Page 45 of My Vows Are Sealed

Okay, I was officially done for. Melted into a puddle of mush on the floor. If I thought I liked hearing him call me “Dar,” it wasnothingcompared to the sound of him calling me “baby.”

I sighed and laid my head on his chest, and he pressed his lips to my hair.

“Unless you can hire someone to carry my backpack to and from every class for me, there’s nothing you can do,” I mumbled. “I swear, the bruise the doorknob left on my ribs makes it hurt to breathe, never mind having to lug that thing around all day.”

He pulled back and looked at me. “A bruise shouldn’t make it hurt to breathe, Dar. If you’re not comfortable with this, it’s okay, but would you let me take a look at it? I’ve gotten roughed up a lot playing football and I’ve cracked a few ribs. I’m worried your mom might have missed that because she was so focused on your shoulder.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have been comfortable with him asking me to pull my shirt up not even five minutes after I’d given in to him, but I was. Because I knew it wasn’t like that. He wasn’t asking me to strip; he was asking me to show him an injury. It was different.

Taking a shaky breath, I used my good arm to tug my t-shirt up to just under my breasts, and Brendan knelt so he could get a better look at the area. He sucked in a sharp breath of air as he examined it, and then he lightly brushed his fingers over it, grimacing a little as he applied pressure. I hissed and groaned as a sharp pain radiated all the way up and down my side, and tears stung my eyes. He brushed a feather-light kiss over it before standing up and pulling my shirt back down for me.

“Yeah, that’s broken. I’veneverhad one that bad,” he sighed. “You need to have your mom wrap that when you get home. She’ll know how.”

I nodded.

“You sure you won’t let me kill him?” he said, cracking half a smile.

I chuckled humorlessly. “Not that the thought isn’t appealing, but murder’s a sin. And I can’t afford to bail you out of jail.”

He snorted, then gave me a quick peck on the lips before grabbing both of our backpacks off the floor. He put his on properly, then tossed mine over one shoulder.

“Come on. The bell’s going to ring in a few minutes, and I need to get you to English before I head to Pre-Cal. What do you put in this thing, by the way? Bricks?”

“Textbooks,” I said, beyond grateful for a reprieve from carrying it. “My locker is on the complete opposite end of campus from all of my classes.”

“Yeah, I think that’s a freshman rite of passage. My locker in my freshman year was in Timbuktu too. Don’t even think about trying to lift this backpack after class. Until that rib heals and your shoulder’s mostly better, you donotneed to be lugging all this weight around. I want you to wait for me, and I’ll walk you to your next class.”

“Um, the math rooms are like two hallways over,” I reminded him.

“And? I’m not letting my injured girlfriend carry this forty-pound backpack all over campus until she’s better. Case closed.”

Oh, my gosh. Girlfriend. He’d just called me his girlfriend.

I had a boyfriend.

“What?” he chuckled.

I felt my cheeks flush as I cast my eyes downward. I couldn’t say it out loud. It was way too embarrassing.

But then his finger was under my chin and he was tilting my face upward so I’d look at him. “Not letting you get out of it that easily. Tell me what just put that gorgeous smile on your face, baby. I need to know what I’m doing right.”

…And now I was probably the shade of a fire engine as my smile grew a little wider. I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of hearing him call me that.

“You called me your girlfriend,” I mumbled, barely intelligible.

He laughed, and those dimples were on full display again as he stole another kiss. “It was that easy?”

I shrugged, then groaned in pain as I realized that wasn’t a great idea with an injured shoulder and a broken rib.

“Yeah, how aboutnotdoing that until you’re better?” he scolded me.

I rolled my eyes. “Thanks for the tip.”

“Come on. Let’s get you to class,” he said, grabbing my hand as we headed toward the door.

Chapter 13

Brendan

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