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He stared at her, his eyes softening, but his face strained as he waited for her answer.
“You smell nice. I’m sorry.”
Lukas closed his eyes and let out a quiet sigh before nodding and pulling her in close again. His heart thundered in her ear beneath his chest. His bare chest. Her face heated as she realized he only wore a pair of boxers.
The temperature of the room rose to scorching heights.
He whispered against her hair, “Do you want to talk about it?”
Blaire shook her head against his chest, her hands moving down his back slowly over his skin before slipping away as she shifted in his arms and put her hands in her lap. He didn’t release her, but allowed her to sit sideways in his arms, resting her head against his chest. Despite his hard muscle, his skin was incredibly soft.
“Alright. You don’t have to tell me anything…”
He acted so differently from how he’d been since she arrived. She didn’t know what to make of the situation. She felt so much comfort with him like this.
“D-do you have any siblings?” she asked softly, hoping to take her mind off her dream, but still managed to focus on the sibling dynamic.
“No. Only me,” he spoke against her hair. “What about you?”
“I…”
The question was stupid of her to ask, given it kept Caleb at the forefront of her mind.
“Just the stepbrother.”
Lukas growled low in his throat, and she shivered.
“He wasn’t always like this…”
“Don’t make excuses for him.”
“I’m not. He’s horrible. I just… want to explain.”
Lukas nodded tightly.
“When our parents married, he was a kind older brother. He was already attending Emory University in Atlanta at the time, but he always came home on the weekends and holidays. I guess without him being there all the time, it was easy for him to keep the mask on.”
She shifted and Lukas stroked over her hair.
“When our parents died in a car accident shortly after I turned sixteen, he dropped out to take care of me. He had to finish college remotely. He inherited his job position, placing him in a cushy six-figure job before he was even finished with his degree, but I think he might have still resented me for taking away his life at school. Why else would he act like this?”
“Any other family? he asked, his voice strained and agitated sounding.
Blaire sighed against his skin. “Ah, no…”
“What about your real dad?”
She cleared her throat. “He died of a heart attack, but I was only three then, so I don’t remember him.”
“What about the rest of your family? Not your stepfamily…” He said the word as if it repulsed him. “…but your mother’s and father’s families?”
“Mom’s parents died before I was born, and she didn’t have any siblings, so there wasn’t anyone. And Dad’s family… well, when he married Mom, they disowned him.”
“What? Why?”
“Apparently, they were extremely religious, and to them, Mom being agnostic was just as bad as waving a banner saying she worshiped Satan. They forbade their marriage. Dad chose Mom though, and they moved from North Carolina to Georgia before they had me.”
Her parents wanted to start fresh, a new family tree. Now only Blaire remained. She didn’t make for a convincing tree. No roots.
