Clarity - Nicole Dykes Page 0,24
her shoulders, her breasts lifting as she takes in a deep breath and then falling when she releases it. “It’s nothing.” She stretches her legs out in front of her. She’s wearing a black leather skirt so her legs are on full display. They’re smooth with just enough muscle from her morning runs. “But what is the plan exactly?”
I shrug because I have no fucking idea. “Keep her safe.”
“Right . . .” I feel her eyes on the side of my face as I look everywhere but at her. “Don’t freak out on me.”
I turn suddenly at that, and she holds her hands up, “I’m not going to touch you. Chill.”
“What?” I would love to say that wasn’t my first thought, but it was. “Why would I freak out?”
“How do you know she wasn’t safe?”
My teeth grind in my mouth, and I hate how she sounds dangerously close to the social worker bitch. “She wasn’t.”
“Rhys, don’t get so defensive. I want to know.” Her voice has an edge to it like she’s annoyed, but I also hear the softness there. She deserves some sort of explanation since she’s offering up her house.
“She told me she wasn’t.”
She’s gnawing on her bottom lip, and it’s actually funny to me that I can make her nervous. “People lie, Rhys. Even little girls.”
“That’s what’s fucked with the system.” My eyes meet hers, and I try not to sound so harsh. “They believe that kids will lie, but they don’t realize adults are far more likely to be corrupt.”
She thinks that over. “I guess that makes sense. Every adult I know is a total twat.”
I actually laugh at that. In my own way. It’s probably more of a scoff. “Exactly.”
“Rhys Moore, did you just laugh?”
I shrug my shoulders and clear my throat. “No.”
She scoffs, shaking her head. “Right.”
I know I owe her more than this. “I was a foster kid, Blair.”
She tilts her head to look at me as if to say no shit. “I know that. I pay a little attention, Rhys.”
I swallow the sickening feeling, trying to ignore my sweaty palms and rapid heart rate. “I was in a lot of bad homes.” My throat is dry as I try my best to swallow the lump there. “But the last one was the worst by far.”
She doesn’t ask me what happened. And I'm grateful, but still I owe her something.
“There was abuse. And I just know this girl has felt that. I don’t know how to explain it . . . I just . . .”
“Feel it,” she supplies, her voice quiet and almost breathless.
“Yes.”
“Okay. So, we protect her.” She says it with determination like it’s the easiest thing in the world. And when I look at her pretty face, I want so fucking badly to taste her lips, but I fucking can’t.
Because I'm so fucking broken and fucked-up that the thought also makes me sweat with fear.
Tremble even.
“Will you be okay here with her if I go to the gym?”
She nods her head, leaning back on the step, letting her elbows rest on the porch behind her. “Yes, but there’s equipment here.”
“You have a home gym?”
Her eyes roll. “Of course. It’s in the basement.”
“I’ll go to my own. Thanks.” I stand up and look back at her. “Yours probably only has girly shit.”’
She stands up, facing me as she flips me off. “It’s state of the art, fucker.”
I don’t want to get too familiar with her home or take even more advantage than I already have. “I’ll be back in an hour.”
I need to let off some steam before I lose my shit.
“Rhys?”
“Yeah?”
“What are the rules?”
I stare at her, uncertain about what she’s asking. “Rules?”
“Yeah. I mean . . . you aren’t going to touch me, and I’m not even close to dried up.”
I cringe at her description. “Nice.”
She laughs easily and shrugs. “It’s true.”
“Oh, I know.” She laughs again, responding to my semi-playful side. “You can fuck whoever you want, Blair.”
“And the social worker won’t care? We’re supposed to be in a relationship, right?”
“I don’t think she’s gonna dig that deep. Maybe don’t bring them here.”
She thinks it over but seems annoyed with me yet again. “Fine.”
I don’t stay to talk any longer and walk to my car to drive to the gym across town near my shop.
I hate the idea of other motherfuckers touching her, but at least they can, and she can touch them back without them flinching like a pussy.
When I get back from the gym, I think