Page 31 of Illicit

I rest my head on the back cushion and close my eyes. “No more than you need me.”

She grabs the pillow she slept on last night, stuffs it under her head. “It kills me, but I agree.”

I don’t have the energy to open my eyes when I keep talking. “It’s been a long fucking day. Can we just sit here for five minutes without you busting my balls? You know, for old time’s sake?”

She rolls to her side and takes up two-thirds of the sofa by tucking into herself. “Okay. Just for five minutes.”

I yawn. “I appreciate that.”

“I graduate on Sunday. You know my?—"

“I bought you underwear for every day of the week as your graduation gift. Don’t ask me for anything else.”

She kicks me lightly. “That’s not what I was going to say. I was going to say that I need my car. My parents will be there. They can’t know what happened.”

I roll my head to the side to look at her. “It’s just glass. I’m sure it’ll be done in plenty of time for you to keep all the secrets from your family.”

She yawns. “Rocco?”

“Five minutes, Teag. Am I asking for too much?”

She doesn’t give me a warm smile that lights up her face like I’m used to. She pulls her lip between her teeth and hesitates before finally saying, “I’m sorry I dragged you into this.”

I don’t take my eyes off her. “The last thing on earth I want is for something to happen to you. You should’ve called me in the beginning when you hit a dead end.”

She shakes her head but says nothing.

Exhaustion takes over, and I close my eyes. “Someday, you’ll get it.”

She moves and shifts to get comfortable. “Right back at you.”

That cuts through the long day, the sleepless night, and the drama I just inserted myself into. I open my eyes and stare at the ceiling.

I feel that comment down to my bones.

And it doesn’t feel good.

7

GET OVER MYSELF

Teagan

Light peeks through the drawn blinds from across the room. I stretch, or try to, but unlike last night when I slept on Rocco’s sofa, something stops me.

A grip on my thigh.

Warm.

Firm.

Heavy.

When I roll to my back, I realize why my sofa is smaller than it was when I woke up yesterday at this time.

Rocco never went to bed.

He’s taking up more than the corner he claimed last night when he begged for five minutes of peace.

---