Page 101 of Unbroken

“I like being in your space, too, Dev. I like being with you.” Her nails danced over my stomach and goose bumps broke out over my skin still warm from the shower. She kissed me softly once and her smile grew. “Get dressed. I’ll wait here.”

Somehow, I managed to pull away from her. Even though it was harder to do so every single time.

The sounds of the city echoed around us as we walked hand-in-hand down the street. The concert venue was only a block or two from the restaurant where we’d had dinner.

I’d never seen Blakely so giddy with excitement before, but she practically bounced next to me. It was a sight I’d do just about anything to see again and again.

“I cannot believe you were able to get tickets so last minute,” she said, her eyes reflecting the lights around us. I raised our joined hands to my mouth and kissed the back of hers as we approached the long line to get into the concert.

It wrapped around the building, but her excitement didn’t wane at the wait ahead of us. It was abnormally chilly for late March in southern Texas, so I tucked her into my side. Her arms wrapped around me, and she leaned her head against my chest.

“I didn’t exactly buy them last minute.”

She peered up at me through dark lashes, a cute furrow appearing between her brows. “What do you mean? I thought you bought them last week.”

I shook my head and ushered us forward a few steps, following behind the group in front of us and rounding the corner. Thankfully, the line was moving quickly.

“I upgraded the tickets last week,” I clarified. I looked down at her and her eyes narrowed in confusion. “When you told me you didn’t like crowds, I upgraded the tickets to a private table on the balcony, but I bought the tickets when they went on sale back in November.”

“Oh,” she said, her voice and eyes dropping. “So, umm…were you going to bring Piper instead?”

“No,” I said quickly and firmly. “She had no idea who they are. I—uh—” All of her confusion had disappeared and was replaced by genuine curiosity. She peered back up at me, and I took a deep breath. “I’m going to sound pathetic.”

“Try me,” she said, and we walked a few feet forward. Whether I sounded pathetic or not, I felt it. Blakely next to me, clinging to me against the chilly night air, was fucking everything to me.

“They’re your favorite band, Blake. I bought the tickets…for you.” God, it sounded even worse when I said it out loud. And I knew I would never get the words out if I looked at her, so I instead stared at her hand in mine. “Not that I thought you would be back or something, because I couldn’t have known that, but I hoped. I always fucking hoped, and I would’ve gone by myself. But I would’ve kept the ticket for you. Just to…feel close to you.”

A few silent seconds stretched between us, and my heart was hammering in my chest the entire time. Finally, when I felt like my stomach was in my throat, and I worried I’d never be able to look her in the eyes again, she squeezed my hand.

“Dev,” she said softly, and I couldn’t not look up at her when I heard the quiver in her voice.

Unshed tears gathered in her eyes. “Fuck, don’t cry, sweetheart.”

She shook her head. “They aren’t bad tears. I just…god, you’re sogood. And I don’t know. I—I just?—”

“Excuse me,” a voice cut in from behind us. I had to bite back my annoyance as I turned to see the older man behind us. “Sorry, but the line’s moving.”

Blakely and I both glanced forward, and sure enough, there were more than several feet between us and the group in front of us. I mumbled an apology, and we closed the gap.

The line continued moving after that. We rounded the corner of the building and saw the line of people streaming through the doors. Before we knew it, they were scanning our tickets and sifting through the few contents of Blakely’s small black purse.

We were in the final stretch, about to walk through the doors, when Blakely rested her head on my shoulder and said, “Thank you for buying me a ticket. And always saving me a seat even when you didn’t know if I’d come back.”

Our hands clasped, we walked through the doors and into the dim interior, which was already loud with music thumping through the speakers.

“Always,” I said over the music. “I’ll always save a seat for you.”

Her smile was infectious. We stopped by the bar and grabbed two sodas and headed up to the balcony. The usher led us to our table, which had a perfect bird’s-eye view of the stage and therest of the venue a level down. We were in the middle of the balcony, several tables to our right and left, but in our little section, it was only us.

Blakely slid her drink onto the table and crossed to the railing. She braced both of her hands on the metal and took in the massive room around us. Her eyes slid from the left, where there was extra stadium-like seating at the back of the balcony level, over the general admission crowd below, and all the way back to the right, where the stage crew was setting up for the opener.

“These seats are perfect!” she exclaimed. “You can see everything without being in the midst of…everything.”

I nodded, stepping up beside her and appraising the quickly growing crowd.

But appraising the crowd turned into people-watching as more people filtered through the front doors and made their way toward the main stage. “I really love that woman’s hair,” she said, pointing to a woman with neon pink hair that matched the rest of her vibrant outfit.

“Definitely stands out, especially compared to the guy she’s holding hands with,” I added.

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