Page 27 of The Wrong Sister

“Excellent. It was only fair after I came down from the best oral of my life.”

He cocks an eyebrow at me. “Really?”

“The same rules apply to you, sir. You know what you did to me.”

“Correction: Ihopedthat’s what I did. I didn’t know for sure. Confirmation is a beautiful thing.”

“Now you know. You’ve ruined me, Simms. I’m not sure how any man could compare after that.”

“Consider me ruined as well. You were already all I could think about before I saw you naked or tasted you. Now I’m officially fucked.”

“As long aswecan fuck, I’m good with that.”

“I’m not entirely sure I ever noticed your dirty mouth before, Mina.”

“Sure you did!” I snort. “You and Catherine were always scandalized by my language. That’s probably half the reason I started doing it!”

He laughs, tracing my face with his fingertips. “That sounds like you.”

“Hey, what did you mean last night about Raff letting you think we were together?” Anything to keep my brain from going back to earlier thoughts.

“Did I say that?”

“Yes. You asked if we were ever ‘together together’and said that he let you think that.”

“Right. That would be because of Moku. And the texts.”

“What about Moku? When we were all there together?”

“Yeah. I was sort of jealous—even though I definitely shouldn’t have been—that you were there together, especially because of how you were both acting.”

“Oh! I forgot about that! There was this guy that kept following me, asking me out and refusing to hear no. Raff was pretending to be my buff boyfriend. We were playing it up because the guy showed up, looking for me.”

“Huh. There was a lot in there that felt directed at me. Then when I texted him later he intimated that he waswithyou and staying the night.”

“Is that why you asked if he was there, at Magic Island?”

“Of course! There was a lot of…confusion there. Adding to so many other confusing things. Have I mentioned the confusion? I dislike feeling that way.”

“It sounds like Raff and I need to have a talk.”

“But not now, right? I don’t want my brother,” he kisses my collarbone, “or anyone else,” then my shoulder, “intruding now that I have you to myself.”

“Do you? Have me to yourself?”

“I don’t see anyone else here. You stayed willingly. Then there’s the rumor that you’ve always thought I was hot.”

“Andyounever noticed me and seemed completely thrown by your sudden attraction to me. I wouldn’t necessarily write this down as destiny, Griff.”

“I see you now, Mina. You’re all I see.”

My stomach dips and fills with a warm fluttering. It isn’t fair what he does to me and he’s too good with the words. And all the other things. I want to dive into how this feels because it feels really, really good. But it also feels…unsafe. It’s all sunshine and rainbows right this very second, but lingering, just out of sight, is that reminder that I’m not the first choice. He didn’t want to want me. And there isn’t anything to assure me that he is confident in the choice he made. This is a cotton candy kind of happiness. Light and soft. Pretty and sweet. And the tiniest little thing can melt it out of existence.

18

griffin

I didn’t go into this weekend with any thoughtfully constructed plans. Hell, all of this started with me drunk and depressed about failing with Catherine! That makes it all the more strange how perfect it has been. Saturday is full of nothing but Mina. We finally pull on clothes, but the bare minimum—boxer briefs for me and one of my t-shirts for Mina—and only because it seems a bit much to watch tv, naked on the couch. I spend more time than I will admit looking at my couch, worrying about the logistics of upholstery cleaning before Mina throws my underwear at me like she can read my mind. We do still lie together, even then. It amuses me that Mina doesn’t want to recline against me or sit on my lap. Instead, she props a pillow behind her and motions me to lean against her. My head rests comfortably on her chest and she wraps her legs around me. It’s nice having her play with my hair and I keep my hands on her.

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