Page 64 of Yours to Keep

“Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have to help. You showed up bleeding, for heaven’s sake.”

“I would’ve gone to the hospital,” I said. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for barging in on you like this, but I didn’t want everyone there talking. This was personal. It’s none of their business.”

I didn’t say Liana’s name, but it was there anyway. Between us. She finished cleaning the cuts in silence, then wrapped my knuckles with practiced precision. Once that was done, she cleaned the cut on my mouth and then leaned back on her heels, looking up at me.

“You’re an idiot,” she said.

“Probably.”

“Fighting doesn’t fix anything.”

“I know.”

She paused for a beat before she let out a soft sigh. “With that being said, he did deserve to be told off. You’re a good brother, Sullivan.”

Something happened to my pulse, somehow making it speed up and slow down simultaneously. For just a second, I even thought I was going to faint. “You just gave me a compliment.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Don’t worry. It won’t happen again.” She gave me a quick grin, hesitating before she finally asked, “So you didn’t want to go to the hospital, but you don’t mind me knowing?”

Her voice was steady, but her eyes were searching my face like she was afraid I’d snap at her for voicing the question. Why she thought I’d do that was beyond me, though. I wasn’t the one who’d decided to put this distance between us in the first place.

“You were right there in the middle of it at the wedding,” I said. “You saw what he put her through, so you already know the worst parts, and besides, I trust you.”

Her mouth tipped up into a small, dangerous smile. “You trust me? What makes you think you can do something as silly as that?”

“Because you’re a good person, Bree.” Finally unable to help myself any longer, I leaned forward, putting my mouth right next to her ear. “Even though I know you were the one who put up those flyers.”

She moved her head back just enough to flick her eyes up to mine, and smiled. “Prove it.”

I stood slowly, giving her time to step back if she wanted to, but she didn’t. My wrapped hands hovered at her waist before I let myself touch her, light at first. Her breath hitched, but she didn’t step out of my reach.

“I don’t mind you knowing,” I said. “I mind the rest of the world thinking they’re entitled to it.”

Her fingers brushed my wrist, tracing the edge of the bandage. “You don’t like people seeing you bleed.”

“Only when it’s for something that matters.”

Her thumb skimmed my skin, those blue eyes warm and sure on mine. “You’re welcome to grab a shower. I’d recommend it. You’re still gross.”

I smirked. “That’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“Go,” she said, nudging my hip. “Before I change my mind.”

“All I’m hearing is that you want me naked in your apartment.”

She didn’t argue or deny it. “There are clean towels in the bathroom. It’s just down the hall.”

I held her for another beat before I finally managed to convince myself to let go. It turned out that there were only two doors in the hallway, one leading to the bathroom and the other to her bedroom.

I caught a glimpse of her bed in passing and my unhelpful brain immediately supplied images of all the things I still wanted to do to her. So many things. All the things.

My feet slowed down without my brain having given them the conscious command to do it, my eyes sweeping across that bed like my mind was already calculating how to position her to give myself the access I wanted. But I snapped out of it when I heard the faucet in the kitchen opening.

Forcing myself to keep moving, I stripped down as soon as I’d shut the bathroom door behind me. Once I was in the tiny shower cubicle, I turned on the water and stepped under the cool spray, bracing my hands against the tile and letting my head drop forward.

Already rock hard just thinking about her, I tried to breathe through an ache that had nothing to do with the fight. As the water gradually turned warm, I briefly considered taking the edge off. With how worked up I was right now, it definitely wouldn’t take long, but something about doing it in her shower felt wrong.

So I willed my body to calm the fuck down, then washed off the dirt and shut off the water, stepping out of the cubicle before I could give in to the temptation. As she’d promised, there was a clean white towel hanging on the rail and I wrapped it around my hips, glancing at my crumbled suit on the floor.