Vegas: Devil's Rose #9

Chapter 10: Bruce Dalton

"And you never feel forced to stay?"

"If I told you some of the people I've been fortunate enough to save, there would be no question as to why I stay."

"I want to meet Reaper, Carbon, and whoever else," June says.

"What do you mean?"

"I think you know exactly what I mean. We need to have a party. I need everyone invited."

I stare at her blankly, absolutely confused.

"Have you lost it?"

"Officially, no, but it doesn't matter. I need to meet these people."

"You can't just study them."

"I'm not going to-" she's a liar "-I have to know that people that you care about so much."

"Are you sure? I don't want you to get overwhelmed. It's a lot of people."

June lays a hand on my arm, giving me a soft look.

"Thank you for looking out for me, but I think I'll be okay. It'll give me something to focus on. Plus, it'll be good for me to make some new friends while I'm at it."

"They're going to ask questions."

"That's fine."

"And Piper and Bullet are lowkey people. Not everyone is like that."

"I know. I'm not worried though. I can handle people."

I nod my head and pull out my phone to the Devil's Rose group chat.

"Wait, you're inviting them now?"

"No better time like the present. Unless you don't want to."

"Where am I going to hold this party, Bruce?"

"My house? It's big enough to hold the party."

Her eyes go wide, and she stares me down.

"You have a house?"

"I've been living here for over ten years. I have a house."

"It wouldn't be too much of a bother?"

"No, of course, not. We should have the party."

She claps her hands together, smiling at me before launching herself into my embrace. My hands still as she wraps her arms loosely around my shoulders.

"It's okay, Bruce, you can touch me."

I wrap my arms tightly around her waist and pull her into me, burying my head into her neck. She crawls into my lap, and we stay there, her body cradled into mine. She smells so fucking good. I think her perfume may have some lavender in it, but I'm not entirely sure, I just know that she smells fucking delicious.

She squeezes me tight before letting go and backing away from me, a red blush bright on her cheeks. I take a deep breath and observe her as she goes into the kitchen without a word. I follow behind her, concerned that I did something wrong. I see her standing at the sink head down and a glass of water in her hand.

Shit, I hope I didn't scare her or anything. She said it was okay. I didn't detect any body language that she was feeling uncomfortable. Fuck, I'm such a dumbass. I should have known that I shouldn't have done that.

She's in a vulnerable state right now, and I took advantage of that. I thought she gave me her consent to touch her, but I should have paid more attention to other signs that it wasn't something she wanted.