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“Confess to what?” I don’t knohat he’s accusing me of, but I’m already offended

“Confess that you have a problem” Luca’s eyes meet mine

“A problem hat?”

I swear, he’s ht now Except I know he’ll easily overpower me

On the other hand, he’s not going to really hitmanhandled for a little bit Perhaps it’s not such a bad idea after all

“You’re addicted to danger,” Luca says with certainty

“What are you talking about?” I ask, even as uiltily in my chest

Luca cocks a dark eyebrow “Going online to find a stranger to do anything he wants to you No rules, no safe words Does that sound like so a sane person would do?”

“Are you calling me crazy?” I raise my voice

“No, you’re just an addict,” he says casually “There’s no shame in it I used to be one, too That’s why Peter told me to keep an eye on you”

“Okay Firstly, I’m not an addict I know it looks bad, but I don’t do this all the tiet back to that later” I lean forward on the bed and watch Luca closely I want to hear what he has to say to my next question “What exactly did Peter say?”

“A lot of things,” Luca says “But the gist of it is, he’d been wrestling with addiction his whole life, and he knew you were at risk, too So he wanted one andstupid”

“Jesus, Luca, for once in your life, tell me a complete story” I usually find his calht now it’s irritating Looks like I’ll have to ask specific questions “Why did my brother think I was at risk?”

“He told ly unperturbed byimpatience

“What underage drinking?” My guilty heart beats even faster

“I don’t know if he told you this story But one night, Peter woke up fro up a bottle, filling up the flask he thought he’d lost, and sneaking back up to your rooet sober”

“So you and my brother used to sit around the campfire and talk about how everybody else was an addict too to rily as I bury my shame deep inside of me