Page 37 of Silk Sheets

It had been years, and I still couldn’t get myself to say her name out loud. Or eventhinkit.

“Yes. It is. Dakota could be good for us and deep down you know that. Or else you wouldn’t have lied to be alone with her.”The fucker has a point.

“And when she runs? When she leaves?” I asked, stepping closer to him. “Then what? You’re going to chase her down, beg her to reconsider—forceher into this?”

The muscle in his jaw ticked. Now, we were face to face, and I didn’t miss the fingers on his right hand curling into a fist.

“She won’t run.”

“Yeah? And how can you be so sure?”

His tongue brushed the inside of his cheek for a second and I watched his fist loosen.

“Because Dakota is different. And she wants this. She wants you. Even if she doesn’t realize it just yet,” he began, and for some odd fucking reason, a part of me was keen to find out where he was going with this. “She sees past you, Kaden. And that’s what you hate— it’s what you’re really afraid of.”

“Don’t fucking analyze me, Logan,” I pinned him with a look and that only gained me one of his sheepish grins.

He stepped forward, placing his hand on the side of my face with enough grip to let me know he was serious.

“You want her, don’t you?” his tone trailed off, making my chest tighten at the mere thought of having her on her knees.Submittingto me. “Under you, down on her knees for you, begging, praising, needing you.”

His eyes never wavered from mine, and as much as I hated to admit it, I’d let Logan get too close too many times. Now, it was biting me in the goddamn ass.

“You want her to melt at your touch…” he confidently concluded, eyes glistening in victory and his hold on my face tightened as he whispered: “You want to break her, only so you can put her back together again.”

I reached up, shoving his hand off me and the corner of his lips pulled into a tight grin. My chest rose and fell, but that didn’t stop him from pressing each and every button he could.

“The thought of her excites you. You just won’t admit it.”

Heat rose on the back of my neck.

“After Saturday night, she’ll be ours,” he assured me.

For the first time in years, his tone was promising. He was sure of this. Of her.

He gave the side of my arm a reassuring hit before slipping past me and leaving the room. There was no way in hell she’d last. I only hoped Chase would see it too.

I followed Logan, entering the living room at his side. Chase seemed to be lost in thought as he leaned his forearms on his knees, but when he saw us, he directed his attention to me.

“She’s convinced you hate her.”

That wasn’t entirely true. But I didn’t need them knowing that just yet.

My answer was vague. I simply needed to see Chase’s reaction. “I never said that.”

“How is she supposed to trust us when she’s afraid?” he asked and I couldn’t help the deep crease between my eyebrows forming.

“Trust us?” I asked for clarification. “So you’re with Logan on this?”

Chase was hesitant, but answered me nonetheless. “I just think that we should give her a chance.”

I could almost laugh at their idiocy. “Shejustturned old enough to drink, how could she possibly know what she wants?”

“You were eighteen and you knew.”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t fucking womentenyears older than me.”

“Seven,” Logan added. “They were seven years older than you.”