Drown in You, page 10
Without waiting for her to protest again, I leave her room to grab towels.
By the time I’ve been in the hot tub for ten minutes, Sienna still hasn’t showed. I’m about to head upstairs and drag her out when she finally makes an appearance.
My heart drops. She’s swapped her dress for my jersey, the hem reaching nearly to her knees.
“I hope you don’t mind I borrowed one of your shirts.” She scurries over to the hot tub across the frozen deck.
Jesus. She has no idea the effect seeing her in my jersey has on me. Beneath the bubbling water, my cock stiffens. The outline of her bra shows as she sinks into the water, and I wish she was naked beneath my jersey.
Silence falls between us as I fail to swallow the rock lodged in my throat at the sight of her. She briefly meets my gaze until her bashful green eyes flick away again, her fingers twirling around the end of her hair with restless energy.
I love how nervous I make her. How much she worries about what I’ll do to her. About what she wants me to do to her.
“What’s your major?” she blurts.
I should’ve braced myself for questions. She already knows Ten’s major, but if I lie to her, she can easily find out the truth. Then she’ll wonder why I lied in the first place and put the pieces of the puzzle together. I already slipped up in the car earlier. Nearly panicked when she asked how I knew her dad only sent her cards and called her on her birthday for years. I’ve gotta be more careful. “Kinesiology. I’ll help athletes recover from injuries. Once I’m forced to retire from the NHL.”
Hockey is hard on the body. Most players don’t stay in the game past forty. I’ve known my backup plan since junior year of high school.
“Oh, really? That’s Ten’s major.” A little smile flickers on her lips as she thinks of him. Me. “Why do you want to do that?”
I can’t tell if she genuinely wants to know or if she’s just making conversation to avoid awkward silence. It’s adorable how she blabbers when she’s nervous. That’s one thing I didn’t expect from the girl I met online. Even though I’ve known her for years, there’s still so much left to learn.
So many secrets she’s still keeping from me.
I rack my brain, trying to remember what I’ve told her as Ten. If I give away too much, she’ll grow suspicious. For now, she’s still in the dark. I need to keep her that way. “My pops was in the NHL. Then he got injured and couldn’t play anymore. Not even recreationally. It always bothered him that we couldn’t play together.”
But that never stopped him from driving me to every practice and game. Never stopped him from being the loudest parent cheering from the stands. Never stopped him from volunteering to coach or to get up at the ass crack of dawn when I wanted to hit the ice for fun. Even if he couldn’t be on the ice anymore, he never stopped smiling when I was.
That’s the kind of dad Sienna deserves.
“That’s . . . actually kind of sweet of you.” The words leave Sienna’s mouth with a bitter edge. Almost like she resents having to admit it out loud.
“Says the nursing major.”
She lifts a brow. “How do you know that? Uncover that information while you were stalking me?”
For a second, I panic. Keeping track of what she’s told me as the anonymous masked man and what she’s told me since we met in person could quickly become a big fucking mess. “Mike asked you about your major on the way to the airport.”
She nods. “Right. The horribly awkward car ride.”
“Why nursing?” That’s something someone who barely knows her would ask. Someone who hasn’t already discussed with her at length the different majors she was considering senior year of high school. Nurse, doctor, vet, teacher. Unlike me, she hasn’t had her life planned since she was sixteen. But it felt good, being the person whose opinion she cared about most. She trusted my judgment, trusted I’d encourage her toward the right path.
“I’ve always taken care of people,” she says casually. “It’s what I’m good at.”
She’d be a great nurse. Caring, kind, empathetic. Not to mention every guy fantasizes about waking up in a hospital to a nurse like her.
Sienna bites her lip before asking, “What happened to your dad?”
Fuck. I really, really don’t want to think about that. I’ve spent years trying to shut out the memory of my father’s final moments, trying to preserve only the happy ones. The ones where he’s smiling, laughing, cheering me on.
I’ve never shared the details of Pop’s death with anyone. Not my friends, not Chloe, not even Sienna. All she knows is that Ten was there when his father died.
But for some reason, I want to tell her now. She wants to know, and maybe if I confide in her about this, she’ll finally tell me why she’s really here.
I shift on the slick bench, propping my elbows behind me onto the cool, dry concrete. “He was driving me to hockey practice. He started having chest pain and swerving on the road.” My stomach constricts, the memories rushing back. “I grabbed the steering wheel and jerked the truck to the side of the road. I managed to bring the truck to a stop and called 911. He passed out while the dispatcher told me the paramedics were on their way. They didn’t get there in time.”
Pop?
Pop. Pop!
I shook him. Expected him to come to, for his eyes to flash open any second.
They never did.
I’m glad you were the last thing he saw. That’s what Ma told me at his funeral. As if I should’ve been grateful I witnessed my father’s death. That I was right there, holding his hand, and still didn’t save him.
“When the paramedics finally showed up, he was already gone.”
Sienna scoots closer, green eyes soft with concern and maybe even pain. Almost as if she can feel my hurt like it’s her own. Her hand starts to reach out, a girl used to providing comfort, but she withdraws it. She’s always been so good at comforting me. The best.
She’ll never know how many times she’s saved me.
“I’m sorry, Luke,” she murmurs. I can barely hear her over the bubbling water. “That’s awful.”
I nod. “It sucked.”
“I bet you really miss him.”
I’m forced to drag my gaze away from her and up to the lone, full moon in the dark sky before she catches a glimpse of the tears stinging my eyes. “Every day.”
She inches over again. If she gets any closer, her bare leg will brush against mine, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to hold myself back. If I’ll be able to stop myself from burying my cock inside her and driving all the painful thoughts away.
“Ten lost his dad too. So I know how much that can hurt.”
I clear my throat, finally able to meet her eyes again. “What’s the deal with you two?”
“Me and Ten? We’re just friends.”
“You sure?”
She rolls her eyes, but a blush creeps up to her cheeks. “I don’t even know what he looks like. And he lives in California.”
“And what if he moved here for you? Would you date him?” I’m not sure what I want her answer to be. We’re the same person, but she doesn’t know that. Which version of me would she choose?
“I don’t know.” She chews her lip. “I’d probably be too scared to screw up our friendship.”
Disappointment wedges in my chest. Even if I came clean now, she still wouldn’t want me.
“Luke.” Sienna inches closer again, hesitant. “What happened with Chloe?”
My spine goes rigid.
Chloe. How the fuck does she know about Chloe? Violet must’ve told her. I’ve never mentioned Chloe to Sienna. I can’t remember the last time I spoke her name out loud. Certainly not since Sienna showed up.
She doesn’t get to know about Chloe when she’s still keeping so much from me. I’ve admitted plenty to Sienna tonight. Now it’s her turn.
“Why are you really here? Why did you leave Wakefield?”
Her mouth falls open as she debates whether she’s finally going to tell me the truth.
A ringtone pierces the silent darkness around us.
Sienna jumps out of the hot tub, the water sloshing. My soaked jersey clings to every delicious curve of her body. She dries her hands with one of the towels before wrapping it around her shoulders and answering the phone. “Hey, Mom! No, I’m actually not at the dorm. Luke brought me to Dad’s house.”
She glances back at me only briefly before heading inside.
Leaving me alone with nothing but the silence and the water and the moon. Nothing but me and a drowning girl I can’t save.
After she gets off the phone with her mom, Sienna snaps a photo of Bud and sends it to Ten.
Sienna
I know you’re a dog person. I met the sweetest pup today. Isn’t he so cute?
When is she going to tell Ten about me? She’d never admit to what we did when we met or the fantasies she has about me, but she hasn’t even mentioned my existence. Ten knows about everyone else. Do I mean that little to her?
I give her an hour alone before I sneak into her room and watch her sleep with a mask covering my face.
Beyond the soft glow of the nightlight, Sienna doesn’t shift in her bed. Her eyes don’t spring open to find a masked man watching her. Part of me hoped she’d wake up the second I snuck in here. Open that pretty little mouth to scream so I could shove my cock in it.
But she’s oblivious. Chest rising softly with each deep, slumbering breath. Maybe sleep is the only time she finds any sort of peace now.
She could find it with me if she let herself.
My balls tighten, every inch of me longing to close the distance between us, slide my mask up, and bury my mouth between her legs. Eat her hard while she stirs slowly from sleep, make her come while she’s still wondering whose head is between her legs, and get her screaming on my cock when she finally realizes it’s me. There’s nothing in the world I want more than to be the one who makes her moan, smile, laugh, scream.
If Ten is going to disappoint her, then I need to do everything I can to make up for it. Be the guy she wishes Ten would be.
I slide my hand past the waistband of my sweats and pull out my cock, the vein on the underside of my shaft already pulsing.
With a stroke down to the base, I imagine Sienna blinking awake. Eyes adjusting to the darkness to find her stepbrother in a mask jerking off to her sleeping form.
She’d protest, order me to get out. But I wouldn’t. I’d saunter over to her bed, grinning as I watched her throat bob. Her eyes would pop wide open when I slid my hand into her hair to keep her head in place and shoved my cock past her lips. The protest would build in her throat, but she wouldn’t be able to voice it around my dick filling her mouth.
My shaft would drag along her slick, soft tongue before hitting the back of her throat. Her gag would vibrate down my cock all the way to my balls. I’d have to fight off the orgasm rapidly building up as I rocked my hips back before driving my cock into her throat again. Again and again and again.
Then I’d rip off her panties, flip her on top of me, and eat her soaked pussy while she eagerly sucked my cock, both of us desperate for our own release and each other’s.
Her gurgles would fill my ears and then her screams as her pussy pulsed, and I’d spill every drop of hot cum down Sienna’s throat—
My pants echo beneath the mask as I pump my cock. I grab the nearest item of clothing I can find.
Sienna’s silky, black dress.
I wrap the fabric around my tip just before the cum explodes out. Bite back my groan, head tipping as I stroke my cock through every wave of my orgasm.
Cum covers Sienna’s dress. The proof of exactly what she does to me.
Heart hammering, I drop her ruined dress on the floor. She’s still sound asleep. Blissfully unaware of what her stepbrother just did in her room while she slept.
Sienna has no idea the effect she has on me. But she will.
I sneak closer, tempted to brush back the hair on her cheek. On her bedside table, the contents of her purse spill out. Her phone, her wallet, a tampon, lip balm . . . and the disposable camera.
She could’ve thrown it away by now. Ridding herself of all the memories of that night. But I mean more to her than she lets on.
Soon, she’ll learn she means everything to me.
Chapter 13
Sienna
When I shuffle into Luke’s enormous kitchen the next morning, the room is already filled with the delicious aroma of fried eggs and bacon. In front of the stove, a shirtless Luke flips strips of frying pork in a sizzling pan. But that’s not what stops me in my tracks.
Dozens of flowers are bundled in bouquets, some on the table, others on the counters. Roses, lilies, tulips. “What are those for?”
Luke gives me a half-smile. “You said ten dozen flowers would make you feel better.”
“That . . .” I can’t come up with sufficient words to thank him. Even if the flowers didn’t come from Ten, the gesture warms my heart. Just like when he knelt before me and kissed the bruises that dotted my bare skin. “That is . . . actually sweet. Thank you.”
“Don’t act so surprised. My last name is Valentine, after all.”
I can’t help but laugh at his cheesiness. “I won’t be able to fit them all in my dorm.”
He shrugs. “Leave some here; take some with you. They’re yours. Do what you want with them.”
“What am I supposed to tell people?” I skim a finger over a silky petal. My stepbrother bought me ten dozen flowers. How am I supposed to explain that?
He smirks. “Tell them any guy who thinks he has a shot with you better treat you as well as your stepbrother.”
I flush. Luke Valentine leaves me speechless more than anyone I’ve ever met. “I’ll send a bouquet home to Mom and leave some for Deb.”
“Go for it.” Luke nods at my clothes with a spark of amusement in his eyes. “Nice outfit.”
“I couldn’t find my dress.” I left it in my room after slipping on Luke’s jersey last night. But when I looked for it this morning to slip it back on, it was gone.
Part of me is relieved. After the way Luke looked at me last night when he saw me in that dress, if he saw me in it again this morning, he would’ve made me his breakfast.
I forgot to toss my underwear and his jersey in the dryer last night, so now I’m in the T-shirt and gym shorts I stole from his laundry. They’re ridiculously oversized, the shirt reaching past my butt and the shorts hitting my calves, but he somehow still eats me up the way he did when I showed up to join him in the hot tub.
“It’s in the trash.”
I frown. “Why?”
He flashes a wolfish grin. “You really want to know?”
God. What the hell did he do to it? I shake my head. “No, I really don’t.”
With his fork, he points at a few plates on the table. “We’ve got scrambled and fried eggs, and butter, jam, or peanut butter for toast. Take your pick. Bacon will be ready soon.”
Luke Valentine made breakfast for me. He bought me ten dozen flowers. My new stepbrother is making it difficult to keep pushing him away.
“You should put a shirt on,” I tell him. “The bacon fat could burn you.”
He winks at me. “Thanks, Doc.”
But he doesn’t leave his spot in front of the stove. I huff and collapse into a seat at the table with my back to him. If he’s going to walk around this house shirtless, then I simply won’t look at him. He obviously knows at this point that I have a thing for muscular men. But I won’t let him get to me.
Honestly, I’m shocked he didn’t try sneaking into my room last night. My bedroom door doesn’t have a lock, and I was certain that as soon as I got off the phone with Mom, he’d be sauntering in to fulfill his promise to share a bed with me. But he didn’t.
Somehow, I managed to sleep more peacefully than I have in months.
My phone buzzes with a text from Juliet.
Juliet
I slept so much better without your snoring!!!
“Asshole,” I grumble.
“What?” Luke sets the plate of bacon in front of me.
“You didn’t hear me snoring, did you?”
“Oh, that was you? I thought someone was running a chainsaw.”
I roll my eyes. “Ha ha.”
Without another word, Luke leaves the kitchen. Is he going to let me eat alone? A confusing mix of relief and disappointment stirs in my belly. I should be grateful he’s giving me space. It’s what I’ve been asking for since we found out we’re step-siblings.
But I can’t help the guilt that eats at me from our conversation in the hot tub last night. I asked him about how his father died and then about Chloe. Forced him to relive those painful memories. He told me about what happened to his dad, the heart-wrenching details of being at his father’s side as he took his final breath. Unable to save him. Unable to do anything for him. Asking about Chloe was pushing it. He avoided the question entirely, changing the subject to my sudden arrival.
Thank god Mom called. Nothing good will come from Luke finding out the truth.
Drool hits my bare foot. Beneath the table, Bud wags his tail and blinks adorable, big brown eyes at me. I laugh and slip a slice of bacon beneath the table. “Don’t tell Luke.”
“Don’t tell me what?”
I jump at his booming voice as he strides into the room. Seeing him barefoot in nothing but gray sweatpants makes butterflies flutter in my stomach.
He purposely left his sweats hanging low on his hips, proudly displaying the mouthwatering V that descends into his waistband. The Adonis belt. As a nursing major, I’ve been required to study male anatomy, and Luke Valentine is the best specimen I’ve ever seen.
I scramble for the orange juice in the middle of the table, tempted to drink from the jug but managing to pour a glass before chugging. “I shared my bacon with Bud.”
“Careful. If he likes you too much, he won’t let you leave.” Luke sets a laptop down on the table in front of him, propping it open. The screen prompts him for a password. “What do you think Mike’s password is?”
