Page 157 of Naughty & Nice

“Why doesn’t that surprise me, little rebel?”

Ignoring the movie that I wasn’t entirely following, I turn to face Wilder.

His hair is still a mess, and frown lines still mar his forehead, but he looks much more relaxed than he did when he first arrived.

Reaching out, I gently drag my thumb between his brows, trying to smooth out the worry lines.

“Are you okay?” I ask quietly.

I know that Wilder doesn’t like to talk about the hard things. He’d rather drown them in alcohol or fuck them away. But he started opening up to me while we were away, and after his confession earlier, I can’t help but hope we might be turning a corner.

“I am now,” he says softly. Honesty shines brightly in his eyes as they bounce between mine.

“Talk to me,” I beg. “Tell me what’s been going on for you.”

He’s silent for the longest time, I can only assume battling with himself on whether he’s willing to open up or not.

I start to fear that he’s not. I hate it. I want to be that safe place for him to be able to say whatever’s on his mind. I know that in time, he’ll get there, but impatiently, I want that to be now.

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” he finally says. His voice is low and laced with emotion.

Reaching out, I cup his jaw. “I know you are,” I assure him.

“I was freaking out. To start with, all I wanted to do was go home and return to my normal life. But as the days, and nights, went on, I was becoming more and more invested in what we had going on.

“You…” He looks down, severing our eye contact before swallowing thickly. “You very quickly became something very important to me. I mean, you’ve always been important. You’re Noelle, our sister from another mister and all that shit. But something changed while we were away.

“You became so much more than Hendrix’s best friend—girlfriend,” he corrects. “You became… I wanted you too.

“I want you too. More than I’ve ever wanted anything in my entire life.”

My breath catches at his confession.

“My time with you while we were away wasn’t enough. Hell, our time together at the Halloween party wasn’t enough, but back then, I’d only had a small taste. I didn’t know how fucking awesome you really were.

“I was seeing you in a whole new light. Maybe the same light that Hendrix has seen you in all this time.

“For the first time, I got it. I got his fascination with you.

“That final night when you asked to have both of us, I freaked out.

“I knew that if I pushed inside you, I’d be completely fucked. Having you on your knees for me was bad enough, but if I took more… Shit, Rebel.

“I’ve never wanted a woman like I want you. And just my fucking luck... I can’t really have you.”

“But you do have me,” I argue.

He shakes his head and closes his eyes for a beat.

“No. Hendrix let me join. He let me have a taste, knowing you wanted it.”

“It was more than that, and you know it.”

“Was it?” he asks, his eyes finding mine again. This time, there’s a little hope sparking within them.

“Hendrix wouldn’t have allowed that to happen with anyone else. Just you, Wild. He might have held off with me for a long time, but I think he was the first one to figure out what was really going on here.”

“No, I’m pretty sure he was as blindsided by all of this as we were.”

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