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All the questions swarmed in my head as I stared into his whiskey-drenched eyes. Whiskey, another favorite addiction of mine… no wonder his eyes called to me.
How did I get here?
How did this happen?
While I was fucking Wren in the old shack behind the beach, the sun finished setting, and the moon was now high in the sky, giving us the only light we had as we slowly walked back to get my board.
I’m not sure why Wren was still with me, walking side by side with me and quietly being present without so much as a snarky word. I expected her to smirk at winning our battle of wills. To laugh in my face for not being able to resist the chance to fuck her. But she was quiet, and it scared the fuck out of me.
“What’s wrong?” I finally asked, putting a little anger into my tone.
Her eyes snapped up to mine, widening like she had been busted. Her shoulders stiffened, and her lips pouted in disgust. “Nothing.”
I didn’t know a lot about women, but when they said nothing was wrong, something was definitely wrong. The question was, did I care? Was it my place to care?
If she was upset about what happened, then she deserved it. I didn’t force her. I didn't do anything she didn't beg and entice me to do, so whatever was wrong with her, I shouldn't have cared.
Yet I grabbed her hand and stopped her from walking farther. The moon was bright and reflecting off the water, so I had a clear image of her in front of me. She was so fucking gorgeous. She was always a beautiful kid, but she was on another level as an adult.
Despite her inclination for drugs, it seemed as though she had taken care of herself over the years. Her skin was perfect, and her hair was full. She had just been fucked, and she looked like she’d just walked off a runway somewhere.
Or maybe it was my lust-filled goggles?
I needed to be careful and remember what was real and what wasn’t. Wren hated me because of Kane, and I hated her… because of Kane.
Kane.
The one common denominator in everything.
“Kane is in Ohio, on the streets, not here.” I blurted it like it was what bothered her. It had to be since even while fucking me, she was seeing him. But even if it wasn’t, I wanted her to realize he wasn’t in Florida. He couldn’t hurt her.
Judging by the deep inhale she took at my words, I didn’t think that was what was wrong.
“I’m not scared of Kane anymore,” she whispered. “I outgrew my fear, and now it’s only pain.”
I gazed at the stars for something else to say, but I came up short. When I peered back down at her, it was her turn to study me quizzically. “What’s wrong with you? Fucking random women not your thing?”
She was biting at me the way she knew to do, but it was missing the mark. “You’re not a random woman, Wren.”
She pulled her hands from mine and started walking toward the water again. I rushed to catch back up to her and stopped her as her feet hit the rising tide.
“I gave you what you wanted, Wren. What I owed you. You should be gloating by now.”
“Yeah, well, maybe it wasn't what I expected,” she scoffed and started walking into the water.
“It sure as fuck wasn’t bad. I was there, Wren. I felt you coming from inside. Don’t act like you’re walking away disappointed.”
She snapped back at my words and started to yell, to rage, but something reeled her in, and she bit her lip to stop her words. After a minute, she turned away from me and toward the water, but her feet stayed next to me.
“I want more,” she confessed, almost as a whisper.
Fuck, me too. But there was so much wrong with what we had done, been doing. This wasn’t something we could do again. It had to stop. She was a patient, and I was simply her latest addiction. I could lose my job, she could end up never getting to leave, and to top it all off, we were basically siblings.
Okay, maybe not. Certainly didn’t feel that way anymore. I left her house a long time ago, and there was no blood between us.
But once upon a time, I called her parents “Mom and Dad.” We sat at dinner tables together. We celebrated Christmas together. We fought over who used the bathroom first in the morning.
Wren was five years younger than Kane and me and was deemed the princess of the world when she was born. I was enthralled with her and wanted to hold her and protect her. The Carringtons didn’t want us near her, and it was mostly what started Kane’s rage toward her.
