No Saint (Wild Men 6)

‘See ya,’ I send back and set off toward the house, my steps lighter.

In my head, calculations are running as I lope down the street leading out of town. I hate that place, that house, my place, and the memories it harbors. The nightmares it throws at me, mixed with the memories from prison and that...that dark place my mind doesn’t want to let me remember. What was that...? A bed, faces, voices...

But as I see the house from a distance, looking so fucking innocent and normal, I wonder if I could clean it up. Fix it. Make it habitable again. Pay the bills, have the water and electricity turned back on.

So she can hang out with me there. Sleep with me. Let me sink inside her again and again. Kiss her.

I need to buy condoms. And cleaning products. And some food. In that order. Priorities. Being inside her again is all I can think about. Kissing her mouth, her skin, licking, sucking, fucking her.

Holding her...

I blink, that last thought throwing me off. Those strange little thoughts keep sneaking up on me, veering off lust into uncharted territory. I don’t know what to do with them. They fuck with my mind.

And they just won’t go away...

Chapter Twenty-Five

Luna

“What’s that smile for?” Dena prods. “Ross, am I right? That text was from him. He just said something nice to you.”

“None of your business,” I mutter absently.

“Hotties are my business, hon,” she fires back, undaunted in the face of my dismissal. “Not much else to do around these parts. Not many to choose from, either. This is my hobby!”

I swallow a snort.

“I was right, wasn’t I? It was from him. That dreamy smile is exactly how I look when he talks to me.”

“How would you know how you look when he talks to you?”

“Psht, that’s beside the point. I have plenty of imagination.”

She makes no sense, and it doesn’t matter. Will Dad believe me if I say I’m staying with Dena again?

Why am I so worried? I’m an adult now, I don’t need his permission. But I only just came back and I’d hate to argue with him. Josh already thinks I’m not interested in spending time with him, and that I’m fonder of my ex-bully than my little brother.

Families. So complicated. I guess it always is, when it comes to love and affection. I just don’t want to hurt them.

And I guess I’m not only talking about taking off to see Ross tonight anymore, but leaving as I’ve been planning for years, to study and live elsewhere.

Sigh. Maybe I should deal with one thing at a time. And Dena is still talking.

“...If you’re into Ross, then maybe I could take Jenner...” I hear her say and snap back to the present.

“Oh God, no. You serious?”

A shrug. “He’s handsome enough.”

“He’s a weirdo.”

“Oh come on. You can’t keep all the hotties to yourself.”

“A weirdo and an asshole”—Ross’s words from this morning ringing in my ears.

“That’s not what I’m doing,” I protest.

“Sure, you got the best one, leaving us the scraps.”