“I don’t need to date for marriage. I can have a fling.”
“I’m going to be sick.”
“Just because you see me as a sister doesn’t mean I don’t have needs.”
“A sister? You think I see you as a sister?”
“Well, yeah.” She doesn’t have time to scream as I grab her ankle, yanking her down the bed towards me.
“I wouldn’t have wet dreams about my sister, Olive.”
Her mouth gasps for breath. “What?”
“You’re my best friend, and I respect that, and I respect you. But don’t get it twisted. I think you’re gorgeous and sexy as hell. That’s why no man deserves you.”
Her mouth opens and shuts as she stares at me with wide eyes.
“So you’d rather me die alone and miserable because I’m too good for anyone?” She twists her body, trying to putdistance between us, but I anchor my arm around her waist until she can’t budge.
“No, I want you to live your life. Make bad choices, get drunk in college, and I want you to find yourself without giving anything up for some guy.”
She finally stops fighting to get away from me. “I’m not your mom, Hayes. I won’t end up with someone like your dad.”
“I know.” I sigh into her shoulder. “I know.”
“If you think I’m so… Hot,” she mumbles as if she had a hard time saying the word. “Why haven’t you ever told me?”
“You deserve better than me, dove.”
“Shouldn’t that be my choice?”
“Of course, it is.”
“Then kiss me,” she breathes, searching my eyes.
God, I want to. “If I kiss you, then one will never be enough.” My thumb traces her cheekbone as she swallows thickly.
“Okay,” she whispers, letting her eyes flutter closed.
“I’d ruin your life.”
“What?”
“I’ll consume your every thought,” I utter against her neck. “I’ll demand all of your time.” She gasps as my teeth scrape her tender skin.
“But worst of all, I’ll never let you out of my sight. All of your dreams would take a back seat because I’d make you fall madly in love with me.”
Her eyes blink, grasping for rational thought when my lips trace her jaw line. “I’d make you drown in this feeling that I’ve been struck by since the moment I laid eyes on you.”
“Jensen,” she utters my first name. The one that few people have the privilege of using.
“If you still want me to kiss you in, let’s say, ten years, I will. But only after you’ve accomplished all of your dreams and are ready to settle for a loser like me.”
“Ten years?” She gasps.
All part of her perfectly curated life’s plan.
Go away for undergrad.
