“Besides,” she says, tilting her head and running her lips along my jaw, tingles pulsing up my spine. “It would only be a hate fuck.”
I pull my head back to look at her. “A hate fuck?”
“Yeah,” she replies with a frown. “I mean, what else would it be? You don’t like me, I don’t like you. A hate fuck.”
“I don’t hate you,” I say indignantly.
“And I don’t hate you, so we’ll call it an I don’t like you fuck, if that makes you feel better.”
I consider that a minute and decide it sounds right and give a slight shrug before taking her mouth again for another soul-shredding kiss.
“Please tell me you have condoms,” she breathes into my mouth.
Fuck. I pull back again to look at her. “I don’t. I didn’t come here with the idea in mind we’d do this.”
Her eyebrows knit. “But don’t all men carry one in their pocket, just in case?”
“No, not all men do that,” I rebuke. But in truth, I had one in my pocket that got used on this recent road trip.
Veronica sighs with regret at the same time I lower her body to the floor. The moment has passed, and I doubt we’ll get that back again.
Our hands fall away from each other, and she straightens her clothes. Giving a little cough to clear her throat, she says, “So, why are you here?”
The heat has gone out of her, but before she remembers she was pissed when I arrived, I seize the opportunity to say, “I wanted to apologize for the way I treated you back at my place. I didn’t realize there were two very different sides to the story, but Janelle caught me up.”
She doesn’t say a word, merely appraises me coolly.
“And I want to thank you for how you handled it… defending Janelle the way you did. At first, I thought you had overstepped, but really, you were protecting her better than maybe even I could have. I’m not sure I would have thought to make such demands on that principal.”
Veronica blinks in surprise over my compliment. “Thank you for saying that.”
I nod an acknowledgment. “I’m pulling Janelle from that school and am going to get her into the Phoenix Fine Arts High School.”
Veronica’s face lights up, and for a moment, I’m absolutely dazzled mute by her beauty. I mean, she’s a gorgeous woman, but when she radiates true joy, she becomes mesmerizing.
“That’s amazing,” she gushes. “Janelle is so gifted with her drawing.”
“I know,” I reply with a fond grin. “I have hundreds of her drawings she’s sent me over the years. I should’ve taken the time to choose her school better, but I’ll rectify the situation early next week.”
“You’re a good brother,” she says softly, but I don’t acknowledge that statement. I’m struggling mightily to do right by Janelle. So far, Veronica seems to have connected much better than I have and has done more to further her happiness here. I have some work to do.
“Well, I better be going.” It’s completely awkward that just moments ago, we were going to fuck, and now I’m leaving. But there’s no reason to stay, because she’s right… we don’t like each other.
“Okay,” she says, and I move for the elevator. “Wait… Riggs.”
I glance back at her, and I can tell by the tone of her voice it’s not got a damn thing to do with kissing her or sex. She sounds worried. “I don’t mean to pry, and you don’t have to give me details, but Janelle told me that she shared some of her past with a friend who then spread it around the school.”
“That’s right,” I affirm.
“I don’t need to know what happened, and I figure Janelle will tell me if she wants, but is she dealing with some type of trauma I need to at least be made aware of so I know how to protect her?”
I wasn’t expecting this, but my entire chest and rib cage grows warm with the concern she’s showing for my sister. It touches me more deeply than I could have imagined.
Taking a step toward her, I say, “It’s not really a secret, and no, it’s not a deep trauma. I mean, it could have been, but I got her out of there.”
“She was unsafe with your mom?” she guesses.
“With my mom’s new husband, Shep,” I clarify. “She met and married him within a few weeks. Not two days after moving into the house, he tried to make a move on Janelle.”
“Oh my God,” Veronica breathes out in horror, hand fluttering at her neck. “Did he…?”
I shake my head. “She fought him off. Managed to get her hands on her physics book, which was apparently quite thick, and smacked him in his face. Then kicked him in the nuts.”
“And she called you to come get her?” she asks.