AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I am a lot envious.” His mouth twisted. “I tried to shove my way into their family, at first. Even years later, boundaries confuse me, but Minnow is patient enough to explain things at length and repeatedly, if necessary.”
He must have caught something in my expression, because his brows rose.
“I’m aware my boundaries aren’t ideal now, so you can understand how bad things were before I learned better. I was desperate to belong somewhere—to someone. Using any means.”
“I don’t think there’s anything strange about wanting to be loved.”
“Their willingness to give me another chance says a lot about them.”
“And about you.”
He shook his head. “I’m not a very nice man. I’ve just learned how to hide it.”
It felt like a warning, but did he expect me to send him away now? After he’d opened up to me like this?
“In my experience, most bad men won’t warn you they’re bad ahead of time.”
His response was a devilish smile that made my brain stall out.
Everything about Loïc made me think of sex—the liquid way he moved, his sensual mouth, his sly gaze. Simply being in his presence reminded me how his mouth had felt on my overheated skin.
“I always honor safewords.”
My nervous laugh sounded shrill. “I don’t think I’ll need to safeword—not yet.”
“No, not while we’re eating.”
I swallowed the wrong way and coughed.
His brows drew together, and he watched me with concern.
“I’m okay.”
He relaxed and went back to eating. The man was all lean muscle, and I envied how much he packed away.
“Fast metabolism?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“I don’t eat often.” He smiled wryly.
“Too busy?”
“I often forget I have a body that needs to be taken care of.”
“Right? It’s so inconvenient, having to eat and sleep.”
“A waste of time.”
“Think of all the other things I could be doing.”
He arched a brow. “Like what?”
“I don’t know.” His question was meant to be suggestive. “Reading. Playing solitaire.”
He chuckled. “What do you like to read?”
“Mystery novels, mostly.” I wasn’t about to mention all the smut on my phone app.
When he had finished eating, I was still picking at my food, trying to delay the inevitable moment where I was going to have to make a decision about how far I’d let this go. I kept glancing down at my phone to where it lay on the coffee table, waiting for Valor to get my message and call me back. He’d said yes to the theoretical possibility, but now this was real, and I wanted to give him a last chance to change his mind.
