“How about dinner?” He presses his lips to my forehead. “I’m sure you’re hungry after being stuck in here all day.”
“Yeah.” I nod, and a smile creeps along the edge of my lips. “Luckily, I had a big breakfast to hold me over.”
The world feels right for the first time since everything started falling apart around me. I know it isn’t perfect, but it is the biggest step in the right direction I’ve had recently. With my brother’s debt no longer holding my life hostage, I can try to resume it. College. A job. All of the things I would have done had I not been completely derailed.
I’ll probably have to overcome my fears of owing money and take on some student loans. Otherwise, I’ll never be in a position to get the kind of job that will allow me to pay Bram back. Maybe Hudson will be able to help, if he was serious about turning his life around. He promised he would after the debt nearly put him in an early grave when our father wasn’t able to bail him out.
“What are you in the mood for?” Bram pulls out his phone when we get downstairs.
“Are you going to order something?” I sit on the couch.
“Yeah, unless you want a frozen dinner.” He laughs under his breath.
“I need more than that. I don’t know. Anything you prefer?” I tilt my head inquisitively.
“You were the one who was locked up all day—you choose.” He pulls up the app to order food and hands me his phone.
I scroll through the options, and after a brief discussion, we settle on Chinese. We pick a movie to watch while we wait for the food to arrive. We’re acting like a normal couple—dinner and a movie. Does that mean we are? I’d like to believe things could be headed in that direction, despite what happened with us earlier this morning. I have time to explore that now that the debt isn’t hanging over my head.
“I think I hear a car.” Bram stands up and walks to the door.
“Good, I’m hungry.” I look toward him and nod.
There is a knock at the door, and I have to remind myself that I don’t have to fear those anymore. For a while, I was scared the next knock would be someone telling my family that my brother wouldn’t be coming home again. Then I was scared it would be Mr. Diaz, looking for his next payment. Now I can just accept that it could be a friendly face, like the girl standing on the other side of Bram’s door with our food in her hands. She’s not scary. Hopefully, there won’t be anyone scary on the other side of my door—or Bram’s door—ever again.
“Here you go…” Bram hands me my order and sits on the couch. “Do you want a fork or chopsticks?”
“A fork.” I decline the chopsticks. “I’ve never been good with those things.”
“It’s easy, I’ll show you.” He opens two sets and hands me one.
Bram shows me how to position my fingers and reaches over to help me adjust them. Feeling his hands on mine reignites the hunger I had the previous night, and earlier today, before things went sideways. I fumble with my food a couple of times, and Bram immediately comes to my rescue to help me position the chopsticks again. By the time I finally get a bite in my mouth, I’m not even thinking about food.
I can see the same flicker in Bram’s eyes. He doesn’t start the movie. We wouldn’t be able to focus on it. Not when we really want to be upstairs, in each other’s arms. The eye contact while we eat. The heat that is practically simmering inside both of us. We both feel it. It’s only a matter of time before our meal is as done as it can be. Bram reaches for the remote and turns off the television. I move closer, and our lips come together before he puts the remote down.
Our kiss ignites a fuse that burns into an explosion of passion. He lifts me in his arms as he stands and walks toward the stairs. Our lips are seared together, tongues intertwined, and what was initially sweet turns ferocious as we make our way to the top of the stairs.
“I was afraid you would never want to be here again.” Bram drops me against the mattress and kisses my neck.
“I wasn’t sure myself when you left this morning.” My head rolls back, and I gasp. “Now it’s the only place I want to be…”
That’s the truth. He’s erased the biggest problem in my life and given me a chance to finally start living instead of dealing with my brother’s debt. I’ll be eternally grateful for that, no matter what happens between us. I want the negative to become a positive, and while the threat scared me at the time, there was something about that fire—it drew me like a moth.
“Then this is where you’ll stay.” He slides a hand under my shirt and starts removing it.
“You’ll turn into my daddy and spank me if I try to leave?” I bite down on my bottom lip as the words pass across it.
“It seems a little soon to be joking about this morning…” His hand stops, and he exhales sharply. “I’m sorry, and I apologized because I meant it. I would never hurt you—I’ll stake my life on that.”
“I know you wouldn’t hurt me.” I move my hand to his. “That wasn’t what I was asking.”
Our eyes meet. Something registers in his—he understands what I’m asking for, maybe even why my curiosity has been piqued. Bram isn’t my father. He’s so much better than the man who raised me. I can’t control my fantasies. I never could. Bram was always front and center. Now he’s pulled me into a new one that has ignited a different kind of need. It might have started as a threat, but it’s turned into
