Page 65 of Corrupt Obsession

He squeezed her knee. “It’s okay, Vi.”

“No, it isn’t! Nothing about this is okay. It’s wrong and sinful, and we did it anyway! Mom and Dad woulddieif they knew!”

“We can’t make decisions based on how Mom and Dad will feel,” he said harshly. “We’re old enough to make our own choices and accept the consequences, whatever they are.”

“I-I’m not willing to accept the consequences for this,” she stammered as she tried to brush his hand off her leg. “I’m not going to be the reason our family breaks apart. I’ve made a lot of stupid decisions, but I can fix this.”

His grip tightened. “There’s nothing to fix. You and I are supposed to be together.”

“We will be! As siblings, as family, nothing more!” She smacked his hand. “You can’t touch me like this! It’s inappropriate!”

Her voice was rising. She was getting hysterical. Her emotions were a wild, feral thing clawing at her, making her lash out. She wanted this done, buried, over. Why was he arguing with her? Deep down, he knew this was the right thing to do, he just didn’t want it to endright now. But it would have at some point, most likely when he’d gotten his fill. This was a novel experience for him—a girl ending things. He was just being stubborn.

“Stop pushing me away,” he rapped out.

“I’m not pushing you away. I just don’t want you to touch me.”

“Yesterday I was licking your pussy, and today I can’t touch you?”

His vulgar language was as shocking as a slap. She felt the blood drain from her face. “Don’t talk to me like that.”

“You really think we can go back to acting like siblings after I’ve been inside you? After everything we’ve done?”

“Yes!”

He shot her a look filled with incredulous fury. “Didn’t the last few days mean anything to you?”

An invisible needle pierced her heart. Their day at the lake had been so special, almost dreamlike in its perfection. She would cherish that memory, especially since she knew they could never repeat it.

He squeezed her leg. “Vi.”

She swallowed hard. “The past few days have been nice, but?—”

“Nice?”

She flinched, partly because of his deafening shout and partly because, “You’re hurting me.”

He snatched his hand from her leg and ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t believe this.”

“Isn’t it bad enough that you have to give up football? That Tucker ended up in the hospital? How many signs do you need to convince you this isn’t meant to be? Didn’t you listen to Pastor Sonny’s message yesterday?”

“I heard it.”

“And?”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “That has nothing to do with us.”

Her mouth sagged. He was being deliberately obtuse. Pastor Sonny’s message was a warning of how a seemingly harmless transgression could cause so much destruction. She wasn’t willing to risk their family. Nothing was worth courting such an outcome. Couldn’t he see that?

Was this proof that regularly indulging in sin changed a person, so they cared only about satisfying their cravings, regardless of anyone else’s feelings? Was Jesse that far gone? Her resolve hardened. She vowed she would get them on the right path and that’s what she would do, regardless of his bullheadedness.

“I want our relationship to go back to what it was,” she said into the fraught silence.

“And if I don’t agree?”

“You don’t have a choice.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his head turn in her direction. He didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. His gaze, sharp as the tip of a knife, slid over her. When she was on the verge of begging him to look back at the road, he did so.

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