Page 79 of My Brother's Best Men
Keaton pushes me and spits out a pat of blood. “Did you feel better when you did it? Like you were getting back at me?” He chuckles.
Matthew steps forward. “Get your hands off her, asshole.”
Keaton shakes his head.
“Get her out of here,” Benny says as Sam comes up to us, his face panicked.
Everything is a blur as Keaton fires back at Benny, and before I know it I hear footsteps and Matthew’s gaze finds mine. “Go!” he roars.
I twist in Elijah’s hold, wanting to pull Keaton off of Benny, but it’s no use. Elijah pulls me the other way. “Benny said to get you to safety, so that’s where we’re going,” he says.
“I can’t believe he showed up here,” I say, shaking my head. “This is my fault, I?—”
I hear a yelp and try to turn around, but Elijah keeps walking me. We make it to the elevator and get on, my heart beating a million miles a minute.
“It’s not your fault,” he says. “He didn’t text you or call you or?—”
“No.” I shake my head. “Nothing. I thought I was pretty clear when I threw the damn ring at him and?—”
The elevator doors open and we run out, heading toward Benny’s room. Our room, I guess, since I decided not to get my own. Staying with Benny felt comfortable. Too comfortable, considering sleeping with him felt like sleeping with a damn teddy bear. A giant one.
I swipe my card and we enter the room quickly and immediately, and I head for the bed. I sit, hanging my head in my hand. “We should be down there, helping them.”
“Benny can take care of himself.”
“Matthew’s down there too!” I yell.
“Matthew’s not a kid, Soph. He can handle himself just as well as Benny, and besides, Benny needs someone who can handlehim.”
I bite my nails as I consider going down there. “Maybe if I actually talk to Keaton, I?—”
“Absolutely not, Soph! The man cheated on you. Broke his promise to you. Not to mention he hasn’t called in days. If it were me, I would never have done that, and you sure as hell can bet that if I did something to piss you off I’d be on my knees begging for forgiveness.”
He sits next to me and I look at him with watery eyes. “Now my brother’s weekend is ruined.”
“No, Sophie, it’s not?—”
The tears come like rain and I can’t stop them.
“Sophie…” He pulls me into his arms, holding me tight, and I wrap mine around him instinctively. I bury my face in his chest as I cry.
“No man who loves you will ever make you cry,” he whispers. “I’ll never make you cry.”
I look up at him through tear-stained eyes and I see the truth there. Maybe it’s always been there and I was just too blind to notice.
“Never again,” he says as he leans down and kisses me. I melt in his hold, crying as he kisses my mouth, then my cheeks. He brushes away the tears as he kisses me again and I can taste the saltiness of my tears on his lips.
I pull him back into the bed, needing to feel his weight, his hold. His arms were always my safest, most comforting place when I was broken. And now…
He kisses me, holding me close as I pull him against me.
“Sophie,” he whispers, leaning his forehead against mine.
“Promise me,” I say, looking up at him. “Promise me you’ll always be here.” I run my hands down his arms. “That this will always be here.”
He nods. “Always.”
I kiss him once more with all that I am. The kiss is slow, but I deepen it. Needing him to understand. My world is falling apart, but Elijah…
