Page 43 of Pucking Forbidden

“Oops,” she says, not sounding the least bit sorry.

I finish stripping, my dick bouncing against my stomach, before I turn to pull her clothes from her body. “Letting you put these back on was a tragedy, Sutton.”

“Wasn’t my favorite part of the night either,” she sighs, wrapping her arms around my shoulders as I lift her from the counter and then step into the oversized tub with her. Hot water splashes around us as I sink down, holding her on my lap. “I like this part, though.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I like the way you take care of me, Jordan. It’s sweet.”

I brush a kiss against her shoulder, running my hands up her back. “I don’t hate it, either,” I murmur. “Been waiting to do this shit for years, princess. Now that I can, I don’t want to stop.”

“Who says you have to stop? I certainly didn’t.” She smiles. “I like the way you spoil me.”

I sigh quietly, which has her reaching out to run a fingertip along my browline.

“What’s wrong?”

“You talked to your brother today,” I say, not sure where to start putting the thoughts in my head together.

“Yeah.” She grimaces. “It was the same old crap.”

“And now you want to reach out to Vanessa.”

Her shoulders bounce in a helpless shrug. “I feel bad.”

“Why? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

She bites her lip, glancing down at the water. “I believed him so much that I kept waiting for news to break that you two were together.”

“I never wanted Vanessa, Sutton.Never.”

“I know that now,” she whispers. “But at the time, I was so sure that had to be it. I never even considered the possibility that Jamison did something to her.” She flicks her gaze up to mine, her brown eyes fathomless and full of worry. “She walked out of my life, and I feel like I could have stopped it had I just considered any other possibility. I feel so guilty. And I guess I feel…responsible? I don’t know.”

I tip her head back, forcing her to lock eyes with me. “You aren’t responsible for what he did, Sutton.”

“Did he hit her?” she asks, her voice small.

“Not that I know of.”

“Cheat on her?”

I shake my head.

“Did…did he force himself on her?”

I hesitate, and she chokes on a gasp, her face falling as tears well in her eyes. “Oh God, he did, didn’t he?”

“He…” I mutter a curse, giving in to the inevitable. It’s beyond time to stop trying to protect her and let her make her own decisions. “He filmed them having sex without her consent and then showed the videos to the entire team. So no, he didn’t force himself on her. But I can’t say he didn’t victimize her, either.”

“He didn’t,” she whispers, a tear rolling down her cheek.

She isn’t asking me for confirmation or saying she doesn’t believe me, though. I see it in her eyes. She knows I’m telling her the truth, but part of her wants to reject that her brother could do something so fucked up to someone he was supposed to love. I think part of her desperately wants to protect the image she still has of her brother as a good guy. But…he’s just fucking not.

“I walked in on him showing them the video the day we got into that fight,” I murmur, wrapping my arms around her.

“Why would he do that?” she asks, her voice breaking.

“He said she threatened to leave him.” I sigh, pressing my lips to her temple. “He accused her of being in love with me. I don’t know if he intended to punish her or punish me or if he has some other fucked-up thought process. I don’t know what he was thinking.”

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