Thrive (Addicted, #4)(36)

“Yeah,” I agree. “Rose can handle anything.”

Ryke reluctantly redirects his course of action, and he rests his hand on the small of Daisy’s back, silently telling her to open the bathroom door.

This is it.

The old wood creaks as she opens it wide. We all slowly walk in, and my mouth just drops further. No turtles or monkeys or even mold.

The two showers are huge. Too large, in fact. As if they’re made for communal purposes. Oh my God. What if they’re made specifically for orgies? What if production believes that I’ll hook up with multiple people in them?

“What is this?” Lo asks with a deep glare.

“We’re all sharing one bathroom,” Ryke announces, leaning against one of the four sinks.

“Rose would have said something…” I trail off.

Daisy says, “I don’t think Rose knew before today.”

“Lily…” Lo places a hand on my shoulder, concern cloaking his gorgeous face. I must look petrified. At least, that’s exactly how I feel.

My privacy has been slowly stripped for months, and now it’s almost all disappeared.

“I don’t like this,” I mutter under my breath.

My immediate thought isn’t damn, we can’t fuck in the shower. It’s my third or fourth thought, which (I think) is progress. My first thought is how embarrassing it’ll be if Ryke or Connor walks in on me showering. Oh no…what if a cameraman sees me naked? What if he catches it on film?

“They can’t film in the bathrooms. It’s in the contract,” Lo reminds me.

“Are you sure you can’t read my mind?” I whisper, the humor lost in my voice.

He hugs me close. There is nowhere safer than in Loren Hale’s arms.

“Do you jack off in the shower?” Daisy asks casually to Ryke, a smile to her voice. It instantly causes Lo to tense. She’s become almost too open around his brother.

Ryke doesn’t miss a beat. “I don’t have to jack off, sweetheart.”

“Wow, the pent up frustration must hurt then,” she says with sarcasm. “No wonder you’re so moody.”

“Fucking hilarious.” And then he undoes her bun, sliding her hairband on his wrist and messing her long locks with a rough hand. Her blonde strands stick out wildly. When he finishes touching her, a small smile peeks on the corner of her lips.

“Out of curiosity,” she says, not fixing her unkempt hair, “where do you pick up girls?”

Ryke glances at his brother, just recognizing that we’re in the room with him. I know what it feels like to be so magnetized by someone that you forget about your surroundings.

My lips part at a sudden realization.

Ryke may be actually falling for my sister.

A girl who turns seventeen next month.

It’s a feeling, but one I sense deep in my bones like I did Connor and Rose.

I can’t tell Lo about my suspicions. Nothing good will come of that.

“You’re always curious,” Ryke answers vaguely. Still, he has trouble censoring himself. “I meet people at the gym or really anywhere I fucking go out.”

“Have you dated a fan?” she asks.

Lo interjects, “Yeah he has. Twice so far. And they were his age.”

Ryke stares at the ground, not saying a word. I can’t read his dark expression either.

“Cool,” Daisy says, nodding a couple times. “I bet they were sweet. I’ve considered dating a fan, but most of mine are too old.”

“Like twenty-three?” Lo wonders, his voice biting. I wince. That’s Ryke’s age.

“No, more like thirty-five.”

I’m pretty sure Daisy is picking up all the hints. She’s just dismissing them with ease.

I hold onto Lo’s arm. He’s at such a good place with Ryke. I don’t want that to change because of my little sister. Maybe, one day, it’ll have to, but not now.

“You should consider dating someone around your age, Dais,” Ryke says pointblank.

“I have,” she says, heading towards the door. “It hasn’t been anything special.” With this, she leaves. My eyes meet the camera lens that remains pointed at me. Jeez.

“She likes you way too much,” Lo says.

“Look, I’m trying to shut her down without hurting her fucking feelings,” Ryke retorts. “But she’s my friend. I’m not going to push her away completely.”

“Here’s a tip: maybe you shouldn’t talk about jacking off in front of her.” Lo crosses his arms. “Is it that fucking hard?”

“For me, it is.”

Lo stares at him for a long minute. I anticipate something really nasty. He says, “I bet your teachers hated you in high school.” That wasn’t so bad.

Ryke lets out a laugh. “I got detention almost every day for saying fuck. So yeah, they weren’t too fond of me.”

I peek past Lo’s shoulder to scrutinize the showers again. “They’re huge.”

“It’ll be okay,” Lo reassures me, his hands lowering to my hips.

I hope so, but everything the production company has setup feels like drama bait.

We’re bound to feed into it.





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0 years : 05 months