“They’re coming to my game this weekend.”

“Now I really don’t want to talk about them.”

He tugged at my arm again. “They’re coming with my dad.”

“What?”

“My dad and my...that girl. She’s coming too.”

“Your sister?”

He nodded, finally letting go of my arm to rest on a desk.

Except my arm yearned for his touch again. It tingled where he’d held it. I rubbed at it, hoping that maybe it’d stop. It didn’t. It intensified. My entire body wanted Jesse.

“My dad dropped the case. He paid her off.”

“Your sister?”

“No, it was her mother. She was using her kid to get at my dad, but after seeing what your folks did to you, I talked to my dad. I met the girl. She’s sweet, kind of.”

I grinned. “Another ringing endorsement from Jesse Hunt.”

He grinned back. “It’s still weird.”

“So you met her?”

“Once. She seems sweet. Her mom’s a whack job so we’ll see how far the apple falls from the tree, you know?”

“Yeah, look at my parents and me. I didn’t fall far.”

He groaned, tipping his head back and raking his hands through his hair. “I didn’t mean that at all. I just meant, oh to hell with it. I want you to come to my game.”

I opened my mouth, a hot argument on the tip of my tongue.

He stopped me. “You haven’t been to one game. We’ve been playing for a couple months now. You owe me.”

“You owe me the truth.”

He slouched forward again. “I told you. It’s not my secret to tell, but trust me when I say I’m trying.” He reached over and drew me to him. HIs voice softened, “Believe me, Alex. I am trying. My f**king bed is too big for me. It feels empty now. I can’t believe I’m even saying that, but whatever. That’s how I feel. I want you back. I want you to move in. I want you with me again.”

My body melted. I sagged forward, wanting the same thing, but the back of my throat was burning. It was so f**king painful to pull away from him. The tears were there again, threatening to spill as I shook my head. “I can’t. You can’t keep something about my brother from me. I can’t come back until there are no secrets.”

He cursed under his breath.

Since I was at it, “And we define what the hell we actually are.”

“What do you mean?”

“What am I to you? Or what was I to you? A body to keep your bed warm? Fuck buddies? That’s what we were before—”

He jerked me back and bit out, “We were never that. You were never that to me.”My hand went to his chest, to push him away. It lingered instead. It curved against him and I felt his heart again.

“You were my f**king sanctuary, that’s what you were to me. You were my guilty indulgence. I should’ve stayed away from you, but I couldn’t. I still can’t. Jeezus. Look at me. I’m damn near on my knees here.”

“Jesse.”

“Stop. I don’t want to hear it. I got it. You want the secret. I’ll deliver. I have to, but when you find out—don’t be mad at me. This wasn’t my secret. This was what Ethan wanted. I was just trying to do what he wanted from me.”

The pain doubled in me. “Ethan wanted this kept from me?”

“I was left f**king instructions from his lawyers.” A threat of violence mingled with his tone. It was low and heavy. It sent shivers down my back. If Ethan had been alive...

“Will you come to the game? Please come.”

I broke. I heard myself saying in surrender, “I won’t sit with my parents. I can’t do that.”

“Fine. But they want to do dinner after the game. Your mom emailed me. She wanted me to ask you, but…” Sensing my resistance, he pulled me close again. “I want you to come for me. Be there for me. My dad’s going to be there. No doubt some whore will be with him and my sister. I can’t get through this damn dinner alone. I need you.”

“Jesse,” I murmured. My head fell to his chest. The fight was leaving me. Every second he touched me, it was becoming harder to pull away.

His hand cradled that back of my head. His thumb moved back and forth against my neck in a soothing manner. “Please, Alex. I don’t usually ask for much.”

“You don’t ask for anything.”

“Except sex.”

I felt the rumbling in his chest from laughter.

And he finished with, “I really, really enjoy screwing you.”

What every girl wants to hear.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

I refused to sit with my parents or Jesse’s family so I asked Hannah and Beth to go with me instead. Our seats were across the gymnasium and higher up. The view was perfect for me to spy on Jesse’s new sister. I already knew what to expect with my parents, avoidance, and I knew Malcolm Hunt was a douchebag most of the time. I also had met a few of his girlfriends to know they were the same. Model thin, big br**sts, and an aspiring actress/supermodel/singer/take your pick. A few had made sexual advances on Jesse when they were bumped off the line by his father.

Hannah put her binoculars down and sat back. “Jesse’s dad is hot. He doesn’t look like some big-time movie producer. He looks like an actor or someone who’d be in front of the camera, if you know what I mean.”

Beth grabbed for the binoculars, but she put them in her bag instead.

“Hey!” Hannah tried to grab for them again.

“No.” She moved the bag out of reach. “I can’t believe you brought these. I’m emo and I think it’s embarrassing. That says something.”

“What do you mean by that? I can’t see. This place is huge.” Hannah dove for the bag again.

Beth threw it on my lap as she held her cousin away with a hand on Hannah’s forehead. “That I usually don’t give a damn what people think about me, but that’s too much. It’s embarrassing on Alex’s behalf.”

I shrugged. “I don’t care.” I was tempted to use them myself.

“See. She doesn’t care. Only her opinion should matter.” She reached over and snatched them from my lap. No one stopped her this time.

Beth glanced over. “You really don’t care that Hannah has binoculars to scope out Jesse’s family?”