Page 83 of The Bad Boy Rule

And I also know he’s battling something right now that is breaking him, and it’s hard to witness.

Part of me expects him to stay rooted in place, unmoving, but he doesn’t.

He crosses the distance between us, his chest heaving as he steps between my legs, his eyes searching mine. He smells like fresh rain and spearmint. Of familiarity and comfort.

Slowly, he sinks down to his knees. His arms slip around my waist, his big body draping over my lap as he buries his face into my stomach.

I swallow hard as I bring my fingers to his nape and gently stroke his hair, tracing my finger along his jaw, hoping that my touch helps in some way. “You don’t have to tell me. You don’t have to say anything at all if you don’t want to, but I’m here. Okay? I’m here, Saint, and I’m not going anywhere.”

His ragged breath dances along the sliver of bare skin of my stomach beneath my shirt, his arms tightening around my waist in a hold that feels like something is threatening to wrench him away and drag him under.

It makes emotion swell painfully beneath my chest.

This isn’t the same man that I met all those weeks ago. The one who pushes everyone away because it’s the only way toprotect the delicate parts of him, who puts on a front to show the world that he’s emotionless, cold, detached.

The man who has shut the entire world out but is lettingmein.

He’s trusting me to anchor him in whatever he’s battling, trusting me to hold on to these broken and bare, jagged pieces of him, no matter how fragile they may be.

It’s a declaration without words.

This is a version of Saint that I’m unfamiliar with, but it feels likesomehow, I’ve known him all along.

I trail my finger along his jaw and gently lift his chin.

My chest starts to feel tight when I see the pain in his eyes, a raw, heartbreakingly vulnerable sea of dark that makes emotion snake up the inside of my throat. “Why did you come here, Saint?”

“I didn’t know where else to go.” It’s a whisper, his voice rough and uneven as he pauses, holding my gaze. “You’re the only thing in my life that feels right anymore.”

THIRTY-NINE

SAINT

I feel… numb.

Hollow.

Inside and out.

The pain from tonight barely even registers. I push it down, push it out of my head before I cave under the weight of it all, submitting to the demons I’ve been battling for too long.

This moment’s all I get. Because weakness is a luxury that I will never be able to afford. I’m all my mom has, and that means that I have to be strong forher, even when I’m falling apart inside.

Like tonight.

Lennon’s eyes soften as she tenderly strokes my face, cradling my jaw in her palm, using her other hand to comb her fingers through my hair.

She’s gentle and tender, and I had no fucking clue just how badly I needed this.

It feels weak to admit, but fuck, I’mexhausted.My bones are weary.

How much it helps to just… rest.

I lean into her, my eyes dropping shut for a beat as I try to wrap my head around how the hell shit got so bad, so fast. How out of control it spiraled in a matter of minutes.

“My dad got arrested tonight. He’s in jail. And…” I swallow roughly. “I hope he fucking rots in there.”

I feel her stiffen beneath me, her breath stuttering. “Did he do this to you?”

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