Hold You Against Me (Stripped 4)

My heart stops. That would be a disaster. I can only imagine Shane swaggering into my sister’s picturesque bungalow like a bull in a china shop. “How about no.”

“Why not? At some point you have to tell Honor about him.”

My sister, Honor, is already overprotective. Kip used to keep a cool head, but he’s turned into a regular caveman now that they’re married. They’d probably bar the door as soon as they saw him—and his flashy Viper. “You just want me to tell because you know she’ll freak out.”

“Anyone who cares about you would freak out,” she says. “He’s not good enough for you.”

I focus on the bracelet clasp I’m fighting with, blinking against the sting in my eyes. “Why can’t you just be happy for me? You’re my best friend.”

Her gentle hands take the bracelet from me. In a few seconds she has it attached around my wrist. Then her arms enfold me in a tight hug that steals all the air from my lungs.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers fiercely.

My eyes squeeze shut, and I breathe in her familiar scent. Her arms are more comforting than Shane’s have ever been. “Why can’t you be a guy?”

She pulls back, grinning. “If I were a guy, I’d bang you in a heartbeat.”

My laugh is a little watery. “Thanks.”

“Hey,” she says. “We don’t have to go out tonight. Forget boys. They only bring drama, right?”

“Nah, we should go. We both look fabulous.”

“That’s right. Let him see what he can’t have.”

I wince because that’s not what I’m trying to do.

And I know that Shane won’t accept this forever.

“Do me a favor?” I ask softly.

“Anything.”

“Leave the Shane thing alone for tonight?” There was a look in his eye, a hardness that made me shiver. He doesn’t like being denied. He comes from a wealthy New England family. He’s not used to being told no. “One night. That’s all I’m asking.”

She meets my gaze, and the solemn concern makes my insides clench. “One night,” she says.

I know I’m only postponing the inevitable. Amy will bring this up again, and she’s right. Eventually I will have to introduce my sister to Shane. Eventually I’ll have to give in and let him have sex with me.

History is repeating itself…

That dark little voice in my head reminds me this is all I’d ever been meant for. Shut up and look pretty. The mafia princess who wasn’t even a legitimate daughter. At least that’s what the whispers said. So I tried even harder to be perfect—to be quieter and prettier.

Only my sister was strong enough to defy what was expected of her.

To escape the cruel fiancé chosen for her, we went on the run. We came to Tanglewood to hide. Honor met Kip, who protected her when we were found.

And now we’re safe to be with whomever we want.

Except the only boy I want is the one who died to save us.

* * *

The light drizzle from earlier has turned into a hot summer shower, so we order an Uber and wait under the overhang until it pulls up. The art department uses the older buildings in the university, without the glass and smooth granite bricks of the engineering building. Of course it’s a campus joke because the art department doesn’t have much money or resources. But I actually like the crumbling old buildings, the feeling of history, of being a part of something bigger than myself. Maybe that’s because most of the time I feel so small.

My loft is a one-bedroom apartment just off campus, as ancient as those old buildings. Honor wasn’t thrilled about me moving out, but it was just too stifling knowing she worried about me every time I came home late. So I moved here last semester with the promise that I visit at least once a week for Sunday night dinner.

We get to Party Row when Saturday night is in full swing, flashing neon signs advertising clubs and tattoo parlors and thinly veiled illegal pursuits. The car stops at the end of the street, where barricades are set up and a couple of rent-a-cops flirt with a group of college coeds.