arms, he leaned against the wall and scanned me closely. “She told you, didn't she? About our parents and how those shitty kids in school bullied her. She told you everything.”
“Yeah, she told me.”
Laughing bitterly, he ruffled his own hair. “Well, good. So you know I'm the only one who ever gave a shit about her, that helped her out." He gazed up at me from under his crinkled eyebrows. "You must think it's easy for me to go talk to her, to clear all of this up.”
“It is easy, Sean.” I softened the razor on my tongue. “If I could be the only person she needed, I would be.” I'd be everything if she let me. “But she's torn up because you're pissed at her. I can't fix that. Just—man, just fucking talk to her.”
The guitarist cocked his head like a bird. “And if I don't?”
Clenching my hands into fists, I took a deep breath. Sean watched me closely, I made sure he could see my gigantic smile; how hollow it was. “Then I'll break your fucking jaw. I've wanted to since you kicked my amp over years back, anyway.”
He didn't laugh or squirm. His expression was purely blank. “Guess we are similar after all.”
In the chilly air, the two of us waited. I couldn't have said for what; perhaps just the chance one of us would strike first, that there'd be someone to blame for ruining this fragile attempt at an 'agreement' so the other could get violent without repercussion.
Sean's exhale broke the moment. Pushing off the wall, he strolled around me, speaking as he went. “I'll talk to her. But don't you dare tell her we had this chat.”
I won't, I thought privately. When Sean vanished from sight, I finally uncurled my fists. The tendons throbbed. The discomfort was good, it helped to center me so I could wonder if I was crazy.
Messaging Sean... making him promise to talk to his sister... Who was I?
I'd never worked so hard at making someone else happy.
Lola really had changed me.
She didn't wake up when I crept back into her room, or when I set her cellphone back down, the message to Sean long erased. Not until I invaded her bed, my jeans scratching along her bare thighs, did her eyelashes flicker. “Drez?” she mumbled, rubbing at her cheek.
Coiling around her, my tongue explored the side of her ear. “It's just me, yeah.”
Every goosebump on her body rose to its peak. “I could have sworn I was alone in here.” Her chuckle was frail as new snow.
“It was just a dream.” My lips made a trail down her neck; her gasp was sweet candy to me. “I'd never leave you, Lola. Never.”
“I know.” She kissed my chin, her mouth warm and wet. “Like you said, it was a dream.”
My thumb glided over the back of her ear. “When you fall asleep, don't dream that you're alone. Always try to dream of me. Just me.”
Heat grew in her cheeks, the shadows not capable of hiding it. “That sounds easy enough.”
Soon, we were swirling tongues. It was my brain that felt twisted, though. If it's so easy, why do you have nightmares about your brother, your pain, your torture? Closing my eyes, I fought down a twinge of hard guilt.
This night, I'd created another secret for myself. Another lie to hide from Lola.
With her resting on my chest, I luxuriated in her warmth through my shirt and wished I was brave enough to expose my skin. Lola was breathing gently within minutes, returning to her dreams. I hoped they'd be pleasant this time—and I wondered what I'd dream about.
I would have prayed for it to be pleasant...
But I was sure I'd already spent all the prayers I was allowed.
- Chapter Twenty-Two -
Lola
Teeth glided down the inside of my thigh. In the cocoon of my bed, my blankets, only one thing burned warmer than me.
Drezden.
I was still shaking off the mask of sleep, trying to make sense of why I'd gone from dreaming about the man to waking up to something even sweeter. Curled between my legs, he revealed the danger of lying beside him in the late hours wearing nothing but some silky blue panties.
I could hardly see him under the covers. Squinting down, I was rewarded with a flare of green eyes—a beast on the hunt—and a rough squeeze of my ass. Gasping, I arched with my cheek in the pillow.
“Eyes up,” was his single command. That whisper burned like pure