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She peeks up at me. “Why are you doing this for me?”
“Because this is my fault.”
She snickers.
“And because I still care about you.”
Her body stiffens. I guess I struck a nerve.
“I also hate seeing you like this. So, if there’s anything I can do to make this easier for you, then you just say the word and it’s yours.”
She nudges her head against my shoulder. Exhausted, she can barely lift her head. “Thanks, Julian,” she whispers.
After she closes her eyes and a soft purr escapes her lips, I lift her up and into my arms. She brushes her lips against my neck. A shiver rolls down my spine from her delicate touch. She’s half asleep and feels like she’s burning off a fever.
I kick open the door to her bedroom with the sole of my sneaker and lower Briana to the twin mattress. She rolls onto her side, tangling herself in the gray sheets. She’s never cared for anything with style. Briana is the type of girl who buys things only out of necessity. I have always liked that about her. She’s simple and plain but nothing a
bout her is ordinary. After I fix her sheets, I tug the matching comforter up to her chin and run my hands down both sides of her body to tuck her in.
Crouched next to her bed, I run my fingers through her hair, pushing it off her burning forehead. I consider taking her to the hospital. But I know she would have a fit. Briana has always been a fighter. She doesn’t know any other way. No one has cared for her, not since her parents died, anyway. I know what it’s like to feel abandoned by the people that are supposed to love you most. My parents are still alive, but they’ve made it clear my existence is meaningless to them. For years, they left me at boarding school and only allowed me to come home for holidays. And some years, I wasn’t even allowed that. I mostly raised myself, except I had the luxuries Briana has never been afforded.
I remember the first time I saw her at one of my parties. She lit up the room without even realizing it. Everyone noticed her. Briana assumed it was because she was the scholarship kid who didn’t belong. But that wasn’t it at all. She had this fiery personality that drew me to her. She was interesting, different, and spoke like someone who had lived a thousand lifetimes. Now, she’s closed-off and cold, no longer the girl I once knew. And that’s my fault.
The spark I loved so much about her burned out after our breakup. I have yet to see that part of her return. When I’d made a deal with Sadie to bring Briana to the auction, I had every intention for her to win. Even if I never get another chance with her, I have to make up for the past.
Briana opens her left eye. We stare at each other for a few seconds. The girl I fell in love with is still in there. I know it. If only she’ll let me hang around long enough to find her, to show her that part of her is still there.
“You don’t have to sit here with me,” she slurs.
I trace my fingers along her arm. “I want to.”
“I wish you weren’t so perfect. It makes it a lot harder for me to hate you.”
“Then, stop hating me,” I challenge.
Overwhelmed by a swirl of emotions, my heart thumps out of my chest as I await one of her witty or crude responses. Instead, she gives me something that resembles a smile. Progress, I think. At least I hope so.
She hugs her pillow and closes her eyes.
I take this as a sign I should stay the night. So, I leave her bedroom, flipping off the light as I close the door behind me, and head into the living room to sleep on the couch.
Chapter Eleven
Julian
After I make a pot of coffee, I remove my cell phone from my pocket to call Dr. Carter. Briana is still in her room, and considering it’s almost ten o’clock, I let her sleep too long. I worried about her all night, unable to sleep for longer than thirty minutes before I would check on her. Every time, she was snoring and looked so peaceful I was afraid to disturb her.
I dial Dr. Carter, who answers on the second ring. After telling him about Briana, and how I think he needs to see her again, he promises to meet us at my house in one hour. I hang up and fix two mugs of coffee. One black for me, the other for Briana with cream and two sugars. It’s funny how I still remember the little things about her. Like how she takes her coffee or what toppings she likes on her ice cream. I paid attention to everything she did and said when we were together. I observed her closer than anyone I had ever met. Because I could never figure her out and what made her tick. But I wanted to know, and that made me study her even harder.
On my way to her bedroom, with mugs in hand, I stop dead in my tracks when Briana opens her door. She raises her arms above her head and yawns, unaware of me standing several feet from her. Gripping the doorframe, she blinks a few times and then her eyes find mine. She stares at me, a mixture of confusion and curiosity scrolling across her face. I’m sure she expected me to leave her alone. But I’m not the man she thinks I am.
“I hope one of those is for me,” she says after a long awkward pause between us.
I hand her a mug that she gulps down in three long swigs. Then, she shoves it at my chest. “Do you have any more?”
Nodding, I turn away from her to refill her cup. She comes up to my side as I add the sugar and cream to her coffee. I slide it along the counter in front of her hand, and she wraps her fingers around the ceramic mug that says Like a Superhero. I laugh to myself. She loves to collect things with funny sayings on them.
I sit on the couch next to Briana. She crosses one leg over the other and sips her coffee. That’s another weird thing she did when we were dating. No matter where she would sit, whether it was on a chair in a study hall or on the sofa, she would sit the same way. Which looks super uncomfortable, if you ask me. Strands of her dark hair stick up in different places. Her cheeks are still streaked with black lines of mascara that have extended down to her chin. She looks like she had a rough night, but she’s still the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid eyes on.
