"Ethan is Ethan." His expression gets serious.
Ethan isn't going to take this well. "Maybe Violet will help my case."
Mal nods. "You're too young to remember this, but the five of us used to be a family. Mom and Dad used to care. You should have seen the way Ethan lit up when they showed the faintest interest in anything he did. They used to take us to the beach every weekend. They used to make a big pancake breakfast every Sunday. We were a family. When that stopped, when they left, that killed him. But it killed him for your sake too. He's always gonna want to protect you."
"You make it sound sweet."
"It is. I feel the same."
"I know."
"I didn't pull this shit to fuck with you. I want us to be a family, all five of us. That's not gonna happen." He looks away. "Shit, I guess you were right."
"It's not like you to admit that."
He chuckles. "It's not like you to keep secrets."
"I know."
Mal looks me in the eyes. "If he does slip, if anything goes wrong, or he hurts you— promise you'll tell me."
"He won't."
"Then it will be an easy promise to keep."
Fair point, but there's a part of me that isn't quite convinced Kit will never hurt me.
Even so, I look my brother in the eyes. "I promise."
Chapter 23
Kit
Piper and I spend the entire day together. I make her breakfast. It's a simple meal—eggs, toast, hot sauce—but she treats it like a five-star dinner.
We settle on the couch and take turns picking movies through delivery lunch and dinner. She finds a yoga mat buried in a closet and shows off her flexibility.
Yoga is more tolerable in a seventy degree room, but I don't fully appreciate Piper's flexibility until I take her to my bed.
Fucking her isn't like fucking anyone else.
It's the opposite of the sex I used to have. Instead of numbing me, it wakes up every inch of my body. It makes me feel alive. It makes me acutely aware of how badly I need her, of how deeply I feel for her, of how much I want her in my life for a long fucking time.
Sunday morning, we go out for brunch and head down to Orange County for an afternoon of coffee and conversation. Mal drove up in Piper's car yesterday. We take her car back, her driving, me giving turn by turn directions.
After our third cup of coffee, we head to our surprise pre-dinner plans. I guide Piper to a street in downtown Santa Ana.
After she parks, her eyes fix on mine. "What are we doing in front of a random strip mall?"
She's trying to play cool, but the way she's tapping her feet together is giving her away. She's as cute wanting as she is nervous. It can't hurt to torture her for a few minutes.
I shrug. "Who knows?"
She folds her hands in her lap. "Okay. Where do I go now?"
"Might want to get out of the car."
She glares playfully. Still, she gets out of the car.