Page 54 of Bought and Broken

I snatch my sweatpants from the bed and shove them before pushing by her and going to my room.

How this girl manages to make me so fucking angry, I’ll never know.

Even when I’m trying to be nice, to win her over, I can’t. She gets under my fucking skin and eats away at me like a goddamn termite. How am I ever going to finish this if I can’t keep my fucking cool? One second, she’s being affectionate and loving; the next, she’s biting my goddamn head off. She’s impossible to deal with!

I fall onto my bed and take a fucking nap.

When I wake up, I’m calmer. A little better. My head is clear and as I think through my options, weighing the pros and cons, I know what I need to do to fix this. There’s only one thing that can fix this.

I go in search of Devon and find her in the kitchen. She looks up at me as I turn the corner, and I go right to her and pull her into my arms before she has the chance to say something.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her, hugging her tightly. She’s stiff in my arms, confused over my actions.

This is how I prove to her I’ve changed, because old Tate would never do this.

I need to lay myself bare. I need to make myself vulnerable. She may not know what I’m doing, but she can tell that I’m not giving my all. She knows I’m holding back, because even though I say she doesn’t know anything about me, she does. Devon knows the parts of me other people don’t. She may not know my favorite car or anything about my job, but she knows me. The parts of me I don’t want anyone to know at all.

I need to do this right, and the only way I’ll ever get Devon to let her guard down is to let mine down. It’s all or nothing.

I take her face between my hands and stare into her eyes. When I speak, I keep my voice calm and even.

“I shouldn’t have yelled at you, and I shouldn’t have left, but I’m just as upset about this as you are. I hate how things are between us. Hate how bad it’s gotten.” I’m losing myself the more time I spend with her. What is real and what isn’t? “I don’t want to fight with you, Devon. I want to make this work. I need to make us work.”

The only way I’ll ever win her over is if I do this. I have to forget about the way she hurt me while remembering why I’m doing this. It won’t be easy, but I never back down from a challenge.

“I don’t want it to be like this,” I add.

“Neither do I,” she whispers, her bottom lip trembling.

I search her beautiful green eyes, and though I’m hesitant over what I’m about to do, it needs to be done. I have to do this.

All or nothing.

“I love you.”

Her lips part. “What?” she breathes out.

“Devon, I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember. I—”

My words are cut off when she grabs my head and pulls me to her. She kisses me firmly, like she means it. She kisses me like she’s missed me. Like she needs me.

She moans into my mouth, and I turn us so her back is to the island. She gasps when her back hits it. I lift her up and place her on it, and we both work at getting her pants down while refusing to part from our kiss. Once hers are gone, I get out of mine and shove inside her without warning.

She cries out, her head falling back. I take the opportunity to nip at her neck, sucking at her skin. This position is very different from the other, so it likely hurts. She’s probably still sore from before too. But she doesn’t tell me to stop. Devon buries her face in my neck, holding me close as I fuck her.

“I love you, Tate. So much. I swear I always have.”

I smile inwardly.

That’s exactly what I’ve been waiting for. Exactly what I needed.

And all I had to do was let out the bullshit that’s been holding me down for years.

“You have me now,” I tell her. “I’m here.”

I find her clit, rubbing it with my thumb as I fuck her harder.

“Come on my cock, Dev. Let me feel you.”

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