Page 34 of The Sound Of Silence

Even now it sends a shiver right through me.

Not to mention that fucking knot at the back of her dress. The flimsy looking piece of thread holding it all together. One little tug and the entire thing would have fallen away, leaving her stripped bare before me in nothing but her bra and that tiny thong she thinks we didn’t see.Jesus!

As my mind conjures up the perfect picture of what I imagine her naked body to look like, my briefs tighten under the sheet. My hand itches to relieve my aching cock, but I hold back, punishing myself for the woman who’s on my mind. The woman who shouldn’t be there.

Switching gears for a second, I force my thoughts onto other topics and Tate comes to mind, along with his friend whose name I didn’t even catch.What was Tate playing at?He didn’t seem fazed by his friend dancing with Willow, but the second I pulled her away, he signaled for his retreat.Was that a warning?Showing me they can get to her without her even knowing.And what the fuck was that guy referring to when he mouthed that he knows things? What does he know? What has Tate told him?

None of it makes any sense. Tate’s got just as much riding on this as I do. We both need to stay away. So why can’t I heed my own warning? And more importantly, how the hell did I allow myself to get that close?

Having said all of that, there is a silver lining. My focus on Willow helped to ease the stress I was feeling in the lead-up to my speech. Even as I mentioned my past, something that usually gets me down, all I could think about was her and her part in it.

I’m not sure how long I lay awake thinking—minutes, hours, I don’t know—but at some point I must drift off because I wake up to Pippa tapping me on the shoulder repeatedly, getting harder each time. It doesn’t hurt, but God, it’s annoying. And after last night, I’m not in the mood. “What the fuck, Pippa?”

“Why were you tossing and turning last night?” She grumbles and it completely throws me as I look around the room. We’re at Willow’s.How did she know I was tossing and turning?

“Why were you awake?” I counter, throwing my pillow at her as she steps back.

“I couldn’t sleep. The guilt got to me. I don’t like that we’re still lying to Willow about being a couple.”

“Excuse me?” I sit up and run my hands down my unshaven face before massaging my temples and sighing in disbelief. “I’m doing this foryou, Pippa. You never said you wanted to come clean.”

Pippa frowns. “No, but she’s my sister, and since we’re living here, we should at least tell her, right?”

I contemplate that for a second and decide that even though I never wanted to do it in the first place, I can’t stop it now. “Wrong.”

“Wrong?”

“Yes,wrong.”So fucking wrong.“As soon as one person knows they’ll all find out, and then you’ll get embarrassed and upset, someone will leak it to the media, and they’ll all have a field day on our lies.” I’m being overly dramatic and avoiding the real reason she can’t know, but Pippa thrives on drama, so I’m banking on it helping me. “We’re not telling Willow. You can fake it until we get home and then we can have some kind of epic breakup.”

Pippa’s eyes light up and she smiles as she kneels down on the couch, bouncing beside me. “Your fault?”

“Sure. My fault. You can make it as awful as you want. Now go away.”

Pippa huffs out a laugh but her brows furrow and she eyes me curiously. “You’re in a mood.”

“Go away.”

“Is it because I made you move in with my sister or because I made you do a speech?”

“You got me. It’s both.”That will do.

“Yeah, well, I know you,” Pippa states proudly, tucking her hair behind her ears with a huge smile on her face.

“Youthinkyou know me,” I grumble under my breath but she ignores me. “Speaking of your sister. Do you think you could check the bathroom to see if it’s safe for me to go in there?”

“You’re good,” she says quickly. “She went out.”

“She went out!? What time is it?”And why does that worry me?Sure, the sun’s barely up but she’s not my concern, and until yesterday, she lived alone. She can take care of herself.

Pippa frowns, and just when I think she’s going to call me out on my concern, she shrugs. “I don’t know. About six?”

I silently release a breath when it’s not as early as I thought, but it still annoys me. “And why are you awake again?”

“I told you, I couldn’t sleep because of the guilt.”

“Well, get over it. It’s almost done.”

The door slams open and Willow slumps over catching her breath. Panic has my palm flexing, ready to jump up, until I notice she’s in workout gear and hold back.

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