Ruin(16)

“Besides…” He sighed. “You came to my room, remember?”
“My uncle said to do something crazy.”
He held up his hands. “Anytime you feel the urge, I’m here. In fact, I may have to remind you of this conversation every five minutes or so, hope you don’t mind.”
“Thanks.” I gulped and shoved my hands into my pockets.
“So, we should sleep.”
“What? No painting each others nails and wearing face masks?” I joked.
He threw his head back and laughed. “Well, it’d probably get my focus off of tossing you against the wall and taking every last shred of your innocence. So yeah, maybe I should paint your nails, then I can imagine that you’re not standing in front of me with swollen lips and tousled red hair. Damn, I love your hair.” He reached for a few pieces and sighed.
“Maybe this is a bad idea.” I started backing away.
Wes grabbed my hand. “Good. I like bad ideas, they make me feel alive.”
“And you need to feel more alive then you already do?”
His face fell. He looked down at the ground and whispered, “You have no idea.”



Chapter Thirteen

If she only knew… then again, she’d probably murder me in my sleep. I’d rather die by her hands than… well, never mind.

Weston
“So we doing this or not?” I changed the subject.
She looked at the door, then back at me, then back at the door. Making the decision for her, I twisted the lock and pulled out a pair of boxers and a t-shirt for her to wear. “We don’t have bathrobes in this fancy establishment, but I do have clean clothes for you to sleep in. Now strip.”
“Wh-hat?”
“Kidding.” I laughed though a part of me had to admit I’d been hopeful. “The bathroom’s just through there. Go change, I’ll be sure to be fully clothed when you come back.”
“Okay.” Her hands were shaking. I reminded myself to send Uncle Jo a Christmas ham for his advice. On one hand I was glad it led her to me, but on the other, had she decided to go to some other guy I would have probably ended up in prison. So, maybe not a ham… A card? Sure, a card would be nice.
I quickly peeled off my shirt, threw on a pair of workout shorts and lay on the bed. My dad had texted a few things about being nice to James and David. He also wanted to know how the new meds were. I was so sick and tired of medicine that I wanted to throw something against the wall. I was counting on Kiersten not being a snoop, since my drug collection was happily displayed under my sink, not that she’d even know what the drugs were or how they worked. Even if she did an Internet search for the names she’d be stunned to see over half of them were experimental.
“Ready.” Kiersten’s small voice called from the bathroom as the door opened and the light turned off. She was practically swimming in my clothes. I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face. She looked so damn sexy in my shorts I wanted to charge toward her and rip them from her body.
Self control.
I cleared my throat and patted the bed. “I don’t bite.”
“But you do lick.”
“Always.” I fought to keep my hands at my sides. Damn, but they itched to reach out and pull her against me. “I won’t lick you now, Lamb.”
“Says the wolf,” she sang as she slowly made her way over to the bed and sat next to me. “I don’t do things like this. Furthermore, I’m only doing this to prove a point to my uncle and myself.”
“And what’s that?”
“That I can live,” she said in a low voice. “That I didn’t die with them.”
“Them?” I pulled her against my chest.
“I don’t really talk about it much. Not unless you’re a doctor and charge over two hundred dollars an hour to scribble stuff on a notepad and prescribe me drugs.” Her entire body tightened. “Not that I’m on drugs. I’m just—”
“Kiersten?”
“Yeah.” She sounded like she was going to cry.
“It’s fine to have help.”
After a few moments of silence where her heartbeat slammed against my hand, she gave a jerky nod. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Now, let’s be all crazy and go to sleep.”
“Like old people.” She laughed.
“Yeah, exactly like that.” Because if she squirmed any more against me I was going to lose my mind. “Goodnight, Lamb.”
“Night, Big Bad Wolf.” She yawned and turned to face me. “I should warn you, sometimes I have night terrors.”
“It’s okay, I snore.”
“Are you lying?”
“Yup.”
She sighed and bit her lip. Damn, how I wanted to hold her lips captive like her teeth were.
“I peed the bed once.”
Her eyes widened.
“I was four.”
“How life-altering.”
“It was.” I nodded. “My teddy bear didn’t make it.”
“Tragic.”
I shook my head. “I always wonder to myself, could I have done something different to save my bear?”
Her laugh made my heart skip a beat; in fact, it did a hell of a falter before going back to normal. “Thanks.”
“For what?” I brushed some hair away from her porcelain face.
“Making me feel better.”
“Well, I am your RA…”
“This probably isn’t in the job description.” She laughed. “And I know it wasn’t in the brochure.”