AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It all started at that housewarming party. That’s when he’d finally noticed me and the fuse was lit. The tension started and built from there.
Focusing back on the present, I asked. “Have you ever been in a relationship?”
He shook his head. “Nope, I never had an interest in one before now.”
A thrill swept through me at that. He may have slept with a lot of women, but I was the only one who got this.
“What about you?” He asked, and I shrugged.
“Nothing serious. Everyone only saw the kid version of me. It was an unfortunate byproduct of being raised here. Most people don’t see me as an adult.”
His smile fell into a frown, the pads of his fingers trailing lightly against my back as he questioned. “Do you get that a lot?”
I caught the thinly veiled protectiveness and shrugged. “Sometimes. People respect me, to be clear, but there’s always this undertone of affection. It’s not bad, per se, but you can only get so many head pats before you start to feel like a child.”
Thinking back to the first time I wore a dress around him, I smiled. “The housewarming party was when I decided to do something to change that. I’d say it was a success, given everything.” I flicked a hand between us, and he laughed.
“You’re not wrong about that.”
He sighed, his chin resting on my head as he continued. “I’m sorry it took me so long to figure everything out. I didn’t mean to disappear on you for a month, but everything was so tangled I could hardly think straight. I needed someone to talk to, but I was determined to not tell Devin about it.”
Then he snorted, “Which I wound up doing anyway out of sheer desperation. I thought for sure he was going to neuter me, but he was completely calm.”
That sounded like Devin, though part of what he said made me raise a brow.
“Why would you think he’d hurt you? He’s your best friend and has been for years.”
There’d been very few memories I had where one was without the other growing up. Parties, school events, no matter what it was, they were side by side through it.
He shrugged, not looking at me now. “Because you’re his sister. I may be his friend, but I also have a reputation that would make most people wary of having me anywhere near their female relatives.”
Ah, now I understand.
Shaking my head, I shifted to use his arm as a pillow. “Trust me, Devin isn’t the one you need to worry about in that regard.”
I grimaced, continuing. “My mom and dad, however, are a whole new story.”
He jerked, worrying bubbling to the surface as he asked. “I thought they liked me?”
I nodded, “They do, but they also have never hidden how much they don’t like your habit of sleeping around. Dad, at the very least, is going to be uneasy with you. He’s always been overprotective, and while I know you’re not doing this just to get me into bed, he’s going to have to see it for himself.”
He swallowed hard, discomfort clear as he muttered. “Something tells me that our next meeting isn’t going to be a fun experience for me.”
Knowing what I did of Dad? He wasn’t wrong.
I pressed a hand against his back and rubbed. “You have Devin’s approval, not to mention mine, so that’ll go a long way. Mom will hopefully be easier to convince, and after she’s on board, it’s only a matter of time until Dad is too.”
That was the hope, at least.
He still looked a bit queasy, but some of his color came back as he nodded. “I’ve never really thought about my reputation before; it was just a byproduct of how I chose to live, but now it’s going to bite me in the most spectacular way…”
I didn’t say anything since he was right, and after a long minute he rubbed a hand over his face with a groan. “I’m going to be dreading that meeting for weeks now, great.”
Leaning forward, I kissed his head. “They don’t usually visit often, so you have time.”
He grunted, “They live in town though. Once word spreads that we’re together, I’m absolutely going to get a surprise visit from them.”
I bit my lip, considering how to spin this to work in our favor. There wasn’t much we could do. Dad was going to be his overprotective self no matter what, but maybe…
