Page 225 of Bound By Her

Bryson had done it enough times to know what it looked like.

“And you left.”

“What was I supposed to do?”

“Stay.” Seth said it so simply.

Bryson shook his head.

“If only you both put in the same amount of effort in getting together, as you do driving each other away, you both would see it.”

“She was trying to hurt me.”

Seth’s hand reached out and touched him, his fingers tracing their way up his chest.

“She was trying to see how easy it would be for you to leave.” His palm flattened in the space above his heart. Bryson could feel the beating underneath Seth’s palm. “But you don’t give up that easy, especially with people you care about.”

Bryson opened his mouth to argue, but shut it. Looking at Seth, he placed his own palm over his, sandwiching his hand.

Nothing about their relationship was typical. It was all kinds of fucked up, just like Bryson’s life. But somehow the three of them had made it work.

Kaydon came in then.

“Hey, boss,” he said, crawling into bed next to them. “I tried to push the Mexico issue, but I don’t think she bought it.”

Bryson said, “She does what she wants. We aren’t going to change that.”

The woman was infuriatingly stubborn.

“Seems we know someone else like that, huh, Seth?” Kaydon said sarcastically.

Bryson looked at them. “I’m not like that?”

The two of them laughed.

Fuck, was he that bad?

“Wherever we go, she promises it’ll be together,” Seth said.

And Bryson believed her.

“You know what else?” Kaydon said.

“Hmm.”

“No matter where we go, the next twenty-four hours are the last that you have to talk to her,” Kaydon said.

Bryson shifted. “So what?”

“So, you might regret it if you leave some things unsaid,” Kaydon continued.

“Like what?” Bryson asked.

“How you feel,” Seth answered.

“I don’t know how I feel,” Bryson shouted into the room, the day’s events boiling over.

“Then tell her that,” Kaydon said.

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