“Drinking alone?” I ask, already up on my feet and walking toward the kitchen. I can’t fucking help myself.
“Clearly,” she throws as she reaches up to open a cabinet.
Her hand stretches toward the wine glasses on the top shelf. She’s on her toes, arm reaching, fingers just barely grazing the edge of the glass. I move on instinct, crossing the space in a few easy strides and stop behind her.
She gasps the second she feels me behind her. I reach up, easily plucking the wine glass from the shelf, chest grazing her back in the process. She stiffens as she feels me behind her. Every curve of her body molds against mine. My pulse spikes from the way her body molds against me, the top of her head almost reaching my shoulders. She’s barely breathing as I hold out the glass in front of her face.
“Here,” I murmur, leaning down.
She hesitates for a second before she takes the glass, her fingers brushing against mine.
“Thanks,” she whispers, barely breathing.
I release the glass and put my hand on the counter, half-caging her in.
“You can step away now,” she adds, voice still weak.
I stay put.
“Do you want me to?” I ask, letting the tip of my fingers trail along the curve of her arm.
She takes a sharp breath, her shoulders hitching in the process. But she doesn’t move away or shove me back.
I lean in, letting my lips hover an inch from her ear.
“I’m starting to think you like it when I corner you.”
“And I’m starting to think you like imagining things.” She bites out a sharp, nervous scoff. “Dom will be back any second. He’ll break your face if he sees what you’re doing.”
My smirk deepens as I lean lower, right against her ear.
“Why?” I murmur. “I’m just getting to know his little sister.”
She’s frozen in place, her hand still wrapped around the glass sitting on the counter in front of her, which I can barely see from her wild curls. So I reach up slowly. My fingers gently brush her hair behind her ear, pushing it aside.
I hold my breath as the delicate skin of her neck comes into view. And then… a tiny red heart, sitting hidden behind her ear.
Exactly where I knew it’d be. Exactly like the photo Bunny had once sent me.
My hand drops, and so does my heart. I stagger back one step, then another as everything tilts. Sound vanishes. The air thickens.
She turns her face, looking up at me from the corner of her eye, cheeks flushed pink, completely unaware of what just happened. Completely unaware that after ten long months, I finally found her.
And suddenly, the world is fucking sideways.
It’s 1:17 a.m.
My workshop smells like sawdust and bourbon and whatever desperation is dripping off me right now. Sweat clings to my skin, my hands are covered in sawdust, and there’s a half-carved rose blooming across the top rail of the chair I’ve been working on for months.
For her.
I run the sandpaper slower than I need to. I don’t need to sand it anymore, but if I stop moving, I’ll start thinking. And right now, this is dangerous territory.
Dom’s sister. The same girl I flirted with ten months ago in a mask. The same girl I’ve been texting day and night. The same girl I told things I’ve never told anyone.
It’s ridiculous how many things come back to me now that I know the truth.
She told me she was moving into her brother’s place to live with him for a bit while she figured shit out.
