Page 11 of Ronan
I’m seeing you.I have no desire to see anyone else, so I shake my head. “Your friend over there is like birth control for dating. I don’t know how he does it without spanking her ass raw every single night.”
Well now I just made it sound like a good time.
Atley smirks. “Some of us like that, you know. But not all women are as intense as she is, so I’m sure you’ll find someone. At least yours will be real.”
“Yours is real too,” I argue with a small frown. “I’m sure he’s dying to take it real life.”
“I doubt it. He told me if he had a girlfriend, he wouldn’t be able to make his videos. I don’t really share all that well so that doesn’t leave us with a lot of options.”
“Do any of us share well? I sure as fuck don’t.”
“So you get it. It’ll be fun for a bit, but eventually it’ll get too real. It’s okay. I don’t mind being alone.” Her soft smile makes herwords sound believable, but I know her. I saw the way her body reacted to praise last night, the way her breath hitched and her eyes glowed. She needs it. She needs me.
I can never turn away now. “I guess if it gets too real you’ll find out how serious he is about you.”
And I happen to know how far this man will go for you, Atley. You’ll never escape him.
“It’s been one conversation and a couple of texts, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Will you beat him up if he hurts me?”
My answer would be yes in any other circumstance, but seeing that it’s me she’s talking about, I can’t help but chuckle at the thought. “Yeah. I’ll kick his ass, Atley. I promise.”
She beams, clinking her can against my glass. “Then I have nothing to worry about. Speaking of which, I can’t stay long tonight. He’s supposed to call me soon.”
The physical pull I feel inside is borderline painful. Half of me wants her to stay right here next to me so all of my senses can get their fill, but the other part of me is desperate for her to hurry home so I can FaceTime her and have her in a way I never could in person. It’s confusing and irritating, butI do my best to hide what I’m feeling inside. “He say a time or what?”
She nods, suddenly looking sheepish. “Yeah, 9:30. But I have some things I need to take care of first, so I need to leave earlier than that.”
Good girl.
If I had known she was such a good listener, I would have shot my shot a long time ago, but even as that thought crosses my mind I know I couldn’t have. None of this changes the fact that she’s my step-sister.
This is the only way I can ever have her.
My hand tightens around my glass painfully, grounding me. “In that case, just the one.” I tap her can with my drink again. “No driving if you have another.”
She nods. “I was going to ask for a water anyway. I don’t think I’ve had enough today.”
It takes everything not to blow my cover once again, because I see how badly she wants to be good for me. She just doesn’t know it’s me, so I silently move over to the fridge and grab her a water bottle and take the seltzer from her hand. Hopefully she doesn’t think twice about it being the same brand that I put in her gift box.
“I’m glad you’re staying hydrated. I remember that being something you struggled with.”
“I do,” she admits. “Thank my masked friend.”
“I’ll toss in a thank you whenever — or if ever — I have to kick his ass.”
Fucking stupid. She can never find out the truth, because if she did, she’d cut me off for being such a pathological liar. Or maybe she’ll hate me for being the manipulator my best friend sees me as. The one I can’t even deny lives inside of me.
Watching it work is... satisfying.
“Thank you, Ro. I should go, though. I’ll see you later, okay?”
Damn right you will. And I’ll seeallof you.
“Drive safe. Shoot me a text and let me know when you get home.”
She tilts her head a little, almost suspicious. “Yeah, of course. See you.”
As she walks away, it hits me that I never take this much interest in her to her face.
