Page 64 of Hooked on Trouble

I kiss her cheeks, salt coating my tongue. Raven rarely cries. She doesn’t risk vulnerability, just like I don’t lose control. Not like this. But she gave that to me tonight. She gave that to us. Words curl up my throat, but I swallow them down. When I’m no longer living with this twisting in my gut, I’ll tell her the truth. Confess the depths of my feelings. The rest of my life may be crumbling, but she’ll hold me together.

We lie this way awhile, breathing in time. She nuzzles into me. “I don’t need a mattress when I have you.”

“You telling me I’m getting soft?”

“Only one part of you.”

The way she wiggles, it won’t be for long. But she’s had enough for tonight. “Way to bruise the ego.”

“Trust me, big guy, you have nothing to worry about in the performance department. Sentences might not be your strong suit, but I like you quiet.”

If she only knew the words I’m holding hostage. “Thank you,” I whisper. “For tonight.”

Her breath skims my chest. “It was as much for me as it was for you.” Her back expands and pauses, as though she wants to speak. To say something more. Only air comes out. Then, “Are you still up for drinks with the gang tomorrow? If you want to stay in, that’s fine.”

“No. I’d like to go. It’ll help get my mind off things, and I like having you on my arm in public. Showing you off.”

“How Neanderthal of you.”

If Neanderthal means swinging her over my shoulder and having my way with her in a cave, I could get behind that. “You can parade me around all you want.”

“Or line dance with you to that crap music you like.” She pops onto her elbow. “Forgot to tell you, but Colin and Nikki came by today. Your nephew actually smiled when I gave him the skateboard.”

“You should have taken a picture.”

“Totally should have. And Rose seems to be getting more shifts at work, which is good.”

My jaw locks, all the tension I’d released still simmering below the surface. I’ve kept my mouth shut where her sister is concerned. Raven sleeps on her own couch, gives the woman money, and falls over herself to please Rose. I don’t like the hours Rose keeps, don’t understand why she won’t introduce Raven to her friends. The intuition that serves me well on the job blares like an alarm when Rose is in spitting distance. I can’t explain it, can’t see past it. But Raven asked me to let her navigate their relationship on her own, and I’m doing my damndest to let her.

“That mean she’ll find her own place soon?” A guy can hope.

Raven narrows her eyes, that sexy glare a little scary. “She’ll stay with me as long as she wants. Do you have a problem with that?”

Last time this came up, she stormed out of my apartment and left me tossing in bed all night. She’s still not ready to see Rose as anything other than the perfect sister she imagines. She thinks she owes Rose a debt. It’s tough to argue with that, and there’s no way I’m risking a fight tonight. I slide my hands over her hips. “How does a bath sound?”

“Delicious.”

I kiss her nose and untangle our legs, leaving her to watch my ass as I go fill the Jacuzzi tub—the one decent perk of this apartment. The guys love mocking my baths, but my muscles get sore, and my mom always ran them for me as a kid with salts to ease the ache.

I watch the water run, the sound becoming white noise, the white-tiled wall so stark my vision goes hazy. My mind coils tight again. Letting go with Raven felt cathartic, but it was temporary abandon. My family knows the score now, knows I didn’t come through. Before I told them, I had a moment of weakness. A spell where I dialed Alessi then hung up. Nearly begged him to just fucking do it. Bait those punks. Plant evidence. Force confessions. Whatever it takes. Nearly puked up my dinner. Had to remind myself that as a kid I couldn’t sleep, knowing my father had stolen sunglasses. Lying for Josh is coercion, not petty theft.

Yet I almost took the easy way out again.

My breathing gets shallow. The room starts to spin, and I hunch forward, hand braced on the tile wall. I don’t realize how close the tub is to overflowing until Raven dips under my arm to shut off the tap. She’s all gorgeous inked skin and rounded curves. Makes my mouth water, just looking at her. She kisses my chest and guides me into the warm suds. I let her. Need her. My heart is thudding so damn hard, I’m worried it’ll crack my breastbone.

The water sloshes onto the floor as I sink in. Raven moves to clean the mess, but I grab her wrist. “Don’t go.”

I can’t say if my face looks as twisted as my insides feel, but she cups my cheek and bites her lip. “Baby. I’m not going anywhere.”

I tug her toward me, and she slips into the water, her spine curling into my chest. I gather her close, wanting to fuse our bodies together and forget how weak I was today. Pretend I never dialed Alessi’s number.

She runs her lips over each of my knuckles. “There’s something else, Nico. Something you’re not telling me.”

Of course she senses it; she’s the woman who owns my heart. The last person I want knowing about my actions. But she strokes my hands and traces watery circles on my knees and calves. I lean the back of my head into the hard tile, jaw clenched. She doesn’t speak, but her feathering fingers loosen my vocal chords. “I almost broke the law to save Josh.”

Shame seeps through me as the words croak out.

Her hands freeze. The bubbles stop their lazy spin. “Does this have to do with the call in the motel? Forcing a false confession?”