“Nobody’s boiling anything. You interfered in my sex life, and if I’m not getting any, you’re not either.”
We both looked at my finger as it prodded in between his pectoral muscles.
I gasped as he captured my wrist and pulled me towards him. “Hey, if you’ve got an itch to scratch, baby girl, look no further.”
Struggling to free my wrist, I used my other hand to put some space between our bodies. Everything was going into overdrive. “You’re such a creep. Can you at least keep your dick in your pants long enough to have a conversation? And what the hell was the finger sucking shit about?”
“What? They were sticky? Can’t a brother help his little sister?”
“That wasn’t you being brotherly, and we both know it,” I shot back. “You were sucking my fingers as if—as if,” the words wouldn’t come out.
“As if what?” he bit back with a smirk. His half-grin could still melt an iceberg, but I would not back down.
“As if you were sucking something else.” There, it was rushed, but I said it.
“Maybe you should get your mind out of the gutter.”
I gave him an incredulous look, and he released my wrist, taking a step forward. “OK, I was making a point,”
His action made me retreat a step, and we started to do this circling thing. I should have run, but it was like he’d cast a spell on me. I felt very aware that we were alone and almost naked. I laughed humorlessly. “About what? How to act like a dick?
Nix grabbed his junk and stated. “You seem to be fixated on my dick; why is that, do you think?”
I glanced down, and the scene of him clutching his cock almost floored me. I couldn’t believe how turned on I was by such a filthy mouth. I didn’t grace his question with an answer; well, not a truthful one anyway. “I have no fucking clue.” My voice was super high-pitched.
He released himself and folded his arms. “Stop cursing, it doesn’t suit you.” Phoenix peered down his nose at me, like he was master of all he surveyed.
I stomped my foot. “Don’t tell me what I can and cannot do, you’re not my father, and you're certainly not my brother.” I turned away, showing him my back, but he didn’t like that.
A hard hand grabbed my good shoulder and spun me back to face him. “Good, I never wanted to be either!” he whisper-shouted.
I glanced towards his door, fear of waking Ma making me lower my voice. “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
Phoenix let go of me and heaved out a breath of exasperation, before he explained. “I brought Courtney back as she didn’t have her house keys. Thatmeant I would have to wake her grandma, and she is one mean motherfucker. I had to make sure she got back somewhere safe. That’s why I brought her here. Theonlyreason. What type of man would I be to have left her with two wasted strangers?”
My shoulders slumped. “I don’t know. I feel like I don’t know who you are anymore.”
Phoenix watched me with a tired expression, and I realized it wasn’t the right time to analyze the shit between us. “You and me both, Harper. But I could say the same about you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re so down and defeatist these days. Where’s the girl I knew, the one full of hopes and dreams of a better place?”
My legs wobbled as I stared up at him through my lashes. “Maybe she got tired of waiting.”
TEN
HARPER
As soon as they left my mouth, I knew my words would anger him.
Phoenix drew in a sharp breath and looked up at the ceiling before dropping his jaw and shooting me a scornful look. “But you’re not waiting anymore, you’re here.” He gestured around the space with one hand. “You have a family now. Or aren’t we good enough for you? We’re your best shot, Harper. The sooner you accept that, and get your head out of your ass, the better,” Phoenix scathed, dragging a hand of frustration through his hair.
Grabbing his arm, I stopped him, his muscles flexing under my touch. “I never wanted a family. I needed my friend,” I said as I pulled his hand down.
Nix shifted his arm and curled his fingers around my shoulders, holding me in place as he leaned in and said, “And I’m here.”
I so wanted to believe that and to bury my nose in his neck and breathe him the fuck in.
