Page 92 of B-ry
I let out a tiny scream and jumped.
Blade didn’t open his eyes but he did laugh. Not anything crazy and it seemed that he was trying to hold some of it back.
“You scared me,” I said like he didn’t already know it.
“I kinda got that.”
“I’m sorry. I thought you were asleep.”
“I was…”
There was a long stretch of silence as I waited for him to say something else.
“Be straight with me, Cami’s sister,” he said and he still hadn’t opened his eyes. “How are the guys?”
“Um, my name is Laurel,” I said as politely as I could. “And they are great.” It was a lie but I was pretty sure that would have been what they wanted me to say.
“Yeah, okay, Cami’s sister. Now tell me the truth.”
I rolled my eyes. It seemed I was never going to have a name to this guy.
“Mouse is still messed up over the whole thing. He feels responsible even though it’s not his fault…”
I let the words die there.
It was mine.
I wanted to say it because he needed to know it even if he already did. He needed to know that I owned up and took the blame for it all.
“Damn right, it’s not,” he said in a grunt. Then his eyes shot open and he looked at me. “If anyone is to blame for me being here, then it’s me. I made the choice to get in the way. I’m not saying I’m a hero, far from it, in fact. But the only reason I’m here right now is because I made that choice. And a man is nothing if he can’t live with the consequences of his actions. I would say the same thing if I’d died under that rubble.”
“Um, you wouldn’t be saying anything because you would be dead,” I responded giving him a pointed look.
He let out a chuckle.
“You’re smarter than I gave you credit for.”
“Thanks?” I said shaking my head. “I’m not really sure how to take that.”
I looked down as his words replayed in my head. I wasn’t a man, but I felt it should still apply to me. I made the choice to walk home that night. I needed to own up and deal with the consequences of those actions.
“Let me tell you something, Laurel,” he said and it didn’t slip past me that he used my name this time. “I was there, not because I was trying to prove myself to them, but because I was mad that this had happened. That he had done this not only to a man I already see as my brother, but because he fucked with you. And that just isn’t right.”
I think I understood what he was trying to say. Maybe? A little? Oh, I wasn’t sure. But I got this feeling then. One that made me smile and feel some kind of protective warmth.
He closed his eyes again and I knew that was all we were going to say to one another.
I couldn’t lie, Blade was a little scary. He was big, but not as big as Bryan. While Bryan covered his scary edge with a playful cockiness most of the time, Blade didn’t do anything like that. He wore his scary and intimidation like an armor. So the fact that he had turned a little soft for me was something I definitely wasn’t going to forget or brush off.
“Don’t dwell on it, Cami’s sister. It won’t do a damn bit of good. Hate him for what he already hates himself for, or love him because he’s a man worthy of your love. But don’t waste another second trying to decide what you want. Life is too fucking short. I should know. I died, twice, apparently.”
I sat there in stunned silence.
“Next time you come, try to sneak in my baby,” he said oddly.
There wasn’t another word said.
And a few moments later, his even breathing let me know that he was out again.
