AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My heart hurts and there’s a pit a mile wide growing between me and that front door, waiting for me to fall.
With breakfast in hand, I push the door open with my foot and kick it closed behind me with enough force for it to echo throughout the house. Frankie barks, paws scurrying over hardwood in my direction as I set everything down on the island in the kitchen.
There’s a groan from the couch—which I don’t bother to acknowledge—as Duke’s shuffled feet head toward the scent of coffee. “Which one is two creams no sugar?” he asks.
I take a deep breath and turn to him, putting my purse on a hook. How hard is it for people to read a damn lid on a to-go order?
I point and Duke takes the correct cup, sipping it slowly. He peers at me out of the corner of his eye as Butch comes down thestairs freshly showered and dressed for the day; it even appears he trimmed his beard a little.
When his gaze lands on me, whatever smile he had lingering dies. “What happened?” He comes right over to me, reaching out as I step away.
I glance at Duke standing on the other side of the island, unsure if I want to cause a scene in front of his brother—but the hell with it. He’s made enough decisions for me lately.
“When thefuckwere you going to tell me you took my brother to a rehab facility?” There’s more bite in my voice than I intended, my anger coming through at the forefront as another sob chokes me.
“Well, that’s my cue,” Duke mutters, digging in the bag and taking a breakfast sandwich with his coffee in hand as he heads for the door. Frankie is hot on his heels in hopes the hungover man will stumble and drop something good. “Come on, hot dog. Let’s go raid your new dad’s garage.”
The front door slams shut and I’m left alone with one mentally conflicting judgment call.
“How could you not tell me?” I hiss at his frozen frame towering before me. “He’s my brother, Butch.Mine. You don’t get to make those kinds of decisions for me. You didn’t even let me say goodbye.” I’m full-on sobbing now, the fear of something happening to Garrett that’s always lingered in the back of my mind coming forth.
“Sweetheart, I—” He reaches for me again, but I push his hand away. He rubs his face roughly, his eyes darting around like he can’t find the words. “It wasn’t my call.”
I sniffle. “Yes, it was. You took him.”
He shakes his head. “No, I mean, yeah, I drove him out there, but he’s the one who said he didn’t want to see you.”
My heart breaks all over again, my lower lip wobbling. “He said that?” Garrett is the one who didn’t want to say goodbye?Regret for how I left things the last time I saw him crashes into me like a freight train. I bury my face in my hands, crying. No wonder he doesn’t want to see me.
“I t-told him I was done with him,” I cry. “And now he h-hates me.”
“No, baby, no.” Butch swoops in, his arms wrapping around me and pulling me tight against his racing heart. “God, no, Sunshine. It’s not you, he just…he needs time to figure his shit out.”
“That’s what you said before—and now he’s gone.” My entire body trembles in time with my sobbing little heart. How could I have been so cruel to him?
Butch readjusts, his large hands cupping my cheeks and tilting me up to face him. “Stop,” he growls. “He is not gone. He’s gettinghelp. For you. For himself. He said he couldn’t say goodbye to you because it would’ve kept him from leaving at all. Your brother loves you so damn much, sweetheart, he asked me to take care of you while he’s away.”
“He did?” I say just above a whispered sniffle. “But—Why did he ask you to take him? How does he know about us?”
His slow grin slides a piece of my heart back into place. “Isn’t it obvious, beautiful? You’re the only thing that matters to me. You’re my Sunshine.”
I don’t let myself overthink it another second.This man…This man standing right in front of me has done nothing but think ofme, of my needs, for weeks—months. Years, so he claims. I have no reason to not believe him at this moment. It’s written all over his face even now.
His eyes dance over my features, his jaw ticking in time with whatever worrisome, stressful thought that passes through.
My anger slowly subsides into understanding. The fear still lingers for my brother, no matter how badly I want to believe that he’ll be okay. But the gratitude toward Butch and everythinghe’s done for me—for my family—starts to bloom into something more.
I lift on my toes and tug him down to meet me. Gratefully, he does. Our lips move against each other frantically, showing me the worry I knew I saw in his eyes a moment ago. I can’t let him think that one misunderstanding could tear us apart. Not with the way I feel about him.
With my face still cradled in his hands, I fumble with the belt clasping his jeans at his thick-cut waist. The same waist I had my legs wrapped around for the first time only last night. Tears continue to cloud my eyes as I slip my fingers over the cool metal.
Butch groans, breaking our kiss to look into my eyes. His breath heavy with building desire. “As much as I’d love to have you hate fuck me right now, sweetheart.” He thumbs away several stray tears from my cheeks, his eyes watching mine. “I need to know you’re okay.”
I shake my head with a light sniffle. “I’m fine.”
“Your eyes and these tears are telling me otherwise, Sunshine.”
I laugh. I can’t help it. This man is all I’ve ever wanted, and he’s all I’ll ever need.
