Page 21 of His Stubborn Girl

“Yes, I’m still here. A little tired now. That was intense, Luke.”

“Yeah, it was. Listen, Torrin. I want you to get some rest, but tomorrow, we need to talk.”

I don’t like the sound of that. There’s something in his voice riddling my nerves. I may not have any regrets, but it sounds like he does.

“Thank you for making it all better,” I tell him, not knowing what else to say. He doesn’t need to feel bad about what we did, if that’s what’s troubling him. I’m not scarred or anything. In fact, I’ve never been better. “I love you, Luke.”

“I love you too.”

Though I doubt he means it in the way I want him to.

15

Lukas

Me:Hey, are you busy? Just leaving practice and was going to head over.

She and I need to have a talk. What happened last night can never happen again. We let the moment catch us and we crossed a major line, but it’s done. We have to put it behind us and forget it ever happened before we destroy our family. If our parents were to find out… I shudder to think what would happen. They’d hate me. And they’d have every reason to. Torrin and I may not be blood, but we’re still brother and sister. The world doesn’t care what our DNA says and neither do our parents.

Torrin:Sorry, I’m not home. I have plans with Willow tonight.

Me:Can you cancel those plans?

Torrin:Why? What’s up?

What’s up is that my nerves are fucking shot. I can’t put this shit off another night. I can’t wait until tomorrow to clear this mess up between us. We need to talk. I need to know she’s on the same page. We’re going to fix this before we can’t. Somehow. In some way. We’re going to figure out how to be brother and sister again.

Me:We need to talk.

Torrin:What about?

Is she intentionally trying to play dumb? She knows exactly what we need to talk about.

Me:About last night. And how it’s never going to happen again.

Torrin:Sorry. I’m not going to bail on my friend. We’ll have to talk later. Gotta go now.

Either she’s freaked out and trying to avoid me, or she’s trying to ignore the fact that I’m right. Neither of those reactions sits well. I tuck my phone away and walk straight to Brennon.

“Hey, man. Just heard that our girls are hanging out tonight. I mean my sister and Willow.” And that right there is the problem. I’m already slipping. No one can find out what happened between us. Everyone will think I’m a sick bastard for making a move on my sister. And they’d be right. I should’ve had more control. I should have never crossed a line.

“Yeah, they’re having a girls’ night. Decorating cookies and watchingWicked.” He smirks, and I try to mimic the expression, forcing down the anxiety.

“What do you say to us going and picking up some dinner and taking it back for them? They need some sustenance to go with all those cookies.” And I need to talk to Torre. Now.

“I don’t think we should crash their party.” He scratches the back of his head. “Willow was looking forward to tonight.”

“Yeah, I get it. But Torre crashed my party last night, so I don’t see the harm. Plus, we’re doing something nice for them.”

“Ahh!” He nods, smirking. “I see. You’re trying to get a little payback.”

“Yep. A little quid pro quo.”

He shakes his head, chuckling. “All right, but if Willow gets pissed at me, you have to tell her this was all your idea. I don’t want to end up sleeping on the sofa because you wanted to get revenge on your sister.”

“Deal.” I nod. I’m not going to get him into trouble. But if my sister doesn’t agree to speak with me, she will be in trouble.

16

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