Twice as Hot Read Free Page B

sorry for me.” He moved forward, brushing me aside with his shoulder.
    I
remained in place, a little stunned. He hadn’t made a single derogatory comment
about my breasts or tried to cop a feel. Even when death had been breathing
down our necks, he’d been unable to go five minutes without talking about my
nipples.
    Okay,
so maybe “brother” wasn’t the best word to describe him. He was the boyfriend I
adored but wouldn’t sleep with. Wait. No, that didn’t work, either. Whatever he
was, I loved him. Plain and simple.
    “Tanner,
I don’t feel sorry for you,” I called, bypassing our air purifier and following
him into the kitchen. Because my abilities were so attuned to nature, toxins
were my greatest enemy now, so there was another air purifier in the kitchen.
Another in my bedroom. Another in the hallway.
    Tanner
was digging inside the fridge. Bottles clinked together; something thumped from
the top shelf. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t want to talk about her.”
    “You
need to, because it’s festering inside you. You’re falling apart and—”
    “Hey,
which of us is the master of emotions here? Besides, I know what you’re going
to say. You’ve been here, done that. Yeah, I know. Only difference is, you got
a happily ever after. I won’t.”
    “She
was your first love, but there will be others. You’ll see. Just give it time.
You’ll get over her and someone else will catch your eye.”
    Every
muscle in his body stiffened, but he didn’t face me. “So what you’re telling me
is that if Rome didn’t want you, you’d be okay with finding someone else?”
    No.
Never. Rome was it for me. The one and only. My man. I couldn’t even imagine
myself with someone else. Poor Tanner, I thought again. Had he really loved
Lexis like that?
    “Why
did she end things?” I asked softly.
    Silent,
he straightened. He was holding a beer, staring down at it.
    “Uh,
you’re not twenty-one,” I pointed out, just to break the quiet tension.
    Finally
he flicked me a glance. “Feel free to turn me in.” He popped the cap and leaned
back, the rim suddenly at his lips. In record time, he drained the contents of
the bottle, tossed it into the trash and reached for another.
    “No,
I meant, you’re not twenty-one so you shouldn’t be drinking without a responsible
adult drinking with you. Toss me one.”
    That
earned me a grin. Swift, but there for that brief moment all the same. I felt
as if I’d conquered the world. And I hadn’t even had to use my powers! “Like
you’re responsible,” he said.
    “Well,
I am an adult.”
    “That’s
debatable, too.” He tossed me a beer.
    My
reflexes were not as defined as my paranormal abilities, and I almost dropped
it, the condensation making it slick. I had to clasp it with two hands to
maintain a firm enough grip.
    “Already
had one?” he asked.
    I
looked drunk? This early in the morning? “I’m not belting out show tunes, so
no.”
    With
a flick of his wrist, Tanner closed the fridge and faced me fully. I settled
atop one of the bar stools, sipping at the beer. Ick. Not my alcoholic beverage
of choice, especially for breakfast, but it would do. Anything for Tanner.
“Talk to me. Please. I’m worried about you.”
    He
shrugged, his eyes once again swirling with more misery than any one person
should have to deal with. “Nothing to tell, really. We got together because she
needed someone to comfort her and I needed a willing body to lose my virginity
to.”
    “And
did you?”
    One
of his black brows arched. “None of your business.”
    Did
that mean no? The Tanner I knew liked to kiss and tell and besides that, they’d
seemed so hot and heavy. PDA was not something they’d eschewed.
    He
drained the second beer as quickly as the first, then closed his eyes and
pressed the dripping bottle against his chest. Once, twice, he banged his head
against the refrigerator, saying, “She told me she knew we weren’t meant to be
together. That something was going to