Filed To Story: Craving The Wrong Brother Book PDF Free by Elysian Sparrow
She hesitates. “Of course. I’ll just get us coffee. You want one?”
“Wouldn’t that mess with your sleep?”
“I might not be sleeping all that well tonight anyway.”
I smile. “Alright. I’ll have whatever you’re having.”
“Are you sure? I like mine extra sweet.”
//
I watch her smile, all soft lips and tired eyes, and when she says she likes her coffee extra sweet, something in me twitches -low and a little dangerous.
“So do I.”
The words slip out before I can stop them, and I know she sees it-the shift in my gaze, the heat I don’t bother hiding.
She blushes. Full-on pink-cheeked, flustered, eyes darting to the floor like a schoolgirl caught staring at her teacher’s mouth too long.
And then she’s gone, practically bolting out of the room like it’s on fire.
I wait until I’m sure she’s gone.
Until her footsteps fade and the hallway falls silent again.
Then I turn back to Finn, who’s pushing himself toward the edge of the bed, far away from me.
I step closer.
His jaw tightens. Good.
Let him know I’m not here to play.
“Tell me,” I say quietly, “what part of town did you get knocked down?”
“Knox, leave. I don’t want you here.”
“I know. You want Sloane. What did you do exactly? Get Delilah to shove you down the stairs? You’re not that courageous on your own.”
I bend, hands on the edge of his bed rail.
His mouth tightens. “I’m going to alert the nurses.”
“Please do. Before they get here…” I reach forward and rest my palm gently on the arm in the sling. “I’ll have time to break this arm again and break the other one just for balance.”
He hisses.
“What the fuck do you want?” he asks.
“Why do I always have to repeat myself? Leave. Her. Alone. Or next time, this won’t be a friendly conversation.”
“You just can’t accept the fact that she still cares about me, can you?”
“Finn. Finn. Finn. You’re standing on the very edge of my patience.”
“Take your hands off me, Knox.”
I squeeze his wrapped arm. “Like this?”
“Ouch. What the hell.”
And then I hear it.
That voice.
That breathless voice I’d drive across a city to hear.
“Hey, I forgot to ask if you wanted cream-“
I lift my head.
So does Finn
Sloane stande in the drainway eyes bouncing H
Her brows knit “What’s going on”
***
~~SLOANE~N
***
I walk into the room slowly, my feet soft on the linoleum. My eyes are fixed on Knox’s hand as it releases Finn’s casted arm. Neither of them answers my question.
Not with words.
But the silence is loud enough to fill the space between them.
Finn’s perched on the very edge of the bed now, his body angled like he was trying to get away. His uninjured hand clutches the edge of the mattress. Knox is standing above him, jaw set, eyes unreadable, his hand just now slipping back into his pocket like nothing happened.
But I know what I saw.
Knox had been bent forward when I walked in, squeezing Finn’s injured arm. At some point, one of them will have to spill what history lies between them. Because this-whatever it is-doesn’t seem like it has anything to do with Finn taking Delilah from Knox, which had been my initial guess.
You can feel it-that one of them hurt the other a long time ago, and they’ve both been carrying it ever since. But whatever it was, it wasn’t enough to make them stop caring for each other entirely.
I used to think I missed out, not growing up with a sibling.
I’d always wondered what it would’ve been like to yell at a teenage Serena. Push. Cry with. Sneak snacks with. Fight and forgive.
But looking at Finn and Knox’s relationship situation now, I’m not so sure anymore. At least I and Serena are on good terms. Maybe having just an emotionally constipated dad who left me to figure out life by myself wasn’t the worst deal. Maybe bonding with my elder sister when we’d both grown up was the better option.
Because this?
I’m not all about that life.
Knox is the first to break the staring contest.
With his hands still tucked in his pockets and in the calmest voice, he says, “No cream, Bunny. Black is fine.”
I glance at Finn, who’s adjusting himself back toward the center of the bed with stiff, jerky movements.
“Don’t worry about me,” he says, avoiding my eyes. “I’ll just have Jell-O.”
I look between them-Knox with his unreadable expression and Finn hanging his slinged arm at a new angle, like it hurts more than it did before I stepped out.
“So everything’s alright?” I ask slowly.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Knox says, already walking toward me, his voice as smooth as ever. “Come on. I’ll walk with you.”
His fingers find mine and gently hook around them, leading me to the door. Just as we reach the frame, I give Finn one last glance over my shoulder. He’s watching us-his mouth tight, his jaw locked, and his eyes burning with something that isn’t pain.
We walk in silence down the hall.
Knox’s hand finds the curve of my waist as we go, guiding me, possessive without even trying. His fingers press just enough to make me feel tethered. Owned.
I wait until we’re past the nurses’ station. Past the vending machine. Past any prying ears.
“Were you seriously going to break his arm?” I ask.
“How do you break something that’s already broken?” he says, as if that logic makes it okay.
“I know what I saw, Knox. You were squeezing it.”
“That was just the two of us having a conversation”