wanted to leave it there overnight, and she’d been knocked the hell out when we’d driven home.
Though, maybe if the car hadn’t been there, they might not have set the place on fire.
“Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?” Sam asked.
Amelia sat on the edge of the couch, and her shirt pulled tight, revealing that she wasn’t wearing a bra.
I tried to pull my eyes away, but her boobs to me were like a moth to a flame.
And her nipples were fucking hard.
How was a man to pay attention to another man talking when Amelia’s nipples were hard?
“Adam.”
I blinked, surprised that my name had been called.
I’d been so focused after all.
“What?” I asked, unsure which of them had even called my name at this point.
“Are you okay?” Amelia asked.
I rubbed my hand over my face. “I’m fucking tired. I’ve had like, seven hours of sleep over the last four days, my stomach is growling, I can’t really tell whether I should eat or not yet because I don’t want to puke it up, and to top it all off, my girl almost got murdered last night. I don’t think I’m anywhere near okay.”
“Your girl?” Sam asked.
I looked to Amelia again, somehow managing to keep my eyes off her nipples, and studied her face.
She was wearing my second favorite t-shirt.
It was a Metallica shirt that I’d gotten when I was younger. When I’d seen my first live band.
I’d hated the band—sorry but I wasn’t into screaming as music—but I’d loved the experience.
And that shirt.
But the idea of Amelia taking that one, too? It didn’t bother me.
What bothered me was the idea of her hurt in any way, and my brain wasn’t firing on all cylinders yet. But, looking at her, she was only looking at me with something close to adoration.
She liked me, too. And wasn’t afraid to show it in front of her much older, could-be-her-dad age-wise, brother.
“Yeah, my girl,” I confirmed.
Sam sighed. “I think that it would be best for Amelia to either go home for a while and let the movie stars and their fanatics move on out, or to have her come stay with me. We have the room.”
“I’m not staying with you,” Amelia said. “I’m sorry, but I’m not going to live in a well-built prison. I want to live my life, which is why I moved down here, and you know it.”
“Somebody tried to burn your house down, Amelia. Thinking you were inside. I would say this is a bit over your head logistics-wise, don’t you think?” he growled.
Amelia’s eyes went to flame.
“I realize that,” she snapped. “But I don’t want to live with you, Sam. I’ve done the whole hovering father thing. I want to fucking breathe!”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Dad wasn’t that bad.”
Amelia rolled her eyes. “I never got to go out on a date until I moved out of their house.”
Sam didn’t say anything, and neither did I. But inwardly, I winced.
“Do you know what it’s like to have every aspect of your life examined? Everything you do? Say? Hell, sometimes I’m even convinced he knows what I’m thinking,” she said. “I love our dad but… it was stifling living with him. Leaving was my only option. And I won’t go back. Not to you, and not to him.”
“Then where are you going to go?” Sam asked. “Who are you going to put in danger so your silly little self can be ‘free?’”
I didn’t like the way he was talking to her, dismissing her fears as silly.
I knew there was a lot that she wasn’t saying, too.
A lot that was underneath the surface that I think she didn’t want her brother to know.
“With me.”
Amelia’s head jerked up and she stared at me in stunned silence.
Sam’s eyes narrowed as he waited to hear an explanation.
“She can stay here with me,” I murmured softly. “Honestly, it’s the soundest solution if she’s not going to your place or her dad’s. This entire place is crawling with cops at all times. When I let the dog out at three in the morning, one was pulling up from shift. When I was letting the dog out when you got here, one came out to follow after his wife. I’m not saying this is perfect but… it could work.”
A soft sigh left Amelia, but before she could say anything more, we all heard the roar of a bike pulling up. One that wasn’t even trying to be quiet despite the time in the