Page 45 of Scars of the Sun
“Sylvie’s nosy,” I groused and picked up my little rectangle of sandpaper. My wrists and fingers were tender and on their way to aching, and sweat poured down the sides of my neck.
But the work with my brother was nice. As long as he didn’t meddle in my emotions, a plane of existence that neither of us were comfortable with. I already spent enough time with Sylvie and her intuitiveness.
“She’s empathetic and cares about you. About all of us. And she’s far more comfortable discussing these things than I am.” He glanced up, briefly locking eyes with me, “You didn’t answer my question.”
I gulped. “I’m good, O. Thank you for letting me stay here. Really.” My words were slow but, to my surprise, sincere. This was leaps and bounds better than the half-life I’d been living. School, work, home—dry and alone, rife with self-loathing and exhaustion.
I couldn’t even get fucked up. Best believe I’d tried—to be self-destructive with my peers who drowned themselves with weed and coke and alcohol. Harder stuff sometimes. But wouldn’t you fucking know it, I was practically immune to that too. At least, enough so that truly becoming inebriated would be wildly expensive and suspicious. And I’d never truly wanted it enough to seek out the supernatural channels, though I wassure they existed. Humans couldn’t be the only ones to get high, right?
I wondered if Río knew. With a mother that seemed to loathe her Wolf, I’d been waiting for him to take the lead on bringing up anything shifter-related.
He hadn’t of course. He hadn’t even let me see what his Jaguar looked like.
“How… how long did you wait to show Sylvie your shift?” I forced my voice to be light, casual, and by Orion’s quirked brow, the question took him off guard. Good.
He wiped at his forehead with the back of his hand. “Ah, well.” His gaze unfocused, and his cheeks reddened, as did the tops of his ears. Catching himself, his white brows lowered over his eyes as he studied me. “Why?”
My lips twitched, fighting at making my brother blush, but I truly did want to know the answer. Río and I were two leaves, blown from different trees and flipping through the air, buffeted by gusts of wind until we crashed and twirled into each other. Pretty soon another gust would pull us apart, and I was determined to discover every surface and bend and edge that I could before that happened.
I’d been lost in my thoughts, trying to find an explanation that wouldn’t give too much away, but Orion beat me to it. His voice deepened, and a new presence started filling the workshop. “I have no judgement, but there is no sense denying the shifter’s scent that clings to you.”
I bit the inside of my cheek but said nothing. He was right, and I didn’t need the influence of his Leader scent to stop me from dismissing it.
Whatever connection Río and I had forged in this short amount of time wasn’t something I wanted to deny or skirt around. Not when I didn’t have to, anyway.
My phone dinged with a text. “Is that him? You’ve been texting away all day.”
Defensiveness surged up my throat, something to throw the conversation back on him. A tease, and accusation, but nothing made the true leap into being spoken.
“What do you know about him, then?”
Internally, I flailed for an answer. So many things small or intangible. His name, the color of his bedsheets. The way he smelled of mischief and delight when he looked at me sometimes. “Enough.”
I expected a fight, or a stabbing remark, aimed to shake my foundation or shame me for my actions, but Orion just sighed and nodded. “All right. But if he’s going to come by here, I need to have a conversation with him.”
Thatgot me sputtering. “Wha—noyou don’t.”
He moved the sandpaper more furiously over a spindle, wood dust falling like rain. “I know that you’re grown, but you’re living in my home, and he’s already been here. Twice. Not to mention that Sylvie and Dahlia know him. As the Leader of this land, if he continues to see you, he’s my responsibility.”
“No, no he’s not.” I huffed. “This isn’t. That. We’re not like you and Sylvie. He’s just passing through town. Nothing but having fun.”Don’t you want to have fun with me, Ramona?Yes, yes I did, and I wasn’t going to ruin it by trying to turn it into something that it wasn’t.
Orion winced, shook his head, and remained silent, not pressing the issue further. And when he continued to work, bopping his head to the music and essentially paying me no mind, I released my held breath in a rush. He truly wasn’t going to?—
“A month, I believe. I was scared what Sylvie would see if she truly saw me. What it would change.” I kept my eyes on my hands, moving quickly over the wall of the crib but hangingon his words. I’d witnessed glimpses of the love and intimacy between my brother and Sylvie but had never heard him speak of anything like this. After a moment, he pressed on, “But, it was a concern only founded in my fear and insecurity. She’s been understanding and wonderful from the beginning. And having her know both parts of me is one of the best gifts she’s ever given me.”
That was… my eyes prickled, my chest tightening as I glanced at my phone, now resting facedown on the table.
We worked for a while more, reaching all the spindles and the legs of the crib until there was nothing left to sand. My back ached a bit from the work, but I could see how these projects were satisfying to him. How he could lose himself in it.
I stretched my legs and twisted my back left and right. When I picked up my phone, Río’s texts filled the screen.
Sex God
This job is somehow the most stressful one I’ve ever had. Just got yelled at by an old lady.
Favorite movie? For research.
What’s your stance on nudes? Happy to receive or supply ;)