Page 9 of When You Became Mine

In a daze, I wandered down the hall, something pulling me to my brother’s room. When I reached the door, I was startled to see Hampton lying on the bed, one arm thrown over his eyes, his body shaking.

My stomach dropped and I stepped inside, closing the door quietly behind me. Slipping my painfully uncomfortable heels off, I slid into the bed beside him and rested my head on his shoulder. When I wrapped an arm around his waist, his body shook even harder and despite my best efforts, the tears I’d worked so hard to keep inside leaked out of my eyes.

“I should have—”

“No,” I said firmly. “Don’t go there.”

He pulled in a deep breath and ran a hand over his face, wiping the tears away, but unable to conceal the fact he’d been crying.

He turned on his side and pulled me closer, his hand resting on my hip. The heavy weight of guilt momentarily subsided as butterflies fluttered in my stomach at his intimate gesture.

“Pip,” he said in a strangled voice. “I can’t believe he’s gone.”

I pressed my lips together and shook my head. “Me neither. What are we going to do without him?”

A single tear rolled down his cheek, and the sight of it caused my chest to squeeze so hard I couldn’t breathe.

It had been only a few days since that terrible accident that claimed the life of my twin brother, but in that short time, Hampton had aged well beyond his twenty years. I’d never seen him so broken, his pain rivaling my own. He’d withdrawn, barely spoken to anyone, said even less to me. His brilliant green eyes were dull and it scared me.

Hampton was the strong one. The one who had spent his entire life protecting me, watching out for me. But now, he was barely functioning, and I didn’t know what to do to make it better.

I put an arm on his shoulder. “We’re going to be okay,” I said, but my words were empty.

He rolled to his back, propping his head up on an arm, and sighed. I inched up and rested my head on his shoulder, needing to be as close to him as possible.

“You remember how mad Jack would get when we would move the car around the parking lot at school?” I giggled at the memory. “God, he would get so pissed. His face turning damn near purple when he came out at the end of the day and the car was nowhere in sight.”

Hampton didn’t say anything, so I kept talking.

“He was such a jerk sometimes. He was constantly giving me a hard time about not having a boyfriend.” I rolled my eyes. “He thought he was God’s gift to women. I didn’t understand how girls could stand to go out with him.” Hampton’s body jerked and I tilted my head back to look at him. His eyes were squeezed shut, his mouth set in a deep frown. “But I’d give anything to have him back right now. Even if that meant a lifetime of his teasing. Or listening to him ramble about his latest conquest in the sack.”

Another teardrop rolled down Hampton’s face and that single droplet of water broke me. Unable to stand his pain any longer, I realized I’d do anything to make him feel better. Even if that meant exposing myself to him, opening myself up to the rejection I’d been afraid of for so long.

Especially if I could selfishly take even an ounce of comfort for myself in the process.

Pushing up on an elbow, I hesitated only for a moment before I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his jaw, capturing the offending tear.

Hampton stiffened, but I pushed forward and kissed my way along the sharp curve of his jaw, my lips trailing kisses to his neck. Pulling in a deep breath through my nose, I allowed my tongue to dart out, making contact with his skin. It was salty, probably from the tears, but it was 100 percent Hampton, so it caused my stomach to flutter wildly. I wanted to kiss his lips, to taste him, to see if the fantasies I’d tried to ignore were correct.

And just when I convinced myself to be bold and take the shot, he suddenly pushed me away.

“What the hell are you doing?”

My heart sank, and I began to stutter. “I-I-I—”

“You what, Piper?” His tone was harsh, a stark difference from the defeated way he’d sounded the last few days.

I flinc

hed, but pressed on. It was too late to turn back now. Clearing my throat, I met his eyes. “I hate seeing you like this. I want to make it better.” I pulled my gaze away from his and looked over his shoulder at Jack’s shelf, lined with trophies. “I want to make you better.”

He scrambled across the bed and pushed to his feet. Shoving a hand through his hair, a bitter laugh tumbled from his lips. “You want to make me better?”

I nodded, my lip pulled in between my teeth. I couldn’t bring myself to look him in the eye, and I feared I would never be able to again. Kissing him was a risk, but his reaction was far worse than I ever could have expected.

He laughed again, the harsh sound making me flinch.

“Find a way to bring Jack back. That’ll make me feel better.”

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