Page 161 of Love Thy Brother
Probably. My brain felt like treacle. Either that or I was hearing things. Rubi’s mouth was moving and my imagination was choosing the best words to fall out of it. “Say it again.”
Rubi eased me to the edge of the bed and stepped between my legs, caging me in his arms. “Which part?”
“All of it.”
“All right.” He leaned down, bringing his face so close to mine I’d have kissed him if my head hadn’t been about to spin off my shoulders. “This is how it is. I need you with me. I’ll quit the club. I’ll walk away from everything. But I need you—Iloveyou—and we can’t keep dying before we’ve ever had a chance to live.”
“At your house?”
“Or yours when it stops being all murderous and shit. Or the damn moon. I don’t care. I’ll go anywhere. Do anything. Whatever it takes, I’m in with both fucking feet.”
It took painful seconds for it all to sink in. I held Rubi’s wrists, breathing hard, the gravity of what he was saying almost too much to bear.
I imagined him leaving the club. Ditching his rings. Burning his cut. Severing ties with the brothers who meant so much to him.
It felt wrong.
So fucking wrong.
I shook my head. “I don’t want to live in my house.”
“We don’t have to. I told you, we can go anywhere.”
“I don’t want that either.”
Rubi pressed his forehead to mine, sliding his hands up my spine to brace the nape of my neck. “What do you want?” he whispered. “Tell me? Please?”
I thought about it for less than a second. “Boo, I want to come home.”
29
RIVER
Rubi took me home and held me hostage in his bed. For two days straight, I did nothing but sleep.
He did nothing but watch me.
“I’ve never seen you so still.”
Course he hadn’t. And I didn’t want to tell him I was only still now because it hurt to move. “What time is it?”
“Six.”
“In the evening?”
“No, bro. It’s a new day.”
Oh. Missed that one. I lolled my head on Rubi’s chest and shut my eyes again. His arm encircled me, his fingers carding through my hair, and the relief was instant.
I didn’t go back to sleep, though. For the first time in however long, I didn’t want to. I wanted to enjoy him. Toappreciatehim. Fuck, I wanted to worship him, but as vaguely awake as I felt, tipping my head for a kiss was about my limit.
Rubi brushed his lips over mine, sweet and slow, his warm hand cupping my face. “How you feeling?”
“I’m okay.”
“Not what I asked.”
“That’s my answer.”
