Page 49 of Lucky Shot
“Except that you’re smiling like a fucking loon,” Roux says, raising a brow. “You like him.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to say I barely know him. But I’m not sure that’s the truth anymore. I’m sure we could talk for days, and I’d learn something new every day. Every hour. Every conversation. And I’d never get tired of talking to him.
“Yeah,” I say and drop my eyes to the screen. My cursor is blinking where I stopped typing mid-sentence when he knocked on the door. “I like him. A lot.”
Roux grins and leans forward to pull my screen around. His smile fades a little. “You’re not even human on this thing.”
I laugh. “I meant what I said. It’s a game, Roux. Second World.”
“I didn’t know you played that,” he says, smiling. “I play too. Though I’m a human.”
“I’m a human in real life. Why do I want to be one on the screen?”
He rolls his eyes. But his smile’s back. “You going to meet him?” Roux sits back again, pushing my laptop back towards me.
I type a quick BRB so Pretty doesn’t think I wandered off or something. “I did just say we’ve only been talking for a couple weeks, right?”
“Yes. But judging by how tired you were the last week on the yacht and that you’ve been holed up in here on your computer, I’d wager a guess that you’ve talked the equivalent of like three months in those two weeks. You could totally justify talking about meeting up.”
The thought makes my heart race. While I think it would be awesome, there are so many unknowns. And there’s the fear of maybe this only works because we’re online. It might all fall apart when we meet in person.
“Maybe,” I say. “We’re not in a huge hurry to meet.” Which might be a lie on my part. I’m totally anxious for it. Despite all my fears revolving around it. “We have several steps to get through before then.”
“Like phone sex,” he says, grinning.
I wince and glare at him. “No. Maybe, but no. Ugh. What do you want, anyway?”
He laughs. “Gabe invited me to his beach house. I figured that I’d tag along with you to your gala thing—just the travel part—and then continue on to his place off Long Island.”
I have a lot of questions. But as I stare at my brother, I decide not to ask any of them. He’s nineteen. He’s allowed to have flings and make mistakes. While I don’t know Gabe all that well, despite the fact that he’s been on our yacht trips for two years now, I don’t think he’s actually messing with my brother.
Probably.
I’m going to fuck him up if he does.
“You can ask,” Roux says, smirking.
“Is this serious?”
He shakes his head. “No.” He heaves a heavy sigh. “I think he took pity on me the last day on Kala. We hung out and I think neither of us hated each other’s company. The sex is… better than college guys, so he’s got that going for him.”
I laugh and then shudder. “Don’t tell me.”
Roux grins devilishly for a second, but it fades to barely there. “I think I’m more fucked up over my ex than I want to admit,” he says quietly.
“I should be doing a better job distracting you,” I say.
He shakes his head. “No. I appreciate just being here, Lix. Far away from everything and not under Mom’s well-meaning but smothering concern when she knows one of us is upset. You let me have my space, but I know you’re here if I need you.”
I nod and reach for his leg. Squeezing his ankle, I say, “I’ll support whatever you want to do, baby brother. As long as you promise me you’re being smart and careful.”
Roux grins and I can see the glint in his eyes. “Are you asking if I’m using a condom?”
“No. But you better fucking be.”
His grin is wide and teasing but he nods. “Yeah. I am.”
“That’s all I want to know about your sex life,” I say, holding up my hands. “Yes, come with me to NYC and I’ll send you along to Gabe.”
