more vulnerability than he can muster, it seems. Instead of angering me, his silence reassures me. Despite the consequences, we are very much on the same page.

“Me too,” I whisper.

Bennett groans and releases me so that he can drop down beside me. “We really can’t be anything, can we?” he asks as he stares at the drooping monstera blocking his view of the door.

“I don’t see how we could,” I whisper, and here come the tears again. I clamp down on the inside of my cheek to give myself another painful sensation to focus on so that I can forget about the way my chest aches.

“I hate keeping it a secret, but if that’s the only way, then?—”

“If I’m being honest, I don’t like keeping it a secret, either. What’s the point of having mind-blowing sex if you can’t brag about it to your girlfriends?”

Bennett smirks. “Mind-blowing, huh?”

“Don’t start.”

“Come on, kitten. A little praise never hurt anyone.”

“Your ego is the last thing that needs stroked.”

“Is my cock the first thing?”

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