“I know what you like in the bedroom,” I reminded him. “It wasn’t such a stretch to assume my brother was also into it. It was a stretch to learn all of them are.”
Lincoln finished rinsing and washing my arm. He turned off the spray and sat down on the edge of the tub, his body neatly tucked between my spread knees.
“I have to admit I’m very curious about what kinks get Finn off,” Lincoln muttered. “He’s a bit of a loose cannon.”
“Oh, God.” I covered my face with my hands. “Please don’t.”
Lincoln laughed and stood, pulling my face against his stomach and wrapping his arms around me as best he could at the awkward angle. I hooked my non-tattooed arm around the backs of his thighs and sighed my weight down onto him.
“You’re gonna be okay, Smith,” Lincoln whispered, stroking his fingers through my hair. “I know it doesn’t feel like it, but it’s the truth.”
I was okay when my mother sold me to my father as a pre-teen, and I was okay after coming into a house with three brothers who were already thick as thieves. I was okay after rebelling so hard I almost lost my scholarship, and I was okay after deciding that maybe the Covington name wasn’t so badafter all. I would absolutely be okay after this, but that didn’t make it suck less in the meantime.
“I know,” I agreed. “I don’t have any other choice.”
CHAPTER 8
RIGGS
My text to Smith went unanswered until Saturday morning. I was on the couch with a steaming mug of tea when my phone vibrated against the coffee table, screen blinking to life. Something in my body must have reflexively known it was him because my heart immediately slammed itself against my rib cage in an attempt to escape. Taking a swallow of my drink and ignoring the way my hand shook as I raised the mug to my mouth, I leaned forward and grabbed my phone.
Smith
I’m fine, thank you for checking.
I’m actually here, with your hoodie. If you’re awake.
I didn’t mean to steal it. I was just out of sorts.
I practically dropped my phone and my tea at the same time, scrambling off the couch and through the apartment. Yanking open the front door, I took the stairs down into the shop and flipped on the lights, finding Smith on the other side of the glass, Ev’s hoodie hanging over his arm.
Unlocking the door, I cracked it open enough for Smith to come inside. The bells jingled so loud when the door closed, I winced.
“Did I wake you?” he asked, cheeks red as strawberries.
“No,” I said. “I was up. Why?”
Smith looked anywhere but at me, gesturing at me with nervous fingers. I tucked my chin toward my chest and looked down at myself, realizing I’d been so excited about Smith’s arrival I’d neglected to put clothes on. I’d slept in a ratty pair of plaid pajama bottoms that were a size too big for me. The stretched-out elastic waistband barely clung to my hips, revealing so much of my happy trail the base of my shaft was almost exposed.
“Oh, shit.”
He shook the hoodie at me, and I grabbed it quickly, pulling it over my head and tugging it down to cover as much of my body as possible. Smith’s cheeks didn’t get any closer to their normal color, and I ran a hand through my hair to shove it back from my face.
“Sorry about that,” I muttered.
“It’s fine.” He nodded quickly, now staring at my bare toes. “I shouldn’t have come over unannounced.”
“It’s…it’s okay.” I licked my lips and pulled them between my teeth, suddenly unsure of what else to say. This wasn’t like me. I didn’t have problems with people. I didn’t…I wasn’tattractedto people. At least, not in any way that mattered to them.
“I should go,” he said, at the same time I asked, “Did you want some tea?”
Smith chewed the inside of his cheek, blinking up at me. “No coffee?”
“I mean, I’ve got some in the shop, but not upstairs.”
“And you were inviting me upstairs?” he asked.
Is that what I had meant to do?
