“Ignore it?” he questioned, looking puzzled.
Stretching my arms out, I shrugged. “Yes. Ignore this weird thing we have going on.” I was so confused, I wanted him to touch meandto stay away from me at the same time. It made no sense.
Phoenix clearly had no problem with it. “Why is it weird? It’s the most natural thing in the world. It’s called mutual attraction, Harper. We’re not kids anymore.”
“So, you think I’m pretty?” I said in a soft voice, needing some validation. Pathetic, I know.
Nix released a growl of frustration and raked his fingers through his hair before pushing to his feet. “What do you want from me, Harper? You either want me to kiss you, or you don’t,” he grunted with his teeth bared, looking down at me from his towering height. I shifted in my seat, wanting to stand, but that would bring our faces closer together. Or should I say face to chest, considering his height?
“I don’t know what I want,” I sighed, twisting the silver ring on my finger. I’d found it in the girls’ restrooms at school and had ‘forgotten’ to hand it in.
Phoenix smirked. “Clearly. Well, you need to think long and hard about that because I don’t play games, especially not with you. If Ma suspects anything is going on, we’re both fucked. You know that.” I watched as he moved away from the sofa and walked over to the cabinet where they hid their liquor.
“Interesting choice of words,” I muttered, enjoying the sight of his muscled back as he started foraging in the boy’s version of a mini bar.
“You’re such a fucking baby sometimes. You make me want to spank the shit out of you,” he called over his shoulder.
His words generated a sweet hum between my thighs, but I kept my voice steady. “Yeah, you and what army? You touch me like that, you die,” I mumbled under my breath. I so didn’t mean it.
The door of the cabinet clicked closed, and he turned towards me, clutching a bottle of spirits. With his free finger and thumb, he pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes again. “OK, time out. I’ve said sorry about the pastandwhat happened on Saturday, can’t we leave it there and move on?”
I lowered my legs to the floor and stood up. “Move on where? With each other or generally?” I scanned his perfect face, almost like the answer to what was going on would be written there.
Phoenix dropped his hand and opened his eyes. Once he had twisted the top off the bottle, he cut me a glance.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Are you saying you want something romantic with me?” He tipped the rim of the bottle at me as he spoke. Yep, that was about as romantic as a death threat. Could a man like Phoenix even do romance?
And that was the million-dollar question.Did I want romance from him?
Yes, you do!
But what happens when he finds outwhatyou are?
My hands started to itch. The ring I’d stolen now felt like it was burning through my finger.
“Harper!” he barked.
Shifting on my feet, feeling uncomfortable beneath his penetrating stare, I replied. “No—yes. I don’t know. It’s all so messed up.” I struggled to formulate a response, the words almost getting stuck in my mouth.
I moved around the back of the sofa I had been sitting on and rested my hands against it. I needed support as my legs had started to feel like Jell-O. I hadn’t had lunch, which would be part of the reason for that.
My shoulders slumped as Phoenix lifted the whisky to his lips and drank. Once he’d lowered the bottle and I had his attention again, I explained, part of how I was feeling. “I can’t forgive you for leaving me, Nix, but I know I don’t want to carry on as we are. At each other’s throats all the time.”
He took another drink and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Me neither. Should we call a truce then? Stop striking sparks off each other for a change. God knows our brothers and Ma will be thankful for that,” he pondered, nodding towards the open doorway.
Phoenix moved towards me, the bottle in one hand and his other scratching the scruff on his jaw. The rugged look suited him.
“Well?”
“I could agree to a truce. But…”
He rolled his eyes as he came to stand before me. “Here it comes.”
I began to play with my hair, feeling anxious. “No more trotting your victims out in front of my nose.” His proximity was having a strange effect on my pulse rate.
Nix’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Victims?”
