“Helen.”
“What?” I sighed.
“You’re free to touch me whenever you want,” he whispered, shifting onto his side, still a little on my lap. I waited until I saw his whole body relax and his breathing start to even out before I finally exhaled. He was a little heavy, but my thighs were fine. Nothing on earth was going to make me move him.
I waited a good half hour before reaching down and gently touching the side of his face. “If you only realized how happy I am just to touch you. Just for you to be here…love isn’t fair, and whoever loves the most automatically loses. I know I’m going to lose, but this moment is still worth it.”
WYATT
I was exhausted.
But in her room, on her lap, I felt so relaxed I couldn’t sleep. It was a new feeling for me…relaxing. Which was why I was awake, my body had calmed down, my mind has calmed, but I couldn’t sleep. However, the moment she started to speak, I forced myself to close my eyes. Whatever else she was going to say, I wanted her to say it the way she wanted…privately. But as I started to drift off, I couldn’t help but think…
She’s dangerous.
SIXTEEN
“I feel like a traitor, a phony, a fake. But I am a hypocrite with the best intentions, and I need kissing desperately.”
~ Coco J. Ginger
WYATT
When I woke up, the movie was over, and when I looked at her, she was sleeping while sitting. Rising up off her lap and onto my knees, I lifted her up, carrying her over to the bed and laying her down.
“Are you making your escape?” she whispered, her eyes still closed.
“Unlike some people, I have to work,” I whispered back, brushing the hair from her face. “Want to switch places with me?”
She smiled. “Do you have a doctorate in Computer Science and Computer Engineering Systems?”
“Show off.” I grinned.
She opened her little bit of a smile into a full grin, too. “Don’t be jealous, I make genius look easy.”
I laughed, lying beside her on top of the sheets. “Some people would call me a genius too—”
“They’re kissing your ass.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be in love with me?” I half joked.
“I am, so what? I’m still not going to lie to you, though,” she replied, and I couldn’t help but just stare at her. “What? Are you realizing I’m your one true love? Are you seeing fireworks?”
“Yep, the whole nine yards. In fact, everything is now all rose-colored in my eyes. We might need to slow down or tomorrow I’ll be holding a stereo over my head at your window.”
“Oh…what song are you going to play?”
“I was thinking ‘Weekend Love’ by TGT.” She broke out into a fit of laughter, just shaking her head. “What, you don’t like it?” I asked. “It’s a good song.”
“Oh, I have so much to say right now—”
“Bring it.” I waited, my head propped up on the pillow.
“First, someone is apparently thinking they’ll get lucky tonight if you’re playing that song tomorrow.”
I nodded. “You already guaranteed I’m going to get the chance to unzip your skirt, so I’m thinking my luck is a sure thing.”
Her mouth fell open a little, and I just winked.
“Secondly, that’s the song my parents used to play when we were younger whenever they were about to do it. You might give the game away.”
I tried not to laugh. She was right. I remembered sometimes seeing them dancing to it. “Actually, it so on the nose, they will just think we are making fun of them.”
“You really have an answer for everything, don’t you?”
“I was trying to tell you I was a genius.”
“Smart ass.”
I laughed and so did she…and when we both calmed down, I pulled her closer to me. “Thank you for the sleep.”
“Don’t thank me, you have no idea what I did to you while you were sleeping.”
“I’m sure I enjoyed it,” I whispered back, placing my thumb on her bottom lip.
We both were quiet and didn’t move any further than that. Finally, she spoke up and said, “Do you need help with anything? I can look into the list they gave you this morning.”
“That reminds me, how did you know I was going to have to kill them?”
She shrugged, covering her mouth with her hand when she yawned before speaking. “Because no one is as cold as us…as heartless as us, and even we would never work with people who killed someone from our family unless it was to help kill them in the end. So whether the information they gave you is true or not, they are not on our side. Besides, the moment you gave the order you knew you were going to have to eventually kill them.”
I did know that. But I hadn’t really thought about it when I gave the order. I just wanted to hurt them badly at that moment. “I can’t get rid of them now. If the whole government collapses, it’s not going to work in our favor.”
“No one ever said you have to do it now. It’s just you’ll have to do it at some point. Elections are this November anyway.”
They were? I’d forgotten.
“You forgot, didn’t you?” She giggled at me, and I frowned. “Well, in your defense, you didn’t really have time to keep up with elections while you were away.”
“All I wanted was to help Ethan get revenge. And yet I haven’t even been able to focus on that or the problems in the south because of all the shit happening here—”
She kissed my lips gently and pulled back. “No one is expecting you to fix everything. Not even Ethan could do it. Why? Because this is a family business. You need help. Ethan needs help. And right now, you working on the city and taking out the rats is important. Ivy’s death doesn’t change.”
“Ethan might come home, though, if I caught them.”
“Ethan will always come home. Like you came home. That’s why it’s called home.
