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“Just like what Tom and I might do is none of yours.”
“Oh, see that’s where you’re wrong, Della.” I moved toward her until our chests almost touched. “Everything you do is my business. You’re mine to keep safe, and I have no doubt he doesn’t have any intention of doing that.”
“He won’t hurt me.” She backed up. “He’s nice.”
“Nice doesn’t exist when hormones are out of control.”
“Hormones?” She laughed condescendingly. “What do you think I am, Ren, some animal who just wants to get laid?”
I flinched.
Words landed on my tongue, but I discarded them.
She wasn’t an animal, but she was getting close to wanting sex. I could see it in her eyes, taste it in her voice. She wouldn’t be content with just me much longer and that knowledge kept me up at night.
Before I could choose an appropriate response, she added, “Just because you were fucking at my age doesn’t mean—”
“Language.”
“Oh, please. You use worse all the time.”
“Not intentionally, I don’t.”
“What’s the difference?” She curled her lip. “You swear but don’t let me swear. You slept with Cassie, yet you won’t let me—”
My temper snapped. “You’re not permitted to sleep with anyone. Ever. Do you hear me?”
“You can’t stop me, Ren.” She crossed her arms, trembling just as much as me.
We both trembled when fighting. I didn’t know how it happened or how to stop it, but with every fight, my limbs turned shaky with frustration and helplessness because I knew I could never win.
She would do whatever she wanted.
I had no power, even if I liked to think I did.
The only way to stop her from doing things I didn’t approve of was to cart her back into the forest and keep her tied to a tree. And as much as that idea appealed to me, she had school to finish, a life to grow into, and I had a duty to ensure I made that as easy as I could for her.
No matter how much it destroys me.
Lowering my voice but unable to lower my temper, I seethed, “I was nineteen when I lost my virginity. You have another three years to go.”
She sucked in a breath as if shocked I’d shared something so personal.
Walking past her, I grunted, “You can go out with him in a group. You must be home when you say you will, and if you leave me hanging here like you did a few weeks ago, I’ll spank you so hard you won’t be able to sit down for a month and then I’ll ground you for the rest of your life.”
Her silence shot bullets into my back as I stepped into the bathroom and slammed the door.
As the stained, chipped mirror reflected my dirty face, I whispered, “Give me a few more years, Della Ribbon. Just a few more before you leave me.”