Page 49 of Ever With Me

“That’s because her father is a piece of shit. And she deserves—” He scowled, his throat feeling tight. “Just go, Madison.”

“Why? Because you’re going to growl and snap at me like a wounded animal? You’ve already promised there’s no bite to that bark.”

He leaned forward, glaring. “How do you know I wasn’t lying?”

“I just do. You’re not what people say you are.”

“Or I’m exactly what people say I am, and you’re playing with fire?”

She crossed her arms. “Aren’t those the lyrics to ‘Wildfire’? Is that what it was? Your anthem? A declaration of what damaged goods you were? Telling everyone to stay the fuck away from you, right?”

He lifted his chin sharply, his breath catching so hard that it sent a piercing pain through his chest.

Never once in all his life had anyone looked at him and seen so much.

He said nothing as she lifted a hand, stroking the curve of his temple with the back of her index finger, then tracing it down his jawline. The gesture was fascinatingly intimate, shivers going through him. As though she was speaking,“I see you,”without saying anything at all.

“Audrey deserves better than what Kayla and I got.” He closed his eyes, breaking the spellbinding eye contact. “My father committed suicide when I was seven. Two months before Kayla was born,” he whispered in a voice he could barely even hear.

He’d never told anyone but his therapist.

Yet he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “I was the one who found him lying face down in my parents’ bedroom.”

Her arms were around him in an instant, and despite his urge to resist her, Brooks pulled her against him instead. He tightened her in his embrace and buried his face against her neck.

“That’s horrible, Brooks,” she whispered. “I can’t even imagine.”

“It’s why I’ve never wanted kids. Why I try my best to protect Audrey.” He pulled back. “Because parents fuck their kids’ lives up all the time—sometimes on purpose but so often by mistake.Every. Damn. Day.And I never want to do to anyone what my father did to me.”

She leaned away, holding him by the shoulders while she scanned his face. “What your father did wasn’t about you. You know that, right, Brooks?”

“Yeah, but that’s the point. He had his demons, sure, and probably even got them from his old man. People in town used to gossip about what a piece of shit my grandfather was. But my dad didn’t think about stopping the cycle. He just kept it going. He didn’t think about Kayla or me at all.”

Maddie touched his cheek again, then leaned forward and kissed his forehead. Not the hot, sexy kiss he’d imagined earlier in the evening, but this was much better.Needed.

Hell, he might have just torpedoed her desire to be around him at all. If anyone came at him with something so heavy, he’d probably tuck tail and run. Maddie had asked for him to play the guitar. Instead, he’d unloaded on her.

“I’m sorry,” he said with a groan and pulled away from her. “This...I didn’t mean to . . .”

She watched him, patiently waiting for him to continue, her eyes filled with compassion.

He struggled for a breath. “For so long, I just wondered why. Why did he do it? Why couldn’t he just . . .trya little harder? For the rest of us? One day, I woke up and realized I’d never know the answer. And I’ve never known how to move forward since.”

Maddie took his hands in hers. “Why is a natural question. Trust me, I’ve asked myself the same question before. I think we all do when we’re hurt. But, Brooks, . . . you don’t have to know why to heal from what was done to you. You are whole. You’re not a half a person because of what happened to you when you were seven. You’re still whole. And you’re worthy. What haunted your father will only control you so long as you allow it to.”

He swallowed hard, his mouth drying.

I see you.

He’d cracked open the deepest, darkest part of his soul, and she hadn’t run away.

She’d embraced him.

Who on earth is this beautiful woman?

He cleared his throat, exposed under her gaze. “Sorry. I know you weren’t asking for my sob story. Normally, I just shut up and sing instead.”

“You still owe me a song. But I’ll let it slide for tonight.” She smiled sadly, then stood. “Unfortunately, I don’t have that many skeletons in my closet to share with you, so I can’t even the score.”

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