I leaned my head back on his shoulder and rolled my hips, grinding my ass on him just a little. The hard ridge underneath felt so good, the ache of the emptiness inside me grew.

I reached back with my hand and took his face, wondering if he was going to kiss me. He still hadn’t kissed me on the mouth.

But instead of that, I felt his hand trail higher under my shirt, and I snapped my eyes open wide, remembering. Oh, God, the wrap. The ACE bandage I wrapped around my chest to flatten myself.

Shit! I shot up, pulling my shirt down and covering myself. He hadn’t seen, had he? Tears sprang to my eyes, embarrassment heating my skin.

Other women wore bras. He’d be confused and definitely turned off if he saw what I wore. He’d think I was weird.

“It’s okay,” he said, his hands suddenly gone. “It’s okay. You don’t have do anything you don’t want to. This place, these games, they’re not for you anyway. I shouldn’t have brought you here.”

Yes, I know. It was a laugh for him and a fantasy for me. What was I thinking? I couldn’t do this with him anyway. It could never happen.

He took my chin and turned my face toward him. “I didn’t mean to push you, okay? I’m an asshole,” he said. “I don’t want to seduce you in here. You’re different.”

“Different how?”

“I talk to you,” he replied. “And I like talking to you. That’s rare for me.”

My shoulders relaxed just a little, and he nuzzled my ear again, making me tremble.

“And I want it to be special,” he continued. “I want to take you to movies and hang out and go for drives and sit you on my lap like this whenever I want. And when we’re ready, we’ll take a long drive down to the inlet and to my family’s boathouse, and I’ll go slow with you.” His whisper caressed my ear, sending chills down my body. “Taking my time where no one can interrupt us. Taking all night.”

God, I wanted that. I wanted to believe it could ever happen.

But—I looked down at my brother’s old shoes and my chewed fingernails—I was deluding myself. Trying to escape my life and dreaming that I could ever look like I belonged at his side.

“Well, well, I’m shocked,” a deep voice spoke up somewhere behind us. “Saint Kai, about to get his dick wet this early in the night, huh?”

My eyes went wide, and we both stilled.

No.

A dark laugh I knew all too well followed, and I hurriedly fixed my shirt, knocking Kai’s hands away.

No, no, no...

“I knew you’d come around,” Damon said, his voice getting closer. “Who do you have there?”

I shrunk in on myself, trying to hide in front of Kai.

“Get out,” Kai ordered over his shoulder. “This one’s off limits.”

I closed my eyes, praying silently and willing myself to be invisible. Please, go away. Please.

Kai must’ve felt me shaking, because he squeezed my arms, giving me reassurance.

But then I felt him.

He was there.

The heat of his glare fell on the side of my face, and I slowly opened my eyes and cast a glance out of the corner, seeing the black shoes on the ground to my right. Looking up, I saw Damon at Kai’s side, his stare meeting mine.

A wave of nausea hit me.

He looked calm, but I knew better. His slightly open mouth closed, and his jaw flexed. It was a subtle gesture, but I knew the signs.

My brother was never calm. If he wasn’t having it out with me now, he would eventually, and I wouldn’t see it coming.

He let out a scoff, continuing the charade of not recognizing me. “Like I would bother,” he bit out at Kai. “She’s a fucking mess. Are you kidding me?”

His eyes fell down on me in a show. He wasn’t taking in my appearance. He knew what I wore every day. They were his old clothes, after all.

He was keeping up pretenses. Outside of the house, I wasn’t supposed to know him. I was a ghost. He didn’t want me to have friends, and he didn’t want his friends to notice me. If anyone knew I was his sister, they’d question why I didn’t go to school with him, dress as nicely as him, or go to parties with him. And if anyone knew Gabriel Torrance was my father, they’d question why I wasn’t treated like a daughter. Too much of a story for people who didn’t need to know.

“There’s beautiful girls out there, man, and you choose the one who looks like a boy?” He pulled out a cigarette and packed the tip on the top of his hand. “Who is she, anyway?”

“None of your business,” Kai snapped, “and don’t be a prick.”

“Relax.” He popped the cigarette in his mouth, lighting it as he spoke. “I wouldn’t touch the dirty, little rat if you paid me. Clean yourself up, honey.” He took the cigarette out of his mouth and blew out a stream of smoke. “Women are good for one thing, and you’re failing at even that.”

I shrunk, wanting to disappear.

But Kai jerked in front of me, his body going rigid as he yelled. “Knock it off.”

“Oh, fuck you. I’m leaving anyway.”

I heard Damon’s footsteps retreat across the dirt floor, and I didn’t look, but I guessed he’d left the tower.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. It was one thing for my brother to catch me somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be, but finding me here with Kai? There would be no mistake in Damon’s head about what he’d walked in on just now.

I stood up, combing my hands through my hair and righting my clothes.

“Hey, fuck him,” Kai told me, trying to ease what had just happened. “He’s an asshole.”

“He’s your friend.”

“And he is for a reason.” He approached me. “He’s just got a lot of ugly inside of him, and he takes it out on people. Just ignore him.”

I swiped my sweatshirt off the floor. “I have to go.”

I had to get out of here. I hated it when he was mad at me. I’ll go home and stay in my room, and when Damon gets there later or in the morning, he’ll find me sleeping right where I’m supposed to be. Waiting for him.

“Hey.” Kai took my arm.

But I jerked away from him.

“Don’t leave.”

I didn’t want to, but I had to. I pushed away the longing still raging through my body and brushed past him, bolting from the room.

“Hey!” Kai shouted after me.

But I just ran, hurriedly pulling the sweatshirt over my head. The tears pooled as I raced back into the woods, diving into the dark shadows of the trees.

“I don’t even know your name!” I heard his shout behind me.

The muscles in my legs felt like they were on fire as I dashed toward the parking lot and the road we came in on.

But then a hand grabbed my sweatshirt and yanked me back, the scent of my brother’s cigarettes flooding me as my body slammed into his.

I sucked in a breath and watched as Damon towered over me, his carefully constructed calm now gone.

“Oh, you’re off limits, alright,” he growled Kai’s words back to me. “I should rip off every single piece of clothing on your body right now. Everything I’ve given you. I told you all women were selfish, lying cunts. He doesn’t get to have you, and you don’t get to have him.” He bore down on me, the liquor on his breath wafting through my nostrils.

“Damon, please?” I begged softly, laying on hand on his chest. “I didn’t—”

“Don’t touch me.” He slapped my hand away. “I told you not to get dirty.”

“I’m not,” I assured him, shaking my head.

But he just looked down on me, fury in his eyes and pain he tried to conceal in his voice.

He grabbed my jaw, and I whimpered as he pressed my back to a tree. “Why did you do this?” he gritted out. “I told you to never let a man touch you.”

“I didn’t mean to let it happen,” I breathed out. “But he didn’t touch me anywhere, I promise.”

“Oh, yes, he did.” His eyes narrowed on me. “And you liked it. All you sluts like it. You’re going to let him take you away from me. You’re going to screw me over, and if you do, I will kill you. Do you hear me? I will fucking kill you.”