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Lawson’s arms, stronger than I could have imagined, guided me back toward the bed. And despite wanting to get to the bottom of what he had just revealed, I let him.
When I was settled back against my pillows, I held tight to his hand and refused to let go. “Talk to me.”
22
Lawson
“Talk to me,” she pleaded, her sky-blue eyes begging me to tell her what I’d meant.
I hadn’t planned on telling her that I’d always considered her mine today. Or tomorrow. And probably not for another ten years honestly. But, when she’d said that I’d been mean to her, a jerk, and she looked at me with conviction in her eyes, it had tumbled out. She wasn’t just accusing me of being an asshole, she’d meant it, felt it. And I couldn’t stand it.
Over the years, I’d always considered her mine. Not in the caveman way like she’d joked. But when we were kids, she was just so innocent. She was always chasing after Hampton, getting into trouble, and I couldn’t stop the protective instinct when it came to her. And then as we grew older, that brotherly love changed. She’d become more than just the sweet girl who got herself into situations she shouldn’t have. She’d become the woman I wanted to take care of.
And so, I had.
She just didn’t know it.
I pulled the covers back up over her and then turned away.
“Are you really just going to walk away from me?” she snapped.
I smiled to myself. She was so damn feisty. “I was going to grab a chair. Unless you’d rather I just stand over you?” I pulled the chair from her desk to the side of the bed and settled on to the edge of it.
I’d barely gotten comfortable before she asked almost timidly, “So, when you pulled me out of the pool, I became yours?” The way she was looking at me, as though I’d just given her the gift she’d always wanted, made my mouth go dry. It was all I could do to nod in response.
“And…” she trailed off.
“Listen, it doesn’t mean anything anymore. Maybe it did at one time. But I’m over you now. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Her eyes widened. “Over me?”
“Jesus, this is awkward,” I mumbled, pushing a hand through my hair. I had lots of fantasies over the years of telling her how I felt. But in all of them, she’d stared up at me with doe eyes, and I’d said something so damn romantic she’d throw herself at me and confess she felt the same.
But this. This rushed, ridiculous announcement that she was mine was not one of the scenarios that had played out in my head. And not once, in all of those make-believe situations, had I ever tol
d her I was no longer interested in her. Probably because, it wasn’t true. I wasn’t over her. Not in the least. It felt wrong to lie to her, but I pressed my lips together anyway and confirmed. “Yes, over you.”
She sat upright in the bed and swung her legs around to let them dangle off the side. “I didn’t ever know I was under you!” she shouted.
In that moment, I wished she were under me, and maybe over me too. But I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “When we were kids, I just wanted to protect you. But as we got older…”
“As we got older what?” she prodded.
I didn’t want to confess to her that I’d been head over heels for her nearly my entire life. Not now. Not when it was obvious she wasn’t interested in me. I didn’t want to open myself up to her that way, but now, I’d said too much, and it was too damn late to backtrack. “As we got older, my feelings changed.”
It wasn’t the whole truth, but it was all I was willing to give.
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and leaned forward, her face mere inches from mine and grabbed my hand. “Changed how?” she breathed, her words ghosting across my lips.
My tongue darted out to wet my lips and Piper’s eyes followed the movement. “You became more than just an annoying kid sister.” I shrugged, hoping it would hide the fact that my heart was in my throat as I confessed. “I still felt the need to take care of you, when you got yourself into shit you shouldn’t have. I just also wanted to kiss you at the same time that I wanted to strangle you.”
The confession burned on its way out, but the moment the truth was out there, a weight lifted from my shoulders. Carrying around the desire for years, keeping it hidden from her had weighed heavier than even I realized until the moment it was out in the open. It didn’t even matter what she did with the information at this point, the relief was worth it.
The hand that had been resting on mine fell away and her lips parted. “You wanted to kiss me? When?”
For someone so smart, she could be so dense at times. “When did I not?” I laughed. “I would have probably sold my soul to the devil for one kiss back in the day.”
If I was honest, I may still be willing to make that deal. Only now, I probably wouldn’t want to stop with just her lips on mine.
