Page 67 of Awakening the Beast
He peers over at me, his dark eyes concealed by his sunglasses, but I can feel the intensity, “When have I ever been one for family dinners, Wren? Plus, she ain’t even our family,” he shoots back in a calm manner. “She’s just some woman that my dad cheated on my mom with and got her knocked up. End of story.”
I study him as he looks at the at the highway again, “But she’s Jaspers family, so that makes her our family. It’s not her fault your father was a cheating as…”
He glances at me sharply, and I pause, realizing I almost cursed. We both chuckle and I shake my head, “Your mouth has rubbed off on me.”
He sneers, “Yeah, it has, beautiful. It’s rubbed all over.”
His words ooze with dark desire as his gaze lands on my bare thighs, his hand tightening on it. I slap his arm again, snapping him out of his intrusive thoughts.
“You keep slapping me like that, Wren, you know I will have to start returning them.” He growls, his warning vibrating through me as he looks ahead.
I sigh and look aside out of the window, a smile playing on my lips until I notice the beach in the far distance.
Once we’ve parked up and met with Jasper and Lily, we all stroll over the warm sand, heading toward a quieter spot on the beach. After setting down some blankets and put up a parasol, we all begin to get undressed out of our top clothes.
As me and Lil relax on the blankets, Lumi lays between us, kicking her chunky legs around while the guys kick a soccer ball around with Cree by the sea. We watch them for a bit, then I move my focus to Lumi, pressing my finger into her hand.
“Was she okay last night?” I say to Lil, and she gives a small nod.
“She was good as gold. I told Arlo that in the text.” She responds dryly while watching Jasper at a distance.
My eyes follow hers and they linger on him as I speak, “Are you okay, Lil?” I turn my head to look at her. “You seem down?”
She lets out a defeated sigh before gazing down at Lumi, “I’m okay. I guess I don’t like the thought of being lied to for so long,” her eyes flick up to mine. “You all lied to me.”
I swallow hard before gently sitting up, “Lil, I’m…”
“I look up to you, Wren.” She cuts through my words, and I pause, guilt settling in my stomach. “Even though I never followed in your footsteps of being the good girl and I went down the road of being a tyrant, I still looked up to you and admired how you kept it all together, never made our parents disappointed. It was something I couldn’t grasp for a long time.”
My eyes ease, “I’m sorry, Lil. You know this life wasn’t mine until I met..” I glance off at Arlo with Cree on his shoulders, still playing soccer. “I didn’t know, but I fell in love with my total opposite.” I look at her again, sheepishly. “And I didn’t try to resist it. He’s my soul mate, despite the things he does for work.”
She inhales deeply before nodding, lowering her head.
“If it’s any reassurance, Jasper hasn’t been doing it for long. He helped out when Arlo was away. He helped me. I highly doubt he wanted this life for himself to begin with.” I try to comfort her.
She stays silent, eyes down, lost in thought and I continue, “He’s a good man. I know he will look after you and I know you’re strong enough to be beside him during all of this.”
“Just like you are with Arlo?” She asks, her gaze meeting mine and I give a small nod in response.
“I don’t want this life for you, Lil, I won’t lie. Despite me being involved with it all, I hate the thought of my baby sister havingthis kind of life.” We lock in a silent stare for a moment before I carry on, “but you’re not a baby anymore. You’re a woman and you’re strong. Besides, we will always have each other. We’re one big crazy family. We always will be.”
She gives another small nod, drifting off in thought and I reach out, sweeping my hand down her upper arm, “You will get used to it, Lil. Jasper’s a really good guy.”
“He wants me to meet his Mom next weekend.”
“I know, Arlo said he invited me and him as well.”
Her mood suddenly shifts with excitement, “Oh, yes, please come! I am so nervous.” She asks, her brown eyes pleading.
I let out a big breath, peering over at Arlo again. “I don’t think, Arlo wants to,” I admit before looking at her. “But even if he doesn’t, I’ll make sure I’m there.”
A big smile forms on her pretty face and it’s great to see considering how down she’s been today.
As the day progresses, Lily ends up in the water with Jasper, Cree continues making sandcastles after him and Arlo built a fort, then Arlo comes to join me and Lumi under the parasol. With Lumi curled up asleep on his chest, his arm is around me, sweeping his hand up and down the curve of my spine. I rest my cheek on his pec, watching the peaceful waves as I lightly touching Lumi’s, growing brown curly hair.
“Lil, knows everything, Arlo. Except of course, who Ghost is.” I say before lifting my head, my eyes meeting his, hidden beneath his snapback. “I guess she’s bound to find out one day, but one thing at a time. She seems to be overwhelmed by it all.”
“But she’s chosen to stay with him?” Arlo asks, his gaze dropping to my lips.
