Page 9 of Tease

“You’re okay,” he whispered, “I’ve got you.”

I wanted him to have me in all the ways he could. If only I was able to tell him the truth.

He let out a long breath and kept stroking my hair until I pulled away and stared up at him. There was a tender note in his expression I’d never seen before.

“Thank you.”

It took me a moment to realise I hadn’t stuttered over the words. It made me smile and wonder if I’d ever reach a point with this man where I could talk to him without it being a problem.

“It’s okay,” he said, dropping his arms from around me. “I’ll clean this stuff up if you want to go back to work now.”

I nodded and stepped away from him, trying not to lament the loss of contact between us. As I left the kitchen, I looked back at him. He was watching me without a hint of emotion on his face. It made me wonder how he felt about what had just happened. And if he might want to hug me again sometime… like maybe later before I went to bed. I told myself that was stupid and to not wish for things like that. I couldn’t help it, though. Now I’d hugged the man I’d crushed on for years, I wanted it again. I wanted all of him.

Perhaps I was going to have to find my courage and make it clear to Arlo I was interested in being more than friends.

I just didn’t know how.

Four

Arlo

My hand was buried in my hair as the other held my phone to my ear. I stared at the wall in the hallway, my mind not really on the conversation I was having. It was too busy replaying what happened earlier on repeat.

“I don’t know what to do about my brother,” Zayn said with a hint of irritation in his voice.

He’d called me a few minutes ago, right after I’d finished having dinner with Martina and her daughters. I’d wandered out of the kitchen to take it, knowing Zayn would want to talk business.

“Which one?”

“Both, to be honest.”

“Well, you know Gil will handle things his own way… as for Enzo, pretty sure he’s a lost cause.”

Zayn let out a sigh. He was stressed over everything that had happened since his father’s death. I was doing my best to help him, but he had tasked me with taking care of his aunt and cousins. They were my priority even if I just wanted to spend all of my time with Rina.

I still can’t get over the fact she hugged me.

“I never wanted all this responsibility. It’s almost fucking impossible to keep everyone in order.”

“You have another person other than me to rely on now, don’t forget that.”

“Ari shouldn’t have to deal with Enzo’s fuck ups. She’s just about getting along with Gil, though you know what he’s like. Enzo is being a dick to everyone and I’m tired of it.”

“If he wants to fuck his life up, that’s on him. You don’t have to save him, Zayn. Not this time.”

He knew I was right, even if he didn’t want to admit it. It was time Enzo got his act together. I sympathised with the fact he’d found out what their father had truly done to their mother. Their parents’ deaths hadn’t been easy on the brothers for different reasons. Both had been necessary. Didn’t mean Enzo had any right to take his shit out on Zayn though. Not when he was trying to do what was best for all of them.

“It’s that easy, is it? Just let my brother drown?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“If I told you to do the same for Lissa, you’d tell me to go fuck myself.”

“Not the same thing, and you know it.”

He chuckled, letting me know he was joking.

“Mmm. I’d tell you good luck keeping her away from him, but I’m pretty sure that’s a lost cause as well.”

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