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Every pulse of his cock radiated through my body, my heart.
My very soul.
Finally we broke our kiss, both of us panting, and he released me. My feet hit the floor, and I melted against him, his chest slick with perspiration.
“My God,” he rasped.
I nodded into his chest.
“I love you so fucking much.” He kissed the top of my head.
“I love you too, Bryce. Always.”
He pulled away slightly and met my gaze. “I was so afraid. I…still am.”
“It’s okay.”
“But it’s not. You deserve a whole man.”
“You are a whole man, Bryce.”
“I don’t feel whole.”
I couldn’t help a short laugh. “Who among us does? Do you think I’d have cut myself if I felt whole?”
“But—”
I pressed my fingers against his lips. “Stop. I’m not making light of anything either of us has been through. But you are as whole as anyone else is. Believe it. I do.”
“I have so many other responsibilities. Henry. My mom.”
“Who says I’m going to be your responsibility?”
“I do. I want you to be. I want to take care of you.”
“I love you for that. I do. But I’m not looking for someone to take care of me. If we’re in a relationship, we’re partners. We’ll have equal responsibility to care for each other. That’s how it works.”
“How do you know so much about relationships?”
Good question. I’d had very few in my life. “Honestly? From my parents, I think.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I know they weren’t perfect. I hated my father for lying to us, but look how he took care of my mother, always did what was best for her. And if she’d been able to, she’d have cared for him as well. I truly believe it.”
“I wish I’d had that kind of example.”
“You did,” I said, “or you wouldn’t feel so strongly about not getting into a relationship before you’re ready.”
He cocked his head. “You’re right, but that’s exactly what I’m fighting. Those good memories of my father. They’re killing me.”
“It’s okay to have good memories of a bad person.”
“No, it’s not. It can’t be.”
“But it is. That’s something else I learned from Melanie. I wanted to hate my father, but he was a good father to me until he”—air quotes—“died when I was eighteen. I was his baby girl. I have no memories at all of my mother, so everything I learned in life I learned from him. Well, him and my brothers. You don’t have to forget the good stuff just because there’s bad stuff.”
“You’re so strong.”
