Page 77 of Sass

“Chris?” A sleepy voice came over my shoulder and I turned in time to catch a half-naked, hair-mussed, gorgeous Leon emerging from the hallway. “Problem?” He threw a glance over my shoulder at George, who was busy swallowing his tongue and, by the looks of it, most of the rest of his body if the colour in his cheeks and wide-eyed disbelief were anything to go by.

“No, babe.” I ignored the quirk in Leon’s lips at my endearment. “Just family stuff. Nothing I can’t handle.”

His expression instantly cooled and he gave George another, longer once-over before joining me at the door and casually slipping an arm around my waist. I could’ve kissed him. And so I did, just on the cheek but worth it to hear my brother’s soft gasp.

“Do you need me to deal with this, sweetheart?” Leon asked softly, and I almost laughed. The man caught on fast.

“Nah, I’ve got it.” I turned back to find George staring at Leon’s impressively inked chest with undisguised astonishment. “George, this is myboyfriend, Leon.” I almost jumped as Leon lightly pinched my arse, the fucker.

I was expecting shock, but my brother surprised me by proffering his hand and croaking, “Nice to meet you... Leon.”

Leon stared at his hand for a few seconds, then gave it a quick shake. “Yeah, well, wish I could say the same.”

My brother’s face turned a dark crimson but all he did was nod. I slipped my hand into Leon’s and squeezed it in thanks, remembering his words from the night before that I’d dismissed so loftily as a trite nothing.“I’ve got your back, baby.”I took it all back.

“Can I maybe come in?” George’s gaze flicked nervously between us.

“No,” I snapped. Then I sighed and stood back and waved him past. “Fine. Whatever. Just keep it short. We’re... busy.” I threw a deliberately sultry look Leon’s way and he caught it mid-air and bent to kiss me. The man was so getting laid senseless the minute my brother was gone.

I closed the door and faced my brother. “Is this about James again? Because I’ve said all I’m going to on the subject.”

George flicked Leon a wary glance.

“You can talk in front of Leon. He knowseverything.”

George turned a deeper shade of red than I thought possible and glanced between us again. “Yes. He’s, um—the doctors say he’s on his way out. A month or so, maybe. He’s on oxygen and a lot of pain relief, and he’s got nurses coming twice a day for his meds and home help. Mum visits when she can, but James wants to stay home as long as possible.”

I blinked. “That happened fast.”

He winced. “Yeah. Caught us all by surprise. I just wanted to let you know in case you...” He trailed off.

“In case I changed my mind?” I finished tartly.

George nodded. “I know you said you didn’t want to see him, but I wanted to let you know, just in case.” He hesitated. “He’s, um... still at home, although I don’t know for how long.”

“Didtheysend you?” I asked in a bitter tone, and Leon tugged me closer, slipping an arm around my shoulders.

George looked between us, but I couldn’t read his expression. “No. Mum and Dad don’t know. I guess I, um... well, I wanted to see you again.”

Huh.I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to hate him. I wanted to sneer and shove him out the door and tell him to fuck off. I wanted to tell him that I didn’t need any of them, and I especially didn’t need him. I didn’t need his platitudes, or his blushes, or his so-called consideration. I wanted to tell him that I didn’t miss his laughs or his hugs or his joking around. That I didn’t miss my only brother like a black pit of aching grief in my heart that I’d been carrying around for ten years.

But there was an earnestness in his eyes that kept the cork in that bottle of sour contempt bubbling in my chest. “Yeah, well, I suppose I should thank you for that, at least,” I managed and tried to ignore the immediate relief in George’s eyes.

“Right, well, I’ll leave you to it.” He reached for the door handle, then turned back. “Look, I’m sorry, Christopher. I hate what happened to us and I wish I could go back and do it differently. We were so young, for fuck’s sake. What was I supposed to do? They’re our parents—”

“And I was your fucking brother, George. Yourlittlebrother. And we haven’t been young for a long time now. Long enough for you to have come to me if you really wanted to talk.”

He stared at me, his jaw working like he had a million things on the tip of his tongue, but in the end all he did was nod and say, “I know. But I’m still sorry.” And then he left.

The minute he was gone, Leon pulled me into his arms. Trembling turned to tears, and tears to fists on Leon’s chest. I wriggled and complained, but he refused to let me go until I’d calmed enough to stop sucking in stuttering gulps of air. Then he pushed me back and brushed my hair from my face. “Boyfriend, huh?” He smiled down at me. “That’s twice in two days. You wanna be careful or you’ll be throwing the word around willy-nilly like you might even like the sound of it.”

I rolled my eyes. “Shut up. And get your sweet arse in that bedroom. You’ve earned yourself a treat.”

But he didn’t move. Instead, he took my hands in his and waited until I met his gaze. “Do you want to talk about what just happened?”

The bitch of it was, I did. And since when was that ever a fucking thing with me? Since never. “Not now, please.” I traced his mouth with my fingertip. “Now, I just want you to make me fly for a bit. Can you do that?”

He lowered his lips to mine and slipped his tongue between them, sending my legs to jelly, kissing me like it was the most important thing he had to do that day. “Yeah, I can do that.” He smiled down at me. “And then after breakfast, how about we take a ride on the Harley and blow those cobwebs from both our brains? I brought the spare helmet, just in case.”

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