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She leans back.

“I’m sorry,” I mutter. “I’m just so tense.”

“It’s okay. I get it. It can’t be easy, especially because you still want him.”

“Would you believe me if I said I didn’t?”

She shakes her head.

“I guess there’s no point lying,” I sigh, “but you’re right. Two weeks of avoiding him and pretending I don’t feel this way. Can you imagine how destroyed Mom would be if she found out or if we did anything else?”

I almost want Tess to lie and claim that Mom could possibly be supportive. Instead, she looks at me bleakly. We both know any intimacy would upend Mom’s entire world.

“I can’t even imagine how upset she’d be. I can only imagine what my mom would do if I suddenly got steamy with my uncle.”

“That’s not fair. Miles is mystep-uncle. We’re not blood-related, and it’s not like we grew up together. The wedding is the first time we ever met.”

“Okay, fine, but play it through. Let’s say the impossible happens, and your mom decides she doesn’t want to stand in your way. Somehow, Noah is okay with it, too. What then? Do you get married? Have kids?”

I look away. Tess has always been able to read me, one of the best aspects of our friendship. It means I don’t always have to outline the tricky issues in life, but now it’s a curse. I don’t want her to see her words’ effect on me, the undeniable truth that I’ve thought about what she just said.

Kids, a family, marriage.

“Marriage between a step-uncle and his step-niece isn’t illegal,” I mutter.

“So, you’ve looked it up?”

I sigh shakily. “I’m just saying, let’s say everything you said came true. There’s nothinglegallystanding in the way of that happening.”

“What about morally?”

“It would be unfair to Mom and Noah. It would be wrong in that way.”

“But not for its own sake? You see no problem with marrying your step-uncle?”

“Not if the circumstances were different.” My words flow out passionately.

I can get on board with resisting Miles for Mom’s sake and resisting him because it would crush his little brother, but not with the idea that there’s anything inherently wrong with us being together.

It’s like I told her. It’s not as if Miles and I arefamilyin any true sense.

“I didn’t mean to rant,” Tess mutters. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt, and I can’t lie. The whole uncle thing? I don’t know. You’re right. You didn’t grow up with him. He’s not your uncle, really, but it’s still…”

“What?” I urge.

“Icky, I guess.”

I disagree, but I’m not in the mood to argue about it, especially since I’m supposed to do everything I can to tame this hunger, not defend it. The conversation continues, but I can’t stop thinking about Tess’s words.

Icky.

It’s the exact opposite for me. It’s steamy, lust-filled, and brimming with the potential for love—the furthest fromickyas possible.

* * *

I spend most of the day in my room, shamelessly avoiding any chance I’ll see Miles again. I’m supposed to work on recipes for a book I’ve been putting together for a couple of years. Somehow I end up on Miles’ professional work page online, the one that shows him standing outside countless buildings with his lips curved into a subtle smile, more of a smirk.

I stop at one which shows him outside a hotel in Turkey. He’s wearing a sleeveless top and shorts, his muscled arms tanned, and his silver hair catching the light.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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