He took a moment to gather his thoughts. At first, his hands were in his lap, and then he put them on the table. Finally, his eyes met mine and held them.
“Emery isn’t like me,” he started off. “Even after everything, he still trusts way too easily. But,” he paused, “he seems to like you. Which means, I’lltryto not get on your nerves. No promises, though.”
He glanced back down at the table, his jaw clicking. “I know Steven has no hold on me anymore, but I’m not sure Emery does. I love him, but he won’t allow himself to do certain things.”
At the end, he glanced back up at me. Was he expecting to me understand what he was hinting at? Because I had no clue.
“Just tell me, Enzo. I’ll do the best I can with whatever you’re wanting from me.”
“Scarlett says I can’t hold my worries in, and that you’ll answer them. Is that true?”
“Yes. I won’t lie to you or Emery. Ever. Not to save your emotions, either.”
His shoulders lifted as he breathed in deep. “Emery won’t do anything in bed until he hears that it’s okay to do so. Steven controlled everything. Even…anything to do with sex.” The last three words were whispered.
“So, let me make sure I’m understanding.” I swallowed. “Steven controlled your orgasms?” A nod. “And you think Emery needs my permission to be able to do that?”
“And everything that leads up to that.”
Suppressing my own sigh, I looked at Enzo. Really looked at him. He couldn’t seem to keep his gaze on me for longer than a few seconds at a time. I gathered he wanted to get this discussion over with fast.
“I’ll talk to him and let him know it’s okay. As long as there’s protection.”
Enzo’s gaze snapped to mine in surprise.
“That means I need to run to the store first. There’re no condoms here. Haven’t had a reason to need them.” I wasn’t sure why I tacked on the last part, but as I did so, his shoulders relaxed somewhat.
“Could you get stuff to make cookies, too? When we were… elsewhere… one of the things we talked about was making cookies together. Something that would benormal.”
“I have a better idea.” I paused, leaning forward on the table. “You and Emery can both come to the store with me.”
“Really?” I wasn’t sure he wanted to go by that tone.
“Absolutely. You and Emery aren’t forced to stay in the house. Steven is no longer a concern. But, can your knee take it?”
“Yeah.” He rolled his eyes. “I’ve had way worse and still had to whore myself out. This is nothing.”
I clamped my lips, not caring for his blasé tone.
“If you’re sure.”
“I’m tired, but I’m okay.” He took another breath, shoulders stiffening before he spoke again. “Emery says he’s slept with you.”
“He sleeps better when he has someone to hold him. When I first saw him, he was dead on his feet.”
“Thanks for looking out for him.” Enzo’s eyes dropped away from me.
“Of course. I want to do the same for you.” He scoffed. “Emery cares for you, so it’s the least I can do. He was devastated about what happened. And so was I, since I had no clue what to do to help him to fix himself.”
“He doesn’t need fixing.”
“No, he’s pretty perfect the way he is,” I agreed.
Emery
The shower did little to help me wake up. I would have thought that getting caught up on sleep the past few days would have made waking up from a nap easier.
It was anything but.
