Page 103 of Distortion
‘I’ve already proven–’ she begins.
I shake my head. ‘Not to me you haven’t and this is my project, Daisy.’
She shrugs.
‘We’ll all stop being nasty to you, too, okay? But the cams stay. They’re for your protection, and Blake never showed anyone anything. I was being an asshole,’ I mutter.
She doesn’t look happy, but I hear the other guys leave the room and begin talking quietly out in the hallway.
Fuck. This is going to take some damage control to fix, for them ... and Daisy.
‘And the hitting?’ she asks.
‘ThespankingI gave you...’ I regard her thoughtfully. ‘I won’t do it again unless I have your consent.’
She frowns. ‘Why would I ever agree to you doing that?’
I remember how wet she felt after I was done and suppress a shiver. It’s too much, too soon. For both of us.
‘You might be surprised,’ I say quietly, and I can practically see the cogs in her head turning as she tries to figure it out.
She seems so worldly sometimes, but at times like these, I can see the gaps in her adolescent education from the years she spent at that place. There’s stuff she just doesn’t know that other people our age do.
‘We’ll get the pledges to back off as well,’ I say as I move toward the door. ‘And Blake has fixed your keycard so that you can get in and out of the house by yourself.’
She nods a little absently.
‘Come down with us for dinner?’ I ask, trying to give her an olive branch after being such a dick.
‘Maybe,’ she says noncommittally, and I make a mentalnote to bring her something later if she doesn’t come downstairs.
I go out into the hall and see the other two waiting for me. Before I know what’s hit me, I’m thudding into the wall and my head is ringing. I rub my jaw, feeling it for a break as I scowl at Mav.
‘Relax,’ he snarls at me. ‘I didn’t break it, but if you pull that shit again with her, I will! Regardless of what you said in there, this project is important to all of us and you aren’t putting it and all our futures in jeopardy because of your family issues.’
‘Understood,’ I mutter, turning to go to my room and lick my wounds, but then an unwelcome thought occurs to me and I turn back to face them. ‘Is this just about the project? Or is it about her?’
‘What are you talking about?’ Blake asks quietly.
‘I’ve seen the way you guys look at her.’
‘How do we look at her?’ Blake asks, all wide-eyed and artless.
‘Like she’s a snack,’ I say very quietly.
Mav snorts. ‘You better look in the mirror, Shade, because that’s how you look at her, too.’
‘She’s my sister!’ I hiss.
They both laugh and my brow furrows.
‘Please! She isn’t your sister. She’s your estranged stepsister at most, and she sure as shit doesn’t look at you like you’re her brother.’
‘I— really?’ I shake my head. ‘It doesn’t matter!’
Mav rolls his eyes. ‘Whatever, dude. What do you want for dinner?’
‘I don’t care,’ I mutter. ‘Decide and tell the pledges what to get. I’ll be down in a minute.’
