Page 150 of Trust Me

“You’re right. Thanks for the reminder.”

Walking past him, I tried to keep my chin high. There was no harm in disengaging, but there was in showing weakness.

It didn’t matter if he disliked me.

At least, that was how I’d feel in any other situation. But he was Dean’s brother. He was an important piece of this puzzle, and without him, there would be a giant hole in it.

After wrapping the plate back up, I set it in the fridge and made my way down the hall. It was dark in the room, but I saw Dean lift his head.

“Hey,” he said groggily. “Where’d you go?”

“Food.”

I crawled into the bed and immediately pressed my face against his chest. His arm came around me, and he stroked my back, up and down. Clinging to his bare skin, I hooked my leg over his, holding on for dear life. If I didn’t let go, he couldn’t slip away from me.

A door closed beside ours, just a little too hard. Dean lifted his head again, but I tugged it back down to the pillow.

“Did something happen?” he asked, keeping his voice low.

There was no point in lying, so I sighed and pulled myself closer to avoid looking at him. “We had a talk.”

“Tell me.”

“I was right. He doesn’t like me.”

“That makes no sense. He just doesn’t know you.”

I shook my head, fighting the burn in my eyes. “He thinks I’m taking advantage of you.”

Dean laughed, like that wasn’t even a possibility. “Taking advantage of me, huh? He’s an idiot. I’ll talk to him.”

“Just leave it. He won’t change his mind.”

“You don’t know that. Blake’s not great at subtlety, but he also sucks at communicating. It was probably a misunderstanding.”

“No.”

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“I . . .”

He lifted my chin, forcing me to look at him. In the dark, I could only see the outline of his features. Leaning forward, I kissed him firmly, trying to draw some strength from him. I pushed on his chest until he rolled over, bringing me with him. Propping myself up, I stared down at him while I traced his lips with my fingers.

“I’m a stray.”

His grip on my thighs tightened. “Is that what he said?”

“It’s really not a big deal. I just didn’t want to hide it from you.” When he continued to stare at me, I smiled, hoping he’d be able to see it. “I’ve had worse things said to me.”

“I don’t care. He doesn’t get to talk to you like that.”

“Let’s just drop it. He’s your brother.”

“And you’re my boyfriend.”

“I am?”

“Yeah, if you want to be.”