Page 33 of That Last Secret
“Thatwould make you uncomfortable,” I add. “For the sake of argument here, I never saw that going anywhere to begin with.”
“How come?” Avery asks.
“You need someone who matches your attitude and gives it right back to you,” I tell her.
“I don’t have an attitude,” Avery snaps.
“Attitude is the wrong word,” Kali cuts in. “You’re strong-willed. You’re not afraid to share those wild thoughts in your head, regardless of what others think. You respect yourself enough to stand up for yourself. Which you definitely learned from your mom growing up.”
“You don’t like to be coddled either.” I laugh. “That’s why my brother couldn’t be a more perfect fake fiancé for you.”
“Right,” she scoffs. “I have no doubt that Marc can handle my shit. He does every day at work. But I can also read him like a book. Deep down, he wants romance and a happy ending.”
“You’re good at the happy ending.” Kali winks in her seat.
“We arenotfucking going there,” Avery says adamantly.
“Stooppp it,” Kali drawls. “You’ve already had his dick inside of you, and you’ve been weird around him ever since.”
“First of all.” My face wrinkles in disgust at the idea of my brother’s sex life. “I don’t want to know who, what, or wheremy brother sticks his dick. Seriously gross.” I shiver in my seat. “Secondly, you both certainly have been odd around each other. I have to agree with Kali here.”
I’ve noticed how they were after the Christmas gala before she left. Something was off between them, and Marc has been acting weird ever since. I’ve been trying to tell myself that he’s just anxious about work and waiting to hear what his boss has to say and to whom he’s giving the company, but I’ve never been entirely convinced.
Marc and Avery are complete opposites. Still, everyone around them has picked up on their chemistry.
Everyone but them, of course.
“Is it really that obvious?” Avery says, throwing herself back on the couch.
“Yes,” Kali and I say in unison.
“Dammit. This is exactly why this won’t work out in his favor. Em, cover your ears,” Avery tells me before returning to Kali. “You have no idea how hot that night was. He’s the exact kind of dominant and dirty man that I like.”
“You gave me no time to cover my ears, and now this might be my cue to go,” I hiss.
“Don’t leave me,” Avery pleads, throwing her hands into a prayer motion. “You can’t leave your fake future sister-in-law hanging like this. Besides, we know you’re into kinky shit. You basically admitted during that card game on our trip to the shore that you want to be tied up.”
Shit. I was hoping this would never be brought up again. Not only do the girls now think I’m into kinky shit, but that was also the trip where Logan started acting so differently around me.
Things are different now, but I’m not the kind of person these girls think I am.
Well, actually, that may be a lie. Ihavethought about kinky stuff more often than I can count. I’ve just never had apartner or sexual encounter where I felt comfortable and saw the opportunity to have more than just uncomplicated sex with someone.
“Now that you bring that up,” Kali chimes in, directing her attention to me. “Was it just me, or was I feeling some sort of sexual tension between you and Logan?”
“I felt that shit.” Avery nods repeatedly. “Isn’t he old?”
“God, no. He just turned thirty. That’s only eight years older than me,” I say, but I wish I could take the words back as soon as they leave my mouth. It almost sounds like I’m defending something existing between us when nothing is happening.
“So, is this you admittingsomething?”
“No. Absolutely not.” I shake my head rapidly because… shit. “He’s my brother’s best friend. Not just any brother… my oldest brother. We grew up together, so I have known him for like, ever. Besides, he’s a cop. You know what they say about cops.”
“That they like handcuffing in the bedroom?” Avery wiggles her eyebrows.
My thighs clench together at the idea of having him do that to me. But I quickly scold myself because that’s never happening in this lifetime.
I wrinkle my face. “Ew. No. It’s that they all cheat!” I lie.