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He rears back, stumbles a step or two while holding his cheek. “Kels?”
“You…” She jabs him in the chest. “You were the one who kissed me, remember?”
“Oh shit,” Rogue whispers.
This cannot be good.
“It was a mistake,” Riot grinds between his teeth. “I was stoned.”
“Don’t I know it?” She laughs harshly.
“Can we please let it fucking go?” Riot snaps.
“You think this is about that?” She sounds incredulous, and a little on the edge.
“Isn’t it?”
“You asshole.” Her voice cracks like a whip. “God, you are so full of yourself.”
“Then what the fuck is your problem?” he yells.
“Get a clue.” She turns on her heel and stomps back into the hedge.
“Christ, little bro, what the hell did you start?” Rogue says as he sits with his back to the wall after we watch Riot disappear into the hedge too. He wraps his arm around my shoulders.
“Are you going to talk to him?” I ask.
He chuckles. “Fuck no. Not unless he comes to me for advice. That mess is his to deal with.”
“What about Ro?” I lean my head on his shoulder.
He kisses the top of my head. “Baby, I have no idea when he kissed Kelsey. Hell, I don’t know if he’s even dating Ro, or if they’re still just dancing around each other. Either way, she has enough on her plate for now with Alec fucking Hawthorne terrorizing her. Riot needs to sort his own problems out. There are some things you try to protect the people you love from, and there are other things that you need to give them the opportunity to deal with, right?”
“Right.” I can’t help but feel that he’s trying to nudge me into telling him everything. And I should tell him everything. It’s the right thing to do. But so is making my brother confess to his crimes. What he’s doing to me isn’t right. What he’s threatened to do to Adira is so freaking hurtful. But what he’s doing to Ro is downright criminal, and I’m scared he’s only going to get worse when it all goes public.
“You would tell me if there was someone—”
“There is no one else.”
“Not even that guy, Nathaniel Croft.”
“I already explained him,” I say. “I don’t know what else I can say.”
He takes a breath and rubs his lips together.
I dread his next words.Who is T-Swift? Why are you sneaking around with them? What are you keeping from me? How can I trust you?How can I love you when you make it so difficult?
Those questions don’t come. He climbs to his feet and uses the torch on his phone to locate his boxer briefs and jeans before he snatches up the pack of Camels and steps out onto the platform.
A second later the bulbs come back on outside, bathing the area in light.
I’m not overwhelmed by relief like I thought I would be as I collect my clothes and dress. The aroma of the cigarette reaches my nostrils. I didn’t know Rogue smoked. We’ve been seeing each other for months and this is the first time he’s smoked around me.
I pick up his Henley and take it outside with me.
He’s staring out over the hedge, his brows pulled as tight as his jaw. The corded muscles in his neck stand out. He puts the filter to his lips and inhales. His cheeks hollow. A plume of smoke dissipates into the air while he grinds the butt into a tin bucket full of sand sitting against the fort. He doesn’t look at me the whole time. Not until he takes his shirt from my grip and tugs it on, smoothing it down over his abs.
We’re at an impasse. He’s so patient with me. So careful. And I’m giving him nothing but doubts. I don’t know how to fix it without making everything a thousand times worse. Even if he takes Alec being my brother in stride, he’s still going to go after him like Liam Neeson’s character inTakengoes after the bad guys.
