Strings of the Heart (Runaway Train #3)(32)

“Whatever,” I grumbled.

Nudging my shoulder with hers, she said, “Your turn.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“And why not?”

“I don’t want you to think badly of me.”

She rolled her eyes. “Like I don’t already know you’re a slut.”

“Y-You think I’m a slut?” I sputtered indignantly.

“Yeah, I do.”

“I’ll have you know my number isn’t over a hundred.”

“How comforting,” she mused.

Rising to my feet, I stalked over to the trashcan and tossed my beer bottle. “You know, the fact that I’m now a famous musician and have that low a number is pretty impressive. Your brother’s was off the charts.”

“Not surprising that Jake surpassed slut to reside into dirty whore territory.”

My anger dissipated, and I found myself laughing at the summation of her brother. After popping the top of my third beer, I sighed. “I think it’s time for a conversation change.”

“More questions?”

“Sure. Just ones that don’t have anything to do with sex.”

“Sounds fair to me.” With a grin, she added, “Fire away.”

I thought about a safe question to ask her. “Okay, how old were you when you drank for the first time?”

“Sixteen—it was the champagne at my party.”

“Ah, I see.”

“And you?”

“Twelve.”

Allison’s eyes bulged. “Twelve? That’s just a baby.”

“It was just one drink. I didn’t start down an alcoholic path at that age.”

She giggled. “I’d hope not.” Taking another sip of her beer, she asked, “So where was it?”

“It was during a society party of my parents. I wanted to be like the older guys who were there. We’ve already established that I was a socially awkward misfit, so it should make total sense that I was being a dick to try and fit in. So when they dared me to drink a glass of Scotch, I downed it in one gulp.” I shuddered as the memory flickered through my mind. “I thought I was going to die. I think I ended up puking most of the night, and lying to my nanny that it was some stomach bug.”

Allison frowned. “You poor thing.”

I chuckled. “Nah, I deserved it. But it did teach me a lesson about trying to fit in with the older kids. From that point on, I didn’t give a shit about what they thought—I was really my own person.”

“Such a wise revelation to have for such a young person,” Allison mused.

Shaking my head, I replied, “Kids in my world grow up fast. When you’re shuttled away to boarding school practically as a baby, you learn to only rely on yourself. In the end, that’s all you have.”

When I looked up at Allison, tears shimmered like diamonds in her dark eyes. Trying to ease the tension of the moment, I laughed. “Okay, no more beers for you.”

“Sometimes you remind me so much of Jake.”

“I do?”

She nodded. “He tried for so long to close himself off to other people—not to let them see his weaknesses.” A lone tear streaked down her face. “His pain.”

“Allison—”

“I see you, Rhys,” she whispered.

My heartbeat thrummed wildly in fear at her statement, causing me to feel like an utter pansy. Christ, what had I done to make it so easy for her to be able to see through all my bullshit? The better question was why she was still sitting beside me after seeing the real me?

As if reading my mind, Allison said, “I see all of you, and I’m not disgusted.”

Not liking the direction the conversation was taking, I rose out of the swing. I needed to put distance between Allison and myself. Things were getting too personal and deep too quickly. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d opened up to anyone like I had with her. It wasn’t enough that she was so compassionate and caring. At the same time, she distracted me by being so f**king hot. At one moment, I wanted to hug her to me for the comfort she could provide. Then at the next, I wanted to peel her sexy-as-hell black dress off that could make a guy spring wood at fifty paces and stroke every inch of her creamy white skin.

“Yeah, well, I think that’s enough for tonight. You have class in the morning, and I need my beauty sleep to gird up strength to deal with my parents.”

After wiping her tear-stained cheeks, Allison bent over and picked up her sexy heels that she had discarded when we sat down. Her eyes held so much emotion that I could tell she was fighting hard to hold it back. “Thank you for inviting me tonight.”

“It’s me that should be thanking you. I might’ve been auctioned off to a cunt, as you called it, if it hadn’t been for you.”

A shadow of a smile played on her lips. “I’m glad I could save the day.”

Without second guessing myself, I leaned in and gave her a hug. As we swayed back and forth, Allison’s hands came up to grip the back of my shirt. Having my arms around her stirred me on both an emotional and physical level. But with her sexy curves pressed against me, I was certainly focusing more on the physical side. She was so delicate, just like the magnolia on the pendant I’d given her. With her scent and softness overwhelming me, my mind railed at me to pull away. All right, ass**le, you have about two seconds to pull away before she feels just how much you’re enjoying copping a feel.