Free Fuel the Fire by Krista Ritchie, Becca Ritchie

in the mood.
    Ryke raises his hands now, understanding that I’m not playing around. “Look, I don’t fucking care what anyone does to their hair. I just wanted to give these to Rose.” He nods to her. “I know you won’t rent rock climbing shoes or wear any kind of footwear that’s been previously used, but Daisy had an extra pair. I figure she’s your sister, so it might be different. She said you two were about the same size.” He still has one of the shoelaces looped on his finger.
    They’re not rock climbing shoes, but they’re slender sneakers with what looks like good tread, a decent alternative.
    Rose drills a hole in them, like they’ve offended her. “What are those?”
    I answer first, “Sneakers. Tennis shoes. Running shoes. There are a plethora of useless names for them in my opinion.”
    When her eyes ping to me, they narrow. And I grin, any sort of annoyance starting to seep into better sentiments that I enjoy.
    “ Your opinions are useless,” she retorts.
    “And your opinions are biased. Do you want to keep going?”
    Lo cuts in, “Please don’t.”
    It takes Rose an extended moment to detach her gaze from mine, fixing it on Ryke. “You can leave those things by the door.”
    Lo elbows Ryke’s arm. “You’re a common serf in their kingdom, bro. Don’t take it too personally.”
    Rose frowns. “You know what serf means?”
    Lo rolls his eyes. “Jesus, I’m not an idiot. I may’ve been expelled from college, but I can count to one-hundred and multiply and divide too.”
    “A borderline genius,” I quip.
    Lo winks. “I knew all this time you were scared I’d beat you.”
    “You have a way with words,” I say honestly. “Most men should be frightened of you.” I’m not most men, but this is the truth. Once he has confidence in himself, he should be unstoppable.
    Lo digests my statement with a nod, hearing my sincerity.
    Ryke brings us back to the point. “You have to wear these, Rose. I’ll put them right here, but you can’t show up in the car or at the gym with high heels on.”
    Rose sighs heavily. “What if—”
    “No,” Ryke forces.
    Rose glares. “You suck.”
    “How old are you?” Lo interjects.
    Rose flips him off.
    I grin. “I’m the oldest here—”
    I can’t even finish my statement before Rose interjects, “I’m twenty-six too.”
    “Yeah, me too.” Ryke sets the Nikes by the door.
    We all look to Lo, who’s just twenty-five “What?” he snaps. “Do you three have some sort of older kid’s club.” Slightly, yes. We talk about Lo and Lily and Daisy all the time. Right now, no one says anything, and he glowers. “I was joking.”
    “I’ll wear the sneakers,” Rose diverts the conversation.
    “Thank you.” Ryke taps the door frame on his way out.
    Lo walks backwards as he begins to leave. “Ten minutes? Will you be ready then?”
    I need more than that, but clearly we’ve lost time. “Fifteen,” I amend. “We’ll meet you downstairs.”
    Lo nods, and as he disappears into the master bedroom, I lock the door behind him.
     
    * * *
     
    Rose immediately spins towards the sink, drumming her nails on the marble counter. I come up behind her, the pungent bleach watering her eyes. I suspect it burns her scalp, but she won’t complain of pain until she has third degree burns.
    While I tower above her, inspecting her hair with sight alone, she says, “Rape me.”
    I set a hand on the counter, beside her waist, my confusion pushing me towards her when it should do the opposite. Her eyes are blazing through the mirror. I’m not sure I heard her correctly. I say, “Parlez clairement.” Speak clearly.
    She licks her red lips. “ Rate me,” she says slowly, “on my performance.”
    That sounds more like Rose. “I give you a B minus. You struggled with your sisters.”
    She crosses her arms, popping buttons on her shirt again, no bra, and this time, I notice her nipples hardening. My cock digs closer to her ass. She stiffens, her