Free Tempted by Alana Sapphire Page B

living room. She picks up the remote and starts flipping
through the channels.
    “When did it start?”
    She mumbles in Spanish but doesn’t answer my
question. “Well?”
    “That’s none of your business.”
    “You’re my business.”
    “Why do you want to know?”
    “Trust me, doll. In a few months, I’ll know
your cycle better than you do.”
    “I doubt that.”
    “Every man dreads that one week where he
can’t get no pussy.”
    “That’s what this is about? You want to mark
the week when you can’t get any sex?”
    “Yup.”
    I bring up the calendar on my phone and wait,
but she’s still not forthcoming with the information.
    “Fine. Let me put it this way. When did you
start taking the pills?”
    She sighs and shakes her head in resignation.
“Tuesday.”
    “Good.” I put the phone away and pull her to
me. “Now, come here.”
    She lays her head on my chest and her hand on
my stomach, taking a deep breath. My soul settles. This is just
what I needed.
    “I missed you,” she whispers.
    “Were you trying to make me miss you?”
    “Did you?”
    “I missed you in my bed.”
    “That’s not what I asked you.”
    She runs her fingers along the patches on my
cut. Another first. No woman has ever been allowed to touch my cut.
The mere fact that I can allow and do all these things with her
without even thinking about it confuses me a little. I’m in
unchartered territory here. This whole thing is going to be a
challenge but not one I’m going to back away from.
    “Yeah, doll. I missed you.”
     
    ***
     
    A tap on my shoulder wakes me up and I open
my eyes to Ellen’s confounded ones. She jerks her head toward the
kitchen and storms off. I carefully untangle myself from Raven and
settle her into the couch, then head to the next room to face my
sister.
    “What the fuck are you doing?” She
whisper-shouts.
    “Nothing.”
    “Nothing? She’s seventeen years old!”
    “I know that.”
    “Doesn’t seem like it.”
    “We were watching TV…fell asleep. That’s
all.”
    “Don’t feed me that bullshit.”
    I take a deep breath and pull her to the
breakfast table. “Sit,” I say as I take the chair next to her.
“You’re gonna find out soon anyways, so I guess you should hear it
from me.”
    “Oh, God.”
    “I swear nothing’s happened. But in a few
weeks, she’ll be eighteen, and we’re going to start seeing each
other.”
    “Seeing each other?” She raises her brows in
curiosity.
    “Dating…if that’s what you wanna call
it.”
    She leans back and regards me carefully. I
can see the wheels turning in her head and puzzle pieces clicking
into place. Finally, she smirks.
    “You’re falling for her.”
    “What? No. I like her, I’ll admit, but that’s
it.”
    “Mmhmm.” She’s not convinced and frankly,
neither am I. “How much longer?”
    “A month.”
    “Be careful, Gage. I don’t want to see you in
prison over this.”
    “That’s not gonna happen.”
    “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
    “Don’t worry. And don’t say anything to
anyone.”
    “Goes without saying.”
    “Thanks.”
    “I’m going to check on Mikey.” She looks down
at the watch on her wrist. “Take her home. And pay her…sixty
dollars.”
    “Okay.”
    She’s still asleep on the couch. I kneel in
front of her, then trail my fingers down her cheek and whisper her
name. Her eyes flutter open, and she smiles up at me.
    “Wake up, doll.”
    “Shit. I can’t believe I fell asleep,” she
says while sitting up.
    “Come on. I’m taking you home.”
    “Ellen’s back?”
    “She’s upstairs with Mikey.”
    I pull her up and she staggers, grabbing my
arm. “You good?”
    “Yeah…just still waking up.”
    “Here.”
    I hand her the money and she shoves it into
her pocket then sags against me. “I got the bike so you gotta wake
up, doll.”
    She grumbles incoherently, and I realize that
I’ll either have to carry her or we walk to her house. I tuck her
under my arm and we make our