Page 12 of End It All

"Make yourself at home."

"What the fuck is that smell?" Blake covered his nose. The further he walked into my place, the bigger his eyes got. "The fuck happened here? Do you work for a pizza company?"

"No, why?" I headed for the couch that was buried under a mountain of trash. I dusted it off. The thing was old, and honestly, I never sat on it anymore. "You can sleep here. Just don't sit on the right side. The cushion is no good and falls out the bottom."

"The fuck I am." Blake shook his head, his dark strands whipping across his face.

He'd be my type if he wasn't a Vitale.

"Oh really, then you plan on sleeping with me?" I grinned, checking him out. "I'll have you know, I sleep naked, and I don't plan on changing that fact."

"I'm not sleeping on that. It's probably ground zero for Ebola or something."

He was being dramatic. I shrugged. "Suit yourself."

I headed for the bedroom, opening the door, and Blake was right behind me.

"So you're a slob but not in here?"

I looked around my apartment. It felt like home to me. "No idea what you're talking about."

"You sleep on the couch then, and I'll take the bed."

He couldn't be serious. I laughed because what else was I supposed to do with something so stupid? I shoved him further in the bedroom.

"If you're sleeping in here, take a shower. I don't do outside stench in the bed."

Blake looked back behind him at the living room and then at me again. "I?—"

"Oh, and if you try to run, I'll break your ankles. Benito asked me to watch you; he didn't say I had to protect you. Am I clear?" I gripped his chin.

Blake leaned into my touch, becoming softer. "Please, this is all new for me. I just need a good night's rest." He licked his lips, the ball of his tongue ring making an appearance just for a second. His blue eyes pleaded with me to give in. “This is hard.” The damn things glistened with unshed tears. “I came here looking for my family, and now I'm forced to stay with a stranger. You have to understand I’m under a lot of stress.”

"Get on your knees and beg me."

Blake stared at me a long while before he slapped my hand away. The sting only made it funnier.

I stood up to my full six-foot-four height. "Flirt all you want, even try and have sex with me. I'll end up breaking someone like you."

Blake's cheeks reddened as his fists opened and closed at his sides.

"Go shower, or do you need my help with that too?"

I could still feelhis dirty fingertips on my face. As I stood in his shower, which was slightly grimy and gross, I stared at the wall and scrubbed at my face with the bar of yellow soap I found. Still, I could feel it, his digits digging into my chin as if he had the right to touch me. Frowning, I dunked my entire head beneath the water and tried to rinse it off.

Who the hell does he think he is!

Usually, whenever I turned on the doe eyes, people immediately let me get away with murder. Not Quincy. I'd only known him for a short time, and I already wanted to punch him in the throat. I ran my hand down my face and glowered at the wall.

I wanted to call my mom. She would be worried, wondering if I made it or if I had been arrested. I already knew that I couldn'tthough. We had one burner we used for things that were less than legal, but I still needed to get a phone of my own that wasn't tied to me at all. People thought it was easy enough to walk into a store and grab a burner, but cameras were everywhere now. If they saw me buying it, they would tie me to it and whatever serial number was on the phone. No, I had to be smarter than that.

"Hey!" Quincy called as he pounded on the door. "You gonna be done anytime soon?"

I glared at the door. What I wanted to yell out was get fucked. Instead, I continued cleaning the grime and sweat from my body with the towel that I had been given from that crazy bastard. The more I thought about it, the more it pissed me off. Who the hell was Benito to dump me off on someone else? I'd just realized that I had a brother—no, brothers—and now I was shoved off on some stranger? Clearly, they wanted to get rid of me.

So why not just send me home?

"Seriously, let's go! You know there's only one bathroom here, right?"