Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107306 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Shai rolls onto his side. He’s a bit of a mess, his hair even wilder than usual.
“You know if you ever get serious about someone, this whole situation you have with Cillian and Ollie might be a problem, right? It’s not the way most relationships work.”
“If they can’t understand it, they’re not the one for me, just like Ollie wouldn’t have been the one for Cillian if he didn’t understand it.” I pluck my box of weed from the drawer and decide to roll a joint instead of getting up to add water to the bong. I lean against the headboard, Shai lying on his back now beside me, looking at the ceiling.
“I think it’s cool.”
I frown. Does he jump around subjects too? “What’s cool?”
“The thing with the three of you. And not just the sex, though the thought of that is hot, but like…the connection. I’m not a fan of Cillian, but I can see how much he loves you, how much Ollie does too. Most people don’t have that.”
He doesn’t. It doesn’t take a genius to see that. He deserves to have his own Cillian and Ollie, his own Ash, and Tiernan, and Dean.
“You understand us.”
“I see you,” he replies, those words making me feel…something. I can’t put my finger on what it is.
“You’re not like most people, pet.” I lick the end of the paper and finish rolling it.
“And you are?”
I laugh. “Fuck no, but it’s not often I meet someone who is like us…or me.”
I’m about to light the end of the joint when my cell buzzes.
Cillian: T’s back from Boston.
Fuck. Here we go.
Me: I’ll be right down.
“Here, you can have this.” I hand the weed to Shai. “I have to go talk to Tiernan. Don’t leave the room. Don’t get into my shit. You can play video games if you want, or shower. I’ll be back.”
He doesn’t respond, just eyes me in that intense way of his, until I get to the door. “Cherry?”
“What?”
“Don’t fuck this up, what you have here with your family, for me.”
My pulse does this weird thing, speeds up while also strangely stumbling. “I could never fuck up what I have with them. That’s not how we work. But thank you for caring.” He shouldn’t. He’s not supposed to. He doesn’t know me well enough for that, and hell, knowing me should make him care about me even less, but not Shai, I see. “You deserve this too,” I say, then leave the room, closing the door behind me.
When I get downstairs, Ollie and Cillian are on the couch, Tiernan in his chair.
“Where’s Dean?”
“We dropped him off at school. He had a test he can’t miss.”
Murder by night, back for a test the next day. Only Dean or Tiernan would care enough to do that. Cillian only went to make Ollie happy.
Before I can sit down, Tiernan says, “Let’s go talk, Rory.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
Tiernan’s already walking away.
“You want me to come help talk to him?” Cil asks, and he would—he would argue for me, even though he doesn’t like Shai, because it’s for me—but I shake my head.
“I’m good.”
In Tiernan’s office, I take the chair across from him.
“Why is there a stranger in our house, Rory?”
“There are strangers in our house every time we have a party,” I counter.
He can’t argue with that, so he says, “You know what I mean.”
“I want him,” I answer simply. That’s what it boils down to. I want to fuck him and keep him until I’m done with him.
“How do you want him?”
“I’m not sure. I just do. He’s fun, and I like the way he fucks.” There’s more to it than that. I’ve felt a weird connection to him from the start, felt like he gets me in ways most people don’t, not even Cillian.
“You like how a lot of people fuck.”
Why is he doing this? “This is different.”
“How?”
“I don’t fucking know, T. Jesus.”
He sighs. “I’m not trying to be a dick.”
“We all know it comes naturally to you.” Otherwise, why would he need to tell us that so often?
He bites back a small smile but doesn’t continue, waiting for me to say something, to tell him more. I rub a hand over my face in frustration, reach into my pocket, but my spinner isn’t there.
“You said I could come to you, so I’m coming to you. I want to keep my pet. It’s not like the shit with you and Dean or Cil and Ollie. It’s not forever. I…like to be with him.”
His eyes narrow, studying, looking deep the way only Tiernan can. “It’s okay for it to be more. With him or someone else.”
I roll my eyes. “It’s not. Let’s be real. We’re talking about me.” I wouldn’t even know how to do that.
His brows draw together. “What do you mean? You’re the first person in this house who would jump in front of a bullet for any of us, the first one to sacrifice yourself, your time. If one of us needs something, you’re always the first to offer yourself up, no matter what it is. Why could you not be the same for him?”