Page 58 of Branded

She shrugs then swipes them away before they can fall down her face. “I should have known better, really. You’ve never been the type to commit, and you made it clear what you wanted when we first started. I guess the romantic in me thought I’d be different.”

“I don’t want you to take this as it meaning anything negative about you, Bells. Can you promise me that?”

“No, but I’ll try. I only want good things for you, you know?”

“And I want the same for you, and I still want to be friends.”

“To be fair, Isaac, friends is something I’ll have to think about. You understand, don’t you?” She reaches out and wipes something from my suit.

“I do, and you know I’m always here for you, right?”

“I know,” she pushes up on her tiptoes and kisses my cheek. “She’s very lucky.”

Chapter 16

Sawyer

I’veneverbeenajealous person. It’s just not a feeling I have felt often in my life, and for that I’ll be forever grateful because if what I’m feeling right now is jealousy, I never want to experience it again.

It feels like there is a one-hundred-pound weight on my chest and my skin is prickling in awareness when I see him standing with a stunning blonde in an even more stunning pink baby doll dress.

I recognize her instantly as the one he was on a date with when we first met. She was very comfortable with him then, putting her hands all over him, and it’s no different now. She touches his chest then his arm, and to make matters worse, he’s just letting her.

I have no claim on him. He’s not my boyfriend officially and we’ve never had the conversation about seeing each other exclusively, so in reality, I have reason or right to feel things.

But that doesn’t change the fact my stomach is in my feet and my throat is tightening up in an unexpected bout of emotion.

I tend to cry when I’m frustrated. I don’t know how to process anything without crying.

It’s embarrassing really. The last thing I want to do is cry in the middle of a wedding reception, so I turn on my heel and head back across the main entryway toward our room.

I’m sitting on the edge of the bed, scrolling through my phone, trying to sort my thoughts when I hear the keycard slide through the lock. When the door swings open, Isaac walks through the door looking as fucking beautiful as ever. It literally makes it hard for me to breathe.

“There you are.” He closes the door and steps up to me. “Are you all right? I was looking for you.”

“I just needed to catch my breath a little,” I tell him, and it’s not quite a lie. I don’t want to be that girl right now. The girl who freaks out simply because he was speaking to another female.

“Catch your breath? Is something wrong?”

He walks over to lean against the wall directly in front of me.

I toss my phone aside and look up at him.

“I saw you with that woman. I don’t remember her name, but I met her with you at the Harvest Festival.”

“Isabelle,” he sighs and slides his hand through his hair. “That was—”

I hold up my hand to stop him. “Let me get this out before I lose my nerve.”

He just nods. “Okay.”

“I saw you with her and I felt this blackness in my gut. I was so jealous it was making me feel sick. I’ve never been that way in my entire life, ever, not over anything. Not when I was a kid, and my neighbor had a Barbie Jeep that I wanted. Not when I was in high school and this girl I couldn’t stand started dating my crush. Jealousy has never been an issue for me... until I saw her touch you. I didn’t like it and I don’t like feeling this way.”

Nervous energy is pumping through my veins so I stand to walk across the room before I continue, “And I know that sounds crazy because you and I are so fresh and so new. I have no right to feel any type of way about you having a conversation with someone or even kissing someone. It’s not my business, but seeing you with her made me realize I really like you, Isaac.” I turn to face him so I can look at him in his eyes when I say this. “I really, really like you, and I hated seeing her touch you. I just want... you.”

I expect him to say something to me, but instead, he just stands there for what seems like an eternity with a fucking grin on his face.

“Isaac, I need you to say something. I just bared my soul to you... please.”

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