Page 124 of Give Me Love

“Tell me about it,” I ask as I cross my arms.

He looks at me, his tongue going to the roof of his mouth. His eyes dance across my face before he looks down, his chest expanding as he does. “After my sister died, my mom stopped caring about her family. She’d disappear for days on end to go get high when I was a kid.

“My dad was a drunk who would forget to feed us, because more often than not, he was out searching for her. Their love was a cancer, but neither could see past it. A love like that is deadly, and it destroyed them. I was lucky enough to witness it.”

He looks up at me, and now I see it. Bryce is afraid of love because of his parents.

Boy, the things we have in common.

“So, you took care of Jace?” I ask.

“Yeah. It’s always been me.” He nods. “And now look what I’ve done.”

“You were trying to protect him from seeing your mom in a bad way, Bryce.”

“You heard him. We grew up in the same house, and he isn’t a boy anymore. He doesn’t need my protection.” He looks away and reaches for his hat that’s been sitting on the counter before sliding it on his head.

“Sometimes, no matter how grown we get, we still need someone to watch out for us.”

His eyes dart back to me. “And who watches out for you?” he asks, lifting his chin.

My eyes sink to the black stone countertop. “I haven’t ever really had anyone watch out for me, and when you don’t have something, you don’t need it, you know?” I shrug, not looking up because I don’t want to see pity from him. Not from this guy.

“K, look at me.”

I take in a breath and slowly lift my head. His eyes bounce back between mine as he stares through me. “You have me now. I’ll always watch out for you.”

Those words kill me.

They literally rip me open, and I can’t take my eyes off him. He pushes from the counter and walks over to me. I swallow as his eyes look from mine to my lips.

“You have no idea what you mean to me,” he says gently, and my mind goes blank when his lips touch me. He kisses me softly, and then he rests his forehead against mine and we stay still, just breathing and touching, and I think for the first time since we met, we’re actually getting to know each other.

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Bryce

I look to the door and make sure Kat can’t hear me talking on the phone to Ben as I wait for her to grab some clothes. “She thinks it was her friend’s ex, but do we think it could be anyone retaliating from the incident that took place?”

“No, sir. Like I said, your hands are clean of that.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache coming on. “Good. But this guy, Cain, seems like a psychopath. The girl had to get a restraining order. Apparently, he’s been going in and stealing her underwear. I want to know what he looks like and where he is.”

“Yes, sir. I’m going to up the security also.”

“Whatever you feel you need to do,” I reply.

K opens her door. “Ready,” she says.

“Let me know,” I say into the phone and then hang up. I grab her hand, and we walk down to the elevators. She fidgets with the strap on her bag.

“Something wrong?” I ask, looking down at her.

She shrugs. “I just don’t want to intrude on your mom.” The elevator doors open, and we step inside.

“That doesn’t matter,” I say, wondering why the hell she’s worried about that. Some cunt was in her bedroom with a knife. She stays with me.

“You don’t think this is going to be slightly awkward?”

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