Wet (A Real Man #25) - Jenika Snow Page 0,26

not our parents, not the aristocratical assholes that surround us. No one.” He pulled me in tighter. “I love you too much, have for so long. And now that I have you, now that I know what I mean to you….” He took a deep, shuddering breath. “Yeah, you’re mine.”

Chapter Eleven

Pyper

I brought my dinner plate into the kitchen and started helping my mom clean up. We might have staff that helped us with every day domestic things, but we were plenty capable of cleaning up after ourselves.

I stood by my mom as she rinsed off the plates. She handed them to me, and I loaded them in the dishwasher. My mind was consumed with what Gio and I had done in my room just the other night. My face heated at how incredible it had been. I’d never in my wildest dreams imagined that losing my virginity would have been so... erotic.

I cleared my throat, willing my face to not be so hot, not be so undeniably red.

“You okay?” my mother asked, and I saw her glance over at me through my peripheral.

“I’m fine.” I said that a little too quickly, moved a little too fast as I put the plate she’d handed me into the dishwasher. I could still feel her gaze on me and knew she didn’t believe me.

I exhaled slowly. I just needed to get this done and over with. I turned to face her, staring into her blue eyes, ones that were the exact same shade as mine. I’d imagined saying this more times than I even wanted to count. She could obviously see how serious this was, because she stopped what she was doing to face me as well. Her eyebrows were pulled down low, a pinched expression between them.

“Pyper?” She reached out and placed her hand on my shoulder, a comforting gesture any other time, but right now, it made me feel even more on edge.

How would she react when she found out about Geo and me being together? I loved him enough that I was willing to risk everything, even my parents’ disapproval, over it.

I thought of a thousand different ways to actually say it, played it out in my head. But in the end, I decided to just say it, fast and easy, painless. Like ripping a Band-Aid off.

“I care about Gio.”

She blinked a couple times, and she glanced to her side just as my father walked into the kitchen, a couple glasses in his hands as he brought them to the sink.

When she looked back at me, she was still expressionless. “I care about Gio too,” she said. What I told her either went right over her head, or she was purposely dodging the subject.

My father walked up to my mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek before putting the cups in the dishwasher. But before he turned away, he stopped and looked between us, clearly feeling that something was going on.

“Did I miss something?” he asked, and my mother looked at him then.

“Pyper said she cares for Gio.”

My father’s face showed he knew exactly what I meant by that. He turned his focus to me then. “I know.”

I felt my eyes widen at his simple, straightforward sentence.

“You know?” my mother mimicked what he just said.

He gave a sharp nod, his expression not showing disapproval, disappointment, or anything negative. “You’d have to be blind to not notice the way she looks at Gio.” My father rolled his eyes, and I found myself giving a nervous laugh as I looked between my parents.

I’d been obvious, painfully so, if my father noticed.

“And I won’t even get started on how many times I caught Gio staring at you,” he said, and his expression immediately went to protective father. “I almost took my shotgun out and cleaned it on the patio just so he could see.”

My mother scoffed, and this time it was her turn to roll her eyes. “Marcus,” she said his name in an exasperated tone. “That shotgun is an antique. You wouldn’t even be able to shoot the damn thing.”

My father made a gruff noise and crossed his arms over his chest. “Gio doesn’t know that. I’d just want him to know the family he’d be getting involved with if he dated my daughter.” He leveled a stare at me, but there was no heat or actual threat in his voice. “I’d just want him to know he’d better treat her well or he’d deal with my wrath.”

“Marcus, you’re ridiculous.