“I love her,” he grinned. “You can’t be mad at me for that.”
“No, but I can be mad that I no longer have a place to sleep.”
“Well, it sounded like he wanted you to go over tonight.”
“Yeah,” I snorted. “So, he can fuck me.”
Sawyer winced in disgust.
“Don’t even look at me like that after all the stuff you’ve put me through.”
“You’re right,” he apologized. “Don’t you want to be with him?”
“Of course I do. I just…don’t want to be the woman in his bed, and only in his bed.”
“Ah, so it’s like that.”
“Big time. I mean, I hardly know a thing about the man, and what little I did find out was from his sister. And he explicitly told me that anything in his past is off-limits.”
“So…dark and dangerous,” he nodded.
“Probably.” Sighing, I flopped back on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. “You know the worst part about it?”
He flopped down beside me, linking his hand with mine, giving me a squeeze. “The fact that you’re so in love with him and he doesn’t even look at you as anything more than a plaything? That you can see this connection with him, and you want it so desperately, but if you push, he’ll just walk away. And even though you know you’re only going to get your heart broken, you somehow keep telling yourself it’s okay because you need him?”
I rolled my head and smiled at my brother. “Wow, you must have been through this more than I realized.”
“Completely.”
“Sawyer…” I sat up, leaning on my elbow. “Can I ask you a real question?”
“Shoot.”
“Do you really love Scarlet? Or do you just want to love her so you have somebody who you think loves you?”
“Ouch,” he chuckled. “Hit me right where it hurts.”
“I’m serious. Do you really think she’s the right woman for you?”
Shaking his head, he sighed heavily. “She asked me to get you to sign over your rights to the house.”
“What?” I gasped, sitting upright. “But?—”
“I didn’t agree to it. And that’s when I knew it was true. Everything you’ve been telling me all along.”
“But…” He wasn’t sad. He wasn’t moping. He was still smiling.
“Well, I’m not gonna drop her yet,” he grinned. “The sex is still good. But don’t worry. She’ll be out by the end of the week. Then the real depression will kick in.”
Laying down again, I returned his squeeze from earlier. “I’m sorry, Sawyer.”
“Hey, you called it from the start.”
Huffing, I shook my head. “I can’t believe you spent all that money on her engagement ring.”
“Well, not really. It only looked real. I had the guy play it up to make it sound like it was really expensive. What she has isn’t worth more than twenty-five bucks.”
I burst out laughing, holding my stomach as the hilarity of the situation washed over me. “Oh my gosh, she’s gonna be so pissed when she tries to sell it.”
