Page 272 of Releasing 10
“I’ll be fine,” I squeezed out, using every ounce of strength I had inside of me tonotoverreact. Tonotblow a fuse and scream. Because I wanted to. Ireallyfucking wanted to.
Christ, I couldn’t eventhinkhis name in my head, let alone speak it. On the rare occasion I had to address him by name, I used the only word that seemed to come out: the childhood pet name I had given him.
It hurt a little less that way, and I could manipulate my mind to separate the two.Because the monster never said the name Thor.
“It’s okay if you want to hang out with Thor for a bit, Claire.” I tried to smile then, truly I did, but from her reaction, I knew it had to look like a pained grimace. “I’m fine with it.”
Claire didn’t look convinced. “Really?”
“Really.” I nodded. “I’ll be fine, I promise.”
“Okay, now I feel even worse about how I reacted on my birthday,” she declared before snatching my hands up and going on a full-blown tangent. “I’m so sorry for making you feel bad for being with my brother. I didn’t mean to, I swear. I was just afraid you were going to stop hanging out with me and spend all your time with Hugh. And I think I might have been a little jealous, too. But I’m over it, okay? I swear it, and I won’t try to block you guys anymore. I know how important you are to my brother, and I don’t want to be that mean girl.”
“You haveneverbeen a mean girl, Claire, and I’m never going to stop hanging out with you,” I promised, squeezing her hand. “You’re the Mario to my Luigi, after all.”
“I know, I know,” she hurried to concede. “But I think it had more to do with Hugh asking you to be his girlfriend and Gerardnotasking me—which I know you probably don’t want to hear me say,” she added with a wince. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I forced myself to say because I couldn’t project my pain on her. “Ican’tbe the friend you confide in about Thor, but I willalwaysbe the friend in your corner.”
Her eyes lit up with excitement. “And I can’t be the friend you talk to about my brother—because that’s just ew—but I willalwaysbe the friend in your corner, too.”
“Okay then.” I smiled. “It’s a deal.”
“It’s a double deal,” Claire squealed, bouncing from foot to foot excitedly. “But not a double date.”
“No,” I confirmed, shaking my head. “Nevera double date.”
After briefly hugging it out, Claire scampered off in search of Thor, while I went in the opposite direction, in search of her brother. When I found him in the lounge, necking shots in front of the fireplace with his grandfather, a warm flush of heat swept through me.
Sighing in contentment, I leaned against the archway and took a moment to justlookat him.
Unlike almost everyone else at the party, Hugh wasn’t dressed up in a costume. Standing apart from the crowd, my boyfriend wore dark jeans and a tightly fitting white shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing his ridiculously sexy, corded forearms. His hair was styled in that sickeningly sexy way he always wore it: tight around the sides and back, with a mop of sexily tousled curls on top, held in place by a dollop of gel.
Clocking in at an impressive six feet in height and still growing, Hugh couldn’t have looked more different to the boy I lost my heart to at the age of six. The softness of his face had become more sharply defined, while his once-lean stomach now sported an impressive ripple of finely carved abdominal muscles to go with the generous dusting of hair that began at his navel and trailed beneath the waistband of his boxers. His back wasbroader, his biceps more prominent, and he possessed a pair of gloriously strong legs, with rock-hard thigh and calf muscles.
Andthisis the boy I am supposed to not touch!
“Back in my day, you were a man at fifteen,” Grandad Healy exclaimed, dragging me back to the present. Thick as thieves with his favorite grandchild—and a bottle of Jameson—he filled two glasses with amber liquid before handing one to Hugh.
“I can’t drink another one, Granda. It tastes like shit,” Hugh groaned, staring into the amber-filled tumbler in his hands. “Maybe I should stick to cans.”
“Leave the cans for the boys and the whiskey for the men.” Draping an arm around his grandson, the old man clinked their glasses together before knocking his drink back in one impressive gulp. “This will put hair on your chest, my cherished namesake.”
“Aw, fuck it,” Hugh groaned before quickly tossing the drink back, only to splutter and cough violently afterward. “It’s worse than shit,” he strangled out, sounding hoarse. Setting his glass down on the mantelpiece they were leaning against, Hugh looked at his grandfather and said, “You know what? I think I’ll live without the hairy chest.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before adding, “I’ve enough of it everywhere else.” He glanced in my direction then, only to do a quick double take when he registered me standing there. His eyes widened to saucers in surprise. “Holy fuck.”
Nowthat“holy fuck” reaction was one I was more than happy to hear. Grinning, I pushed off the wall and walked over, loving the way his eyes never once left my body.
“Happy birthday,” I announced with a smile when I reached his side. Hugh automatically raised his arm for me to take my place at his side, which I did without hesitation. “Having fun?”
“I am now.” His arm came around my shoulders, pulling me closer, while his eyes continued to rake over me. “You look incredible.”
Maybe Claire was onto something with this whole costume thing…
“Hey, Granda Healy,” I said, turning my attention to the old man grinning at Hugh. “It’s been a while.”
“Too long, Elizabeth,” the mischievous old man replied, shaking my hand while smirking at Hugh. “And a relief to know my grandson had the good sense to hold on to you.” He winked again at Hugh. “Good lad, yourself.”
“Like I’d be thick enough to let her go,” Hugh chuckled, tucking me into his side. He dropped a kiss to my head before adding, “Liz is the one, Granda.”
