Page 163 of Sincerely, Butterfly

I pull up to her house, parking my bike on the side of the road.

“Get off,” I tell her.

She does, climbing off the bike and stepping onto the sidewalk.

“That's it?!” Nola gapes at me, her blonde hair wild from theride. “You snatch me off the side of the road, bring me to the middle of nowhere, finger fuck me on the side of your motorcycle, and now you’re just going to drop me off at home as if nothing happened?”

She’s pissed, I can see the anger shining bright in her eyes. I don’t blame her, she should hate me. It would be a hell of a lot easier if she did.

I fucked up tonight, I did the one thing I’ve spent years telling the guys not to do.

Nola is off limits. We were to keep her in our sick, little fucked up fantasies with no follow-through.

We’ve all seen the change in her, that much is obvious. She’s not the same girl we’ve spent years protecting from the shadows. She’s not the same girl whose laugh haunts my dreams, the one filled with childlike wonder and promises for a perfect future.

That still doesn’t change the fact that even with this new side of her, she’s still nowhere near equipped to handle us, to handle this life.

Her dad has made it his mission to protect her from this world we’re a part of. It’s only right that we do the same.

My heart races as my hands clutch the handlebars of my motorcycle. “Good night, Nola,” I grit out, hating that I have to leave her after finally getting a taste of the real thing.

I took it easy on her tonight, I held back. And it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

While her pleasure was delectable, I want her pain and fear as well. But I won’t do that to her, I won’t hurt Nola. I care too much about her to do that.

“You three are fucking ridiculous. First, Sylas corners me in the bathroom at school and makes me ride his knee like a horny slut. Then, Wesley pulls me into the bathroom at your guys’ place on New Year’s and makes out with me until I can’t breathe. Now this? This push and pull bullshit is getting old. Don’t fucking touch me again until you’ve made up your mind. You either want me, or you don’t. You can’t have it both ways.”

With that, she spins around and rushes toward her front door.

It takes me a moment for my mind to play catch up.

What did she just say?

Did she just say that to try and get a rise out of me, or did my best friends go against their promise and touch what was off limits?

With an angry huff, I take off down the street toward Sylas’ house.

Pulling into his driveway, I shut the bike off, park it, and storm up the stairs. “Sylas!” I bellow, fury coursing through my veins as I throw the door open. “Wesley!”

“What’s wrong?” Sylas rushes into the foyer from the kitchen.

I pull off my helmet, shaking out my hair. Narrowing my eyes, I stare at his worried expression.

“Did you do something with Nola at school?” I demand with a growl.

“Uh, no?” he says it as a question.Motherfucker is lying to me.

“Don’t fucking lie!” I get in his face. “Did you touch her?”

“I mean, technically no. She’s the one who used my knee to get off. I kept my hands to myself.” He raises his hands. “So, I didn’t break any rule.”

“What is wrong with you?”

“How long do you have?” He chuckles, grinning at me.

My fists tighten at my sides.

“Naughty, Sylas.” Wesley comes strolling into the room, Garrett behind him. “Always breaking the rules.”