Page 44 of Broken

“What?” I breathe.

“You. You and jellybean are in my present and you’re there in such a way I want you to be in my future. Do you think me feeling that way, I’m going to hear you tell me you were enjoying my kiss and let you continue to put yourself down and push me away? Do I seem so stupid to you I would let that happen?”

“It was when your hand went to the back of my neck. You held me there tightly and then moved your hold to the side. It triggered flashbacks, because well … he was behind me, and he held me there to control me and … and …” I was trying to push through to tell him, but the tightness in my chest was returning and the burn of the memories I tried to keep buried were catching ablaze.

“Then, the next time I kiss you, I’ll be careful where my hands are, and I’ll make you keep your eyes open. That way you know the man holding you is a man you trust.”

“You’re sure?”

“Oh, yeah, Sunshine. I’m positive.”

“We could try now,” I whisper, eyes dropping down, heat hitting my cheeks, and almost afraid to breathe. I feel like I’m on the edge of a cliff and I’m jumping with no safety net.

He steps into me. I go down off my knees, sliding back on the bed. He sits down and I squeak as he lifts me onto his lap. I’m straddling him, our chests pressed together. His hands go on each side of me, fingers pressed gently into my ribs. He’s smiling at me, and I find the courage to give a small one back.

“Are you going to keep those eyes open for me, Sunshine?”

I nod.

“Good girl. Now, give me your right hand.” I frown but do as he instructs. He slowly takes my hand and holds it as our fingers slide between one another, linking into a hold that has never felt better. He rests them in my lap. “Keep them right here and if you need a break for any reason, or you just want to call a foul on the play and stop the game, you squeeze my hand, and I’ll stop. We have a deal?”

“Did you just make our kiss a basketball analogy?” I whisper, my lips fighting an honest to goodness grin.How does he do that?

“Football.”

“Oh, I’m from Kentucky. We’re a basketball state.”

He shakes his head, his eyes twinkling. “Give me your lips, Sunshine. Let’s see if I can make this good for you.”

I lean into him so he can take my mouth—which he does slowly and gently. Then he sets about making my first kiss in a really long time a good one. In this, he failed. It was agreatkiss. So much more than good that it was laughable.

And through it all. He held my hand.

Chapter 21

King

“Areyou going to tell me how things are going and let an old man rest easy before he leaves?”

“You’re not that far away, Dragon. Besides, I’m well past the age anyone needs to worry about me,” I mutter, putting the last of his and Nicole’s crap in the back of his vehicle.

It’s been three days since Gabby and I turned the corner. I’m living at her house. That’s a fact Dragon hasn’t missed. I will say he hasn’t given me shit about it. Still, I think he’s on the fence with me going there with her. I could save him time and tell him I don’t give a damn what he thinks, but I’d rather just not talk about it. The stuff between Gabby and me is ours. I don’t want to share it. I don’t need anyone’s permission and I’m kind of over talking about it.

Gabby and I are solid. It has been three days since we shared our first kiss. It was a fucking great kiss. That said, I think the favorite part of my day is at night when I’m holding her to my body and my hand is on her stomach. Feeling the child inside her move, hearing the happiness in her voice when she asks if I felt it, is everything. It’s just …everything.

I’m not stupid. I know we have a lot of ground to cover and still have wars to fight. It’s just I believe that we’ll do it and comeout the other side. I see light for the first time in a really long time. I lived in darkness and thought the light had finally found me with Shelby. I was fucking wrong. So, that does make me nervous. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t. Not because I think Gabby is a mistake, it’s just … what if Gabby sees in me what Shelby did? Someone not good enough. It doesn’t feel like that’s what she believes. She is too busy thinking she is the one lacking, but God knows I’ve been wrong before. My recent divorce is proof of that.

“You could bring Gabby up to visit. Let us all get to know one another.”

“That’snotgoing to happen.”

“Son—”

“Listen, I appreciate your advice and your support. The more I’m around you, the more I’m grateful I didn’t kill you a few years back.”

Dragon throws his head back and laughs. “Like you could take me down, asshole. I didn’t get this old by being an easy mark.” I don’t argue or point out the fact that he’s never had to deal with me before and I can be a meticulous son of a bitch. That’s just the way it is.

“Anyway, as I was saying, Gabby loves your old lady. You make her nervous. She’s apologized to those she hurt and some of those were accepted graciously, some not. Gabby counts it a win that they didn’t spit in her face or worse. I get the hostility, but I’m not so fired up to watch her deal with it. She has enough on her plate right now. There’s shit always swirling in her head. I don’t need to make it so she comes face to face with some of it.”

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