Loan Shark Love

“It was me,” a sudden familiar voice says from the door.

I look over to see Rose standing at the opening to the kitchen, looking sleepy-eyed and beautiful. Her strawberry blonde hair is tangled and hanging long and loose down her back. She’s wearing my jogging pants and T-shirt.

“Rose,” I say in surprise, standing up from the table. “You’re up.”

“What did you mean about it being because of you?” Natalie asks, putting her coffee down. “Here, come and sit by Grey,” she says, patting the spot next to mine.

Rose looks a little uncertain, but she shuffles over in her socks and sits by me. I get up to make her a cup of coffee, and Natalie turns to her, waiting patiently.

“Well,” Rose begins, rubbing a hand up and down her arm. “When you said the goblins’ real name, I remembered that they were trying to buy my dad’s bakery. Grey is who I went to, and he loaned me the money to keep the business.”

Of course, she’s right, I hadn’t thought about it that way. The Godwin family has bought and taken over nearly every business on that street, and of course, they are the ones that want to take Rose’s father’s bakery.

Now I realize that I may have started an unintentional war with the Goblins, and Rose is stuck in the middle.

“That actually makes a lot of sense,” Natalie says, looking excited to know. “Grey, you’re the one who said they didn’t care before because it wasn’t worth it, right? Well, this is a real threat to their dealings.”

“I’m so sorry, Grey,” Rose says, going pale. “I put a target on your back. It’s my fault.”

I leave the coffee on the counter and sit down beside her, putting a hand on her thigh. “Hey, no, Rosie. This has nothing to do with you. Don’t think like that.”

“He has a lot of enemies,” Natalie agrees, nodding. “They won’t get him though, don’t worry. He’s too hard-headed and annoying for anyone to kill.”

“That’s really sweet, Nat,” I tell her, rolling my eyes.

Rose laughs, though, and I’m grateful that Natalie could make her calm down.

“Well, what are we going to do?” Rose asks me, blinking those big, brown eyes at me. She’s looking to me for safety and assurance, and I feel so strong for it.

“We’re safe here,” I tell her, reaching out a hand to brush over her jaw.

“Grey, what if they come for my dad?” she asks, looking suddenly resolute. “I’ll die before I let anything happen to him. I won’t let anyone hurt him.”

I won’t let anyone hurt you, I think to myself. The thought of someone putting their hands on my Rosie, of someone hurting her or causing her distress, makes me want to rip something apart. She’s everything to me, and I won’t let her go.

“I can send some of your guys over to Brooklyn, so they can watch the bakery,” Natalie offers. She stands and takes the blanket around her shoulders off to put it on Rose’s instead. “It’s going to be okay, Rose. We won’t let anything happen to you or your dad. Don’t be scared.”

Natalie is only a year or so older than Rose, but she seems so motherly at that moment and I’m thankful to see this caring side of her. She likes to pretend she doesn’t care about anything and our relationship is one of snide remarks and love deep down, but with Rose, she’s exceedingly gentle for some reason.

I think that Rose is just someone that other people want to protect. Maybe it’s her gentle brown eyes or those soft, pretty features. She garners immediate feelings of protection and defense, and I know that my half-sister feels it too.

I hope that one day they can be good friends.

“I’ll rip them apart before they hurt you or anyone else,” I promise her, and Natalie whistles.

“Okay, Rambo, why don’t we all go out on the lake for lunch?” she says, looking between the two of us in question. “Rose, I have some clothes you can borrow so you don’t have to wear Grey’s ratty sweatpants on the boat.”

“You have a boat?” Rose questions both of us, looking impressed.

“He has five,” Natalie says, rolling her eyes. “Because he needs one for every work day of the week, apparently.”

“I told you that you could have one if you wanted one,” I answer her, annoyed.

“And I appreciate your generosity, dear brother,” Natalie says, snorting a laugh. “But I’m good for right now.”

“The lake sounds amazing,” Rose says, beaming. She grabs my hand, squeezing.

I can only think of laying her down in the soft sand and trailing kisses across her naked skin, my mouth on her pink pebbled nipples, and I’m salivating. I can almost feel the soft curve of her hips in my hands.

My body reacts to the thoughts, and I have to shake myself to clear them away. Rose makes me feel like a teenager again, giddy and filled to the brim with lust for her.