Page 54 of Splintered Desire

He’s an asshole just like his fucking crazy ass brothers, but he’s the nicest. The least crazy, maybe?

No!

Not only is he related to them, but soon he’ll legally be related to me!

For as crazy as they are, they aren’t hard to look at. The thought of them makes my stomach churn, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wish it were different. I’ve had the misfortune of seeing the effect I have on them…

I’d much rather be the girl that fucks her stepbrothers than the one who gets fucked over by them.

With a groan of annoyance, I fall back on my bed and cringe when I hear the textbook fall to the floor.

This isn’t working, and they might not be an option I’m willing to explore, but I know who is.

I crawl across the bed, grab my phone, and freeze when the screen lights up with a message.

Let me take you to dinner after you beat Widow's face in tonight?

Reed…

He hasn’t stopped texting me since I accidentally texted him, and honestly, I’m not even mad about it anymore, not that he can know that.

What if she beats my face in?

I can’t help but laugh because I can picture the way he’ll roll his eyes. Reed is my biggest fan, but even more than that, he isn’t a fan of Widow.

Despite the house rule about fighters keeping hidden, she loves to use her ‘fame’ to fuck. She keeps her mask on, so I guess she isn’t really breaking the rules, but Reed doesn’t appreciate her clear advances; he’s told me about it on more than one occasion.

Which is also why, despite him being someone I know would be a fantastic way to get my mind off of them, he isn’t the one I had in mind for a distraction.

Well, that’s a lie. He is, but we can’t always have what we want, and Josh will do just fine.

Besides, with Josh, I’ll actually get some schoolwork done as well. Two birds, one stone, and all that shit.

Free to study?

It takes me a second to actually press send, and I don’t really want to think about why. Josh and I have always been able to study and de-stress; that's all this is.

And fuck knows I need to de-stress; I don’t get to be picky about who.

Meet at the library in an hour?

His answer comes through before I can even click off his chat, and I can’t put my finger on why I’m disappointed by that, but I don’t really want to look at it too hard.

At least he stopped insisting he pick me up and all that other shit.

Only took two years.

With a groan, I push up off the bed to start packing up. I should head out now so I can catch the bus; plus, any time out of the house is appreciated.

My phone vibrates as I pull my sweater on, and I’m tempted to ignore it until I remember I hadn’t heard from Reed yet.

We both know that won’t happen, kid, but if she does, you can sit on mine, and I’ll make it better.

My mouth drops open as the phone slips from my fingers and hits the floor.

What the hell?!

I scramble to grab it off the floor, sure I’ve read it wrong, only to find that magically the screen is still intact and I’d read it right.