Page 75 of Masked Sins
“Fine,” I lie absentmindedly. I’m anxious to get the all clear for my dad.
“I’m going to get a coffee. Want one?” he asks, standing.
“Sure.”
“We might be here for a while,” Orion says, looking down at me. When I meet his eyes, I know he’s remembering the last time, when we had to wait over fifteen hours to take Dad home. “Did you bring something to do? A book or something? If not, I can run to your house and grab you something.”
I’m not really in the mood to read, but I know he’s right. Doing something will take my mind off it.
“My Kindle is in my bag.”
“Good. I’ll be back in a minute.”
I lean against the wall and push my glasses up on my nose before taking a deep breath.
My dad is in the best place he can be.
Everything is fine.
He’ll be okay.
Orion comes back a minute later with his arms full.
“Here,” he says, handing me a coffee. “I got snacks.” I try not to stare at how well his ripped jeans fit his narrow hips and muscular thighs or the way the white T-shirt clings to every one of his muscles.
He sits back down next to me. If possible, the bench seems even more cramped now than it did before. Orion’s thigh presses against mine, and my whole body buzzes with energy.
When I’m done with my coffee and after I’ve gone through a granola bar and a bag of chips, Orion throws our trash out and reaches into my purse, handing me my Kindle.
I glance down at the Kindle on my lap and try to flip it quickly so that he doesn’t see the stickers I’ve decorated it with.
You had me at trigger warning.
Villains do it for me.
My favorite necklaces are hand necklaces.
Call me a good girl.
“What are you reading?” he asks, lips twitching with an almost smile.
My cheeks heat. “Pride and Prejudice,” I tell him quickly. That,The Hobbit, andDraculaare my go-tos whenever someone in the non-romance community asks me what I’m reading.
His eyes sparkle with mischief, like he knows I’m lying. How could he? There’s no way.
“Which part are you on?”
My mind goes completely blank. Despite having read all of Jane Austen’s novels multiple times, being put on the spot like this causes me to panic.
“The part with… Mr. Darcy’s wet shirt.”
He huffs a laugh and looks away. “I didn’t realize that was in the book. I thought it was only the movie.”
If it were possible to blush harder, I would.
“The person I’m seeing reads fan fiction,” he says quickly. “Have you read any of that?”
My mind spins with the information he just dropped onto my head. I can’t compute it. The woman he’s seeing readsfan fiction? It’s an entirely different betrayal because I mostly read fan fiction. I wonder if I know her from the groups I’m in? Does she enjoy it when Orion drops wax on the backs of her thighs, or are their scenes more intense? How did they meet, and what did they talk about? My core flutters with jealousy and intrigue—but mostly jealousy.
