Hothouse Flower (Calloway Sisters #2)

by Krista Ritchie

She whispers softly, “Did you bring my birth control?” Her eyes flit to my brother for a second, but his back is turned to us. I try not to worry about him right now. “You willing to gain five fucking pounds by taking it now?” I ask her in the same hushed voice. She nods, and her breath shallows. She’s not wearing a bra—she rarely does—but her nipples harden, visible with the form-fitting top.

MY GIRL ISN'T PLAYING OMG.

I would have fucked her in the stairwell if Connor and Lo weren’t here right now. And then I’d fuck her again on the bed. But this heightens everything. Drawing it out will make our first time even better. And I want it to be so fucking amazing.

Connor adds, “Ryke can share the bed with you. Problem solved.”

see, connor is always the smart one ;')

“I didn’t say anything about sex.” He stops typing. “I don’t want to watch that any more than you do.” Daisy’s cheeks redden. Fucking fantastic. I forgot she saw his porn tape.

IMDEAD.

I watch Daisy. She keeps her hands within the fucking duffel pocket, and the only time it comes out is to pop a pill in her mouth. She quickly zips it back and stands up. Connor catches her, and he stares between us in suspicion. “What’d you just take?” he asks her, his voice quiet, which means he’s at least nice enough not to alert my brother. “Advil,” she lies too easily. “I have cramps.” She slides into the bed without another word. I can tell that Connor doesn’t believe her. If there’s anyone who can see through Daisy like me, it’s him.

BROOO I'M TWEAKING OUT STOP. CONNOR ALWAYS KNOWS EVERYTHING. THIS IS SO FUNNY.

“Don’t break my phone, please,” Connor says in a controlled voice. “That’s my lifeline to my wife.”

CONNOR IS SO CUTE. IMCRYING.

“It’s a state between REM sleep and wakefulness,” Connor explains. His eyes meet mine. “How long has she had this problem?” I shake my head, and Daisy’s leg slips beneath my knee, trying to fucking kick me again. I shift her back. “I wouldn’t fucking know.” He doesn’t believe me. “You haven’t seen her like this before?” he questions with an arched brow. “Why would you think I have?” I retort with a dark glare. “Because you’re the closest person to her, and you don’t look surprised by this.” “I am fucking surprised,” I retort. Connor shakes his head, still disbelieving.

While my brother keeps conversing with her, Connor suddenly rests a firm hand on my shoulder. “I need to talk to you,” he says quietly. He looks angry. His deep blue eyes pierce me in accusation, and his fingers are digging into my skin. He rarely shows this kind of emotion—and he’s letting me see it on purpose. He knows.

CONNOR, WHY ARE YOU SO SMARTTT. OMG.

I’ve fucking loved that you wear something of mine.” I smile. Loved. I wonder for how long. We played that poker game on a flight back from Cancun. I was sixteen.

DON'T REMIND ME, GIRL. THAT JUST MADE THIS WEIRD.

He’s my wolf.

daisy. what is this wolf-madness.

“I also know Spanish, Italian and French.” I gawk. “Wait, what?” I punch his arm again. “You know French?!” Rose and Connor speak French, and he’s kept this knowledge to himself. “Oh my God.” I smile deviously. “You know what my sister and Connor have been saying this whole time?” “Most of it is stupid.” “Do they speak dirty to each other?” I’ve always been curious. “Sometimes,” he says. “But when they do, I try not to fucking listen. Trust me.”

I stand on the tips of my toes and kiss his cheek. “Thanks for telling me the truth.” The elevator doors open, and I head out of them. He catches my hand, intertwining his fingers with mine as we enter the hallway.

I flag down the bartender, a young French girl. “What can I get you?” She speaks English well. “What he’s having.” I point at the glass.

SMART.

I scan the crowds for Daisy. I spot her with Christina and another male model, his jaw chiseled. He leans in close to Daisy, licking his lips as he talks. What the fuck? Not tonight.

Fuck you, you fucking fuck.

ryke's favorite word.

“I’m just laying it out there. You deserve to know the truth. She even moaned when I stuck my finger in her asshole. Did you know she liked that?” I fucking punch him, my knuckles socking his jaw hard.

She’s cute. She always is.

He holds a two-by-four, part of the construction waste on the sidewalk and street, bracing the piece of wood like a bat. I can’t see his face. It’s shadowed by the blur of bodies. But I do see him swing. Just as she turns her head to the side, the board smacks hard into her cheek. Her body thuds to the cement with the force—limp and motionless. I fucking lose it.

“L’ambulance est coincée dans les embouteillages.” The ambulance is stuck in traffic. “À quelle distance se trouve l’hôpital le plus proche?” I ask. How far is the nearest hospital? He points in the direction. “Hôpital de l’Hotel-Dieu, environ 5 kilomètres.” About 5 kilometers. 3 miles. With Daisy in my arms, I can fucking run that in fifteen minutes or less. I mumble thank you, and I just fucking take off. Her head bounces against my chest only a couple of times before I adjust her. I have carried this girl so many times in my life. But this time—this is the absolute worst. I run. One hundred and fifty miles per hour. I don’t fucking stop. Not for anything. I just keep going. It’s what your good at Ryke. It may be the only thing.

oh my god.

My hands shake as I take out my phone and dial a number. I press it to my ear, and the line doesn’t even fucking ring. My brother’s cell just shuts off. Not him too. I can’t lose these two people today. I can handle a lot of fucking shit, but not this. I don’t know how to handle this. I shoot up from the chair, and I dial the number again, my hand on my head. Both nurses watch me with even more concern. “I have to find my brother,” I say aloud, my heart pounding. “Let me show you to the bathroom,” Margery says. “You can wash your hands⁠—” “I have to find my little brother,” I say with the shake of my head. I dial again. Nothing.

There’s a long pause before Connor asks, “Is she alive?” The question sends me to my fucking knees. I breathe heavily, no amount of training preparing me for this agony. I shake my head and I say, “I don’t…I don’t know.” I could have been carrying a girl without a pulse for three miles. I didn’t check. I just ran.

my eyes are WATERING. ARE YOU KIDDING.

“When are the girls landing in Paris?” I ask him, taking a sip. Lo was on the phone with Lily for a while, but he didn’t tell me their conversation. I know Connor talked to Rose for an hour. “They’re not,” Connor says tersely. I frown, thinking I’ve heard him wrong. “What?” “They are not coming to Paris,” he emphasizes each word. “Their sister is in the hospital,” I say. “I don’t fucking understand. If this was Lily, Rose would be here in a fucking heartbeat.”

EXACTLY.

She doesn’t think her problems measure up to Lily’s addiction, but they do. They’re just as important.

Connor studies my reaction for a while and then adds, “And Celebrity Crush posted a photo of Daisy thrown over your shoulder.” He pauses, and his deep blue eyes narrow at me. “Your hand is on her ass, by the way. You should care more about what her father thinks if you want to have a real relationship with her, and if you don’t, then I’m telling you now, as her brother-in-law, back off.”

HELLO. new side of connor UNLOCKED.

“Rose is going to be so upset that she didn’t pay enough attention to her.” Connor blows out a deep breath, as though he can feel his wife’s pain from this and she still has no idea.

aw, stop.

“Connor,” I cut him off, “she’s my fucking girlfriend. I’ve triple fucking checked every person she’s been seeing. I don’t need you to do my job for me. I’m more than capable of taking care of her.”

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!!

Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I chose to never meet my brother. If I chose to keep my head buried in the sand. My mom would have never known about Lily’s sex addiction. She would have never shouted it to the fucking world. No media. Daisy would sleep peacefully. Lily wouldn’t feel so fucking ashamed. Connor and Rose wouldn’t have their sex life distributed online. And my brother—I think he’d still be drinking.

stop.

“I’m not perfect. But I’m trying so hard to look after my brother and her. But if I’m hurting them, then you need to tell me right now.” I meet his gaze—no pretenses. No jokes. The severity in our postures makes it hard to breathe. And I tell him something from my fucking soul. “I don’t want to ruin anyone’s life by being in it. That was never my intention.” Connor lets out an exhausted laugh, and tears actually brim his eyes. “Ryke…” He shakes his head and rubs his lips. He drops his hand. “You ran with her in your arms for over three miles. Your brother’s existence caused your parent’s divorce, and yet, you gave up most of your time and energy to help him through his sobriety. How can you possibly think you’re a pain in their life? What you’ve done for them, it’s nothing short of heroic, and if you can’t see that, then you’re blind, my friend.” A hot tear rolls down my cheek.

ACTUAL TEARS.

She’s the sun. I’m the dark. If she’s gone, I can kiss that fucking light away. Without her, I know I’ll never see it again.

“I saw you,” I whisper. “You were right there.” I remember meeting his eyes. And they were full of anger, full of desperation, full of gut-wrenching pain. He screamed my name. I heard it only once before something hard met my face.

Janet says, “We can get the psychologist in here.” Because I’ll have this scar forever. Because I’ll never be the pretty Daisy Calloway in magazine spreads or down runways. I am no longer a model.

this needed to happen so that she could get away from the modeling she didn't want to do, but DAMN. daisy :')

One more step and his chest brushes against mine with each deep breath. He leans forward, and I go rigid. His lips tickle my ear. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

He just lifts me up to his waist, my legs wrapping around him, and then he brings me to the bed. I lie on the soft blue blanket, and Ryke hardly misses a beat. He splits my legs open, kneeling between them before he kisses the same spot beside my nipple.

we're doing this in a HOSPITAL?? on the hospital bed??? omg.

The most positive force there ever was.

I meet his wanting gaze once before my toes curl, my spine arches, and my eyes roll back. Every part of me explodes like a thousand fireworks inside my head and body. I go off. And I come for the very first time. Finally.

You think I’m with you just because you’re fucking gorgeous? Daisy, I could have been with you the moment you turned eighteen. Having sex with a hot fucking girl that gets me hard isn’t worth risking the relationship I have with my brother.” I breathe heavily. “What’s worth the risk then?” “What we fucking have,” he says. “I love you beyond physical attraction.” He cups my smooth cheek, looking deep into my eyes. “I love you, Dais, because you’re the wildest fucking girl with the biggest fucking heart. And without you in my life”—he shakes his head like it’s an inconceivable picture—“I’d be the unhappiest fucking guy.”

nod. “Will the ambulance fee be added with that?” I don’t know how the French medical system works. Janet frowns. “There is no ambulance fee. Didn’t you know that?” I shake my head. “No, but I…” I blink as I wrack my brain. The pub isn’t even close to this hospital, so how… “He carried you,” Janet says, a hand to her chest, like that night was emotional, even for her. “You were in his arms when he reached the hospital doors. He arrived about ten minutes before anyone else from the riot.” Tears well, and I suppress them as best I can. My voice trembles. “He ran here?”

:')

My brother, a fucking comic book geek with looks that could murder and simultaneously melt women.

I don’t pick my words that carefully. I just fucking say them. “I’d do anything for her.” “Is it different this time?” she asks me. “What do you mean?” “In Cancun a couple years ago, you kind of saved Daisy back then too. I just wondered if you feel differently now.”

I thought it’d make her more comfortable if I listed my sexual fucking adventures. Beaches. Bathrooms. Golf courses. Woods. Parking lots. Elevators. Parks. Malls. Gym locker rooms.

GODDAMN.

Daisy eyes me with a grin. “You like public sex? Like in grocery stores?”

YOU'LL FIND OUT, GIRL. I CANNOTT.

I grab her waist and set her between my open legs. The surprise causes her to smile again, and I slip one hand beneath her shirt, rubbing her back while I massage her shoulder with the other. Her tense muscles can’t loosen with me this close. The more I knead my fingers into her shoulder and skim her back with my palm, the more she stiffens and holds onto my kneecaps for support. She purposefully scoots her ass harder into my crotch. Fuck me.

connor is a victim bro. IMCRYING.

She breathes deeply and runs her hand through my hair before her lips touch my ear, “You’re my wolf.” Her hands fall to the back of my neck, watching me watch her. “Cute,” I say.

THE "cute," IS SO LO. brothers for a reason!

Her face flushes a little and she ties her hair off and whispers back, “Where were you three years ago?” She was fifteen. I was twenty-two.

STOP REMINDING ME. IS THIS SOME SORT OF FETISH.

She shakes her head. “You met me before then at my house. You waved at me.” I remember that. “I didn’t know you were Lily’s sister. Honestly, I thought you were twenty-two and one of Rose’s friends.” When Lily pointed at the tall blonde eating a pomegranate in the kitchen, I thought she was fucking gorgeous. So I waved. Her face lit up and she gave me a quick once-over, her lips curving in a cute smile.

ryke, you're insane I CANNOT.

I immediately wanted to fuck her, to start something, wondering if she was the kind of girl who did long term, short term, or one-night stands. I planned to do any of the three, just based on the way she was smiling, her carefree nature where she radiated with energy, and her beautiful fucking features. I was going to walk over and see if I could ask her on a date, but then Lily said something that burst my fucking plans. She said, “Oh, that’s my youngest sister.” My face hardened. “She looks older than you.” “I know, but she’s only fifteen.” Fifteen.

BRO HELLO?? everything would've been fine if you DIDN'T add this in...... it sounds like bros been plotting the whole time ...

I fear that I’m going to break first. So I say, “My scar is bigger than your scar.” I smile behind the menu again. His dark expression never falters. “And my cock is bigger than your cock.”

BRO WHAT. i'm so confused - that doesn't even make any sense ??!!!

I finish the napkin flower and hold it out to him. “Ryke, do you accept this rose?” I tease. He knows The Bachelor reference. When we were living with everyone, I made him watch taped episodes with me while I tried to fall asleep.

STOP IT. THAT'S SO CUTE. I LOVE THE BACHELOR.

A baggy one that says: fuck you, you fucking fuck.

HIS INNER DIALOGUE LITERALLY SAID THAT ONE TIME.

He’s bigger than anything that’s been inside of me. And I have a flash of Connor’s porn tape. Oh God.

I GIGGLED.