Page 65 of Unbroken

She took the final step to truly close the distance between us and peered up at me. In a soft voice, she said, “You don’t need an excuse to see me, Devon.”

And rather than respond with words, I brushed her hair over her shoulder and cupped her cheek. My thumb caressed her jawand her chin, tugging at her shiny lower lip, before I dipped my head down and sealed my mouth over hers.

The urgency to deepen the kiss and take her mouth was churning inside of me, but I managed to keep it soft. She tasted like the cherry ChapStick she religiously reapplied and like all my wildest dreams coming true.

Her hands fisted in the front of my shirt, and my other hand slipped around her waist. Her lips parted, and our tongues met in a slow, languid motion. One of those sweet sounds broke free, and I couldn’t help but wonder what it would sound like if they were louder, echoing off the walls as she orgasmed around my…fuck.

I kissed her thoroughly one last time and reared back, still keeping my hands right where they were.

“I can’t seem to control myself when it comes to you,” I said through gritted teeth as I looked down at her wet, kiss-swollen lips.

Those same lips tilted in a hungry smile, and she swiped her tongue across her lower one. “Feeling’s mutual. I…I didn’t expect it to be like that. I hoped, but I never would have thought…”

I wrapped my arms around her and pressed her against my chest. It was the best feeling in the world to have her in my arms, and it was bittersweet to know that it very well may not have happened. Had things turned out differently, she wouldn’t have found her way back to us. To me.

TWENTY-NINE

Blakely

Swipingthrough the options in my closet, I chose a few dress options and tossed them onto my bed.

Tato watched me warily from the corner, likely worried that if he got too close, he’d be in the direct path of my frustration. I’d been in the same mood for nearly two weeks, so he’d grown used to it.

A knock came from my front door, and I tensed for a split second before I chastised myself. I tossed another miserable dress option on the bed and headed toward the door. I pulled it open, and a smiling Amanda greeted me from the other side.

“Hi!” she exclaimed, stepping inside and glancing around my apartment. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more ‘Blakely’ place before.”

I smiled, but it felt forced. Thankfully, Amanda was still taking in my home—the dark green couch and dark multicolored rug, along with the plants lined up against the window—so she didn’t notice.

“Thanks,” I said. “Do you want anything to drink?”

She shook her head and dropped her bag next to mine on thesmall table I kept by the door. “Nope, let’s see your dress options.”

I groaned and led her back to my bedroom. “Oh, is this Tato?” she asked, crossing the room and kneeling down to pet him the second she spotted him. She cooed at him, and he flopped over, demanding belly rubs. “He’s so cute, Blake.”

“He is,” I said flatly. “Unlike all of my dress options.”

Amanda stood and turned as I motioned to the mess that was laid out over my bed. Her eyebrows shot to her hairline, and she appraised the chaos. Looking back up at me, she pulled her long blond hair up into a bun at the top of her head and started sifting through dresses.

“What about this one?” She pulled out a patterned dress that I’d meant to get rid of when I went through my stuff at my parents’ house. But I couldn’t make myself donate anything.

When I’d gone back to my parents’ house in Arkansas and realized they not only hadn’t told anyone I was missing but had also packed up my apartment in Austin and put all my stuff in storage “just in case,” I’d grown attached to, well, everything.

“I look like an emo middle schooler in that dress.”

Amanda looked at me like I was crazy, but tossed the dress onto a chair I had in the corner of the room. Tato watched from the same spot with rapt attention. It was the same thing over and over again for the next thirty minutes. Amanda would pick a dress, offer a way to style it, and I would come up with some reason why it wouldn’t work.

Amanda, Reed, and Josh were throwing a party at Reed’s parents lake house that weekend. We were all staying there Saturday night, and Sunday would include the usual day on the lake, but on Saturday during the day, there was a party which required a dress.

And I was really looking forward to it. I would be looking forward to it even more if I could shake my mood.

After running through every option available, Amanda plopped down onto my bed with a defeated sigh.

“Look, B, I’m not going to lie. You’re being impossible. What’s going on with you?”

I leaned against the wall across from her and let my head fall back until I stared up at the ceiling. It was on the tip of my tongue to make an excuse, the same excuse I’d made for almost two weeks every time the topic arose. I’d even used it that day talking to Dr. Mann during my therapy session.

If Dr. Mann had been frustrated with me before, he’d never let it show, but today he was on the cusp. I could feel it. When I was muttering one-word answers and all but refusing to participate, he nearly broke his stoic, unfazed demeanor.

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