Page 47 of Claimed By the Cowboys

He studies my face. “I don’t want to do it again.”

My heart crumples. “You won’t, Brent. People make mistakes. All of us. It’s what makes us human. Then you justgrow and learn from them, and that’s what life is. You grow. You learn. You change to be better.”

He snorts. “Have you ever made a mistake like that?”

Yes.“Yeah, I have.”

“Like what?”

I said that no kissing was a rule. That was a stupid, stupid choice.

I wanted to kiss Dalton. I really wanted to kiss Tate. For some reason, it feels like I’m struggling to tell Brent what he needs to hear right now. And something’s telling me that the only thing he’ll really hear is if I kiss him.

I want to kiss him so badly, it hurts. Instead, I give him a weak smile. “I kissed a whole lot of frogs, looking for a prince.”

His eyes go a little hard.

“Don’t remind me,” he grunts.

I laugh, and the heaviness of the moment dissipates slightly. “You think you can get up?”

“I’ll try,” Brent mumbles.

Between the two of us, we manage to get him up. His back clearly hurts, and getting him into the house is a slow process. Brent’s doing the best he can not to lean on me completely, but I can tell he’s hurting.

We manage to get into the house. He insists on showering, and I hover nervously. Tate and Dalton are nowhere to be found, and I’m not sure what I’d do if I saw them.

It’s Brent’sday.But somehow, I have a feeling that nothing much is going to happen right now.

Finally, Brent is out of the shower. He comes out, loose basketball shorts on, and I wince as I see the truly spectacular bruise spreading across the top part of his abs.

“Sheesh,” I whisper, getting closer to look at it. “That’s a heck of a bruise, Brent.”

“Might have a bruised rib,” he grunts.

Alarmed, I look up at his face. “Are you serious?”

“Oh, yeah. Definitely.” He nods. “Shit hurts.”

“Do you need anything?”

He shakes his head. “Honestly? Just sleep.”

Oh.

Brent heads for his bed, and I help him while he slowly leans down. When he’s finally settled, he puffs out a huge breath.

“Shit,” he murmurs, adjusting slightly. “That hurts.”

“Sorry,” I murmur.

Brent’s eyes flutter closed.

I linger. I don’t know what to do. I want everything to be fair, and I guess that tomorrow could be Brent’s day, but…

“Piper?”

“Yeah?” I say quickly.

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