Page 108 of Riding the Pine

She nods. “It worked for Edith.”

“Tate cuddled him hardcore for a while, too.”

Her head jerks. “No way.”

I nod. “He’s such a good cuddler.”

“The pig or the player?”

“Yes.”

She pokes my shoulder. “You boys have a weirdly close relationship, you know that? If I need to get jealous, you’ll tell me, right?”

I shake my head in the darkness, my hair making scratching noises on the pillowcase. “No. Because I don’t want you to rip their balls off too.”

Chuckling, she links her fingers into mine. “That’s fair.” She’s quiet for so long I start to drift into my own sleep.

“Scott?”

“Mmm?”

“What’s the weirdest rumor you’ve heard about me on campus.”

My sleepy chuckle makes her hum. “Maybe I haven’t heard any.”

“Oh, please.”

I can hear her eye roll.

“I don’t know where they come from, but there’s always shit going around school about, well, all of us really.”

She’s not wrong. The students at the University of Cedar Rapids Iowa love nothing more than spreading stupid-as-shit gossip about the most famous family in school.

I yawn, my body getting heavy. “Last year I heard you want to open a place called Samira’s Oasis of Love: Brothel, waffles, and Mexican falafel.”

Her giggles heal something in my chest. “You made that up.”

“Did not. And to be honest, I wouldn’t be mad if you opened such an establishment. Sex positive and delicious. Kinda your brand.”

She’s still laughing. “You know, it actually sounds like something fairly plausible.”

“I know. I had to ask your brothers if it was true or not because if it was, I was going to start saving.”

“Saving?” She sounds truly confused, and I can just picture her pursed lips and confused expression.

“I figured if it was your business, it would be an up-market kind of establishment, you know? I’d have to build some capital to be able to afford to go.”

She’s laughing even harder now. “You were going to go to my brothel?”

I shrug. “What can I say? I really like good waffles.”

She snakes her arm around my waist, holding me as if she’s afraid I’ll leave. In return, I hold her tighter, too. “I’m not going anywhere, Bright Eyes. You’re safe with me.” I plant a kiss on her forehead. “You’re safe. Your brothers are in the next room. Your door is triple locked. We’ve checked and rechecked your security system. And even if all of that wasn’t the case, you’re here, in my arms. And I’d sooner die than let anything happen to you.”

“I believe you,” she sighs through her sentence, her body softening in my arms.

According to the clock on her bedside table, it’s another fifteen minutes before she finally succumbs to sleep, and I lie there fighting my heavy eyelids for another fifteen more to make sure she’s okay before I let myself cross over into unconsciousness with her.

CHAPTER 47

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