“You two ganging up on me?” With a sigh, I came to a stop in front of Lucas. “Why don’t you take the couch? There’s enough space for you to stretch your leg.”
He shook his head. “The floor is fine.”
I pinned him with a look.
And instead of fighting me over it, instead of trying to say something that would convince me or make me feel better, he placed the palm of his hand to the side of my thigh. And slowly, ever so slowly, he squeezed. The pads of his fingers were right against my bare skin, and everywhere that our skin touched heated up. Intense awareness spread out, traveling to all parts of my body.
Lucas let his hand rest there as he looked up at me, straight into my eyes. His jaw set into a line, his features serious. “Don’t make meget on my feet and pick you up myself,ángel.” And I knew he meant it. “Because I’ll carry you to the couch if I have to.”
God, this man. “Fine,” I relented.
His hand fell off my skin at the same time as a grunt of agreement left his lips.
Choosing to ignore how that little sound affected me, I plopped myself down on the couch, watching as Lucas repositioned himself so his shoulders and head were between my legs.
He curled the arm that wasn’t holding the ice around my shin. “Now the floor isn’t just fine,” he said quietly. “It’s perfect.”
I laughed, secretly cursing him for thinking he could go around saying stuff like that like it was nothing. Like it wasn’t supposed to make me want to scramble off the couch and camp in his lap.
“Bean?” my brother called from the other side of the couch.
I looked over at him. “Yeah, Olly?”
“Why are we at Lina’s place?”
“That’s a bit of a long story. I’ll be moving back to my apartment tomorrow.”
Lucas nudged my knee with his head, and my hand unconsciously dragged along my thigh, stopping when my fingertips reached his hair. Slipping them in, I absently stroked a few chocolate-colored strands back.
“After I drop you off at Dad’s,” I added, watching with infinite pleasure how Lucas’s head rolled to one side under my touch. “I’ll take the train to Philly with you and then get back to the city.”
“Okay,” Olly accepted without a complaint. And that made me so relieved I barely handled not crying. “I already told your boyfriend while you were in the shower, but… I’m sorry I ruined your night,” he continued, and the man sitting between my legs on the floor, the one whose head was leaning on my thigh and whose hand was latched on my ankle, didn’t utter a word at the label my brother had used. Didn’t even tense or flinch at all. Olly went on, “I owe you an explanation, Rosie. For being an idiot and dragging you into my mess tonight. Because if you had shown up alone, Jimmy—”
“But she didn’t,” Lucas cut my brother off. “And that’s what matters.”
“That’s right. And I know you’re sorry, Olly.” There wasn’t a doubt in my mind or heart about it. Olly was sorry, and this whole ordeal would weigh on him for a long time. “But I need to know what happened, whatever it was.”
Olly nodded, falling so quiet that I thought he wouldn’t say anything, but then he did. “There’s this girl, Lexie. It all started with her really.” He shook his head, and the gesture somehow reminded me of how much he’d changed. How much older he looked now. “It was a bet. I was trying to impress her and… it turned out to be fun. More fun than I thought. And the money was good. That movie isn’t lying.” He chuckled bitterly. “I made enough to come back the next night. But it was because of her that I went back every night after that. To keep an eye on her.”
I swallowed, processing everything he was telling me, coming up with a hundred questions. But the one that seemed to matter the most was, “Is Lexie okay now?”
He nodded. “Yeah, we’re… it doesn’t matter. I got her out of trouble, Rosie. That was why I didn’t want to do it anymore.” His expression turned heavy. “Jimmy is the owner’s right hand, and he wasn’t happy about me quitting. I apparently attracted a good… audience. But I knew that if I involved you, he would let me walk away. He wouldn’t want to attract too much attention or trouble. Calling you was selfish.”
“Oh, sweetie.” I sighed, my heart aching. “I’m your sister. Asking for my help isn’t selfish.”
“But I got your boyfriend hurt. You could have been, too.”
Lucas reacted then, and what he said was, “Jimmy did, not you. And I’d never let anyone hurt Rosie, Olly. Just like I told you earlier.”
“Thanks,” Olly whispered.
Other than that, my brother didn’t say anything else, and neither did the amazing, selfless man nestled between my legs. So, I continued playing with Lucas’s hair for a long time, scratching his scalp gently. And even when his body slumped against my legs, and his chest rumbled against my skin, I still kept going. Because as much as touching Lucas usually left every cell in my body tingling, I wasbeginning to understand that touching someone you loved was about much more than just that. It wasn’t always about the sparks and the fireworks. Not exclusively. It could also be about the peace it brought you. The comfort. And for all the romances I’d read and the one, almost two, I’d written, I hadn’t known that. I would haveneverimagined that touching a man could light me up inside and quiet every worry and every noise in the world.
We stayed like that for a long while, none of us paying any attention to what was playing on the TV. Only when Olly’s breath deepened and snores sounded from his side of the couch did I lean forward to whisper in Lucas’s ear.
“Let’s go to bed.”
I moved around him, standing up and offering him both hands. With a tired expression that told me he’d been about to follow my brother’s example, he took them, letting me pull him up.