Page 38 of Worth the Trouble

She swallows, hesitating, before she slowly nods her head. One small movement on her part and everything I told myself I wouldn’t do rushes through my brain.

“Come here.” I tug her hand and guide her into my lap, so she’s sitting with her back to my front.

It’s dark on this side of the room, but it doesn’t make us invisible, which I think Lili realizes as her eyes dart around, before focusing on the stage in front of her. The dancer is still going, but I honestly don’t give a fuck. Even when I was staring at her earlier, she wasn’t the vision playing in my head. From the corner of my eye, I was focused on Lili and her strange interest in the situation I put her in. She wasn’t uncomfortable like I expected—more like curious.

I want to know why.

I want to know what makes her tick.

I want to make her do it.

Lili adjusts in my lap and she no doubt feels me hard as steel beneath her ass. Her wiggling isn’t helping, and I have to swallow a groan so I don’t bend her over right here. Because even if she’s testing her limits, I have a feeling that would push her a little too far.

Reaching up, I pull her hair off her shoulder to expose her slim neck to me. She smells exquisite.

Expensive.

Out of my fucking league.

With one hand wrapped in her silky strands, I plant the other one on her bare thigh, teasing the edge of the slit that’s been taunting me all night. Her skin is warm and soft, and with my hand trailing upward, it feels like a lot longer than a month since I’ve felt the heat of another person’s body.

Except I might as well be holding shards of glass in my hands because Lili feels like she’s cutting through the barriers I’ve lived comfortably behind since I was old enough to discover you can’t trust anyone but yourself.

And instead of setting her down and walking away, I want to hold tighter. I want to feel her deeper. I want to wrap my fingers around her throat until she understands how weak she makes me feel.

She follows me into the darkness I can’t find my way out of. Her life is sunshine, yet she seeks out my shadows. Nothing scares her.

“Why are you watching me?” she asks, tipping her face in my direction, and I realize I am.

“Because you’re beautiful.”

Her eyebrows pinch like she’s confused by my confession, but she doesn’t ask me to elaborate. Instead, she sinks against me, not turning away. Watching me like earlier when the dancer was in her lap.

“Tell me something real, Rome.”

“Real.” I can’t help but let out a half-hearted chuckle because this girl wants things she won’t know what to do with.

Lili nods. “I want to know you.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” The pain in her tone hits me in places deep.

I trail my hand further up her bare leg, moving my fingers inward, and watching how she parts her lips with her quickening breaths.

“You don’t know what you’re asking for,” I warn her.

“You don’t scare me.”

“I should.”

Lili’s eyes narrow, and I feel her palm land over my hand, moving me further between her legs. So close I can feel the heat of her pussy as my finger brushes lace panties. Just enough that I feel her dampness, and it makes my dick ache between my legs.

“Everyone around me is fake.” Lili pauses my hand, staring into my eyes. “They want me to be like that—like them. But not you.”

“You’re better off staying in the world they put you in.” I lean in and brush my lips along hers barely, tasting the vodka on her breath and getting drunk on it.

Lili’s grip on my hand tightens. “I’d rather see yours.”

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