Page 177 of A Little Broken

My knuckles crack as I squeeze the phone in my hand before forcing the tight muscles to loosen. “Fine,” I grunt. “I’ll let it go.”

“Good man.” Rafe grins. “Now, stop wasting time rehashing boring shit you have no control over. Tell me about your girl. How is she? Roman said she freaked the other night.”

“Yeah.” My shoulders slump in the uncomfortable chair. “She lost someone close to her a few years ago, and it messed with her.”

“Been there, am I right?” he jokes before sobering. “How are you handling it?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. It’s gotta be hard.”

I nod, surprised by how on-point his assumption is. It is hard. Seeing her spiral. Being given a front-row seat to her greatest fears without any power to scare them away. Not really. Because I can’t guarantee my safety anymore than I can guarantee the sun will rise in the morning.

All I know is, I miss her. I want her to be happy. I want to erase her fears and convince her it’s okay to be vulnerable. That she doesn’t need to waste time overthinking scary possibilities when we could be spending what time we have on this earthtogether.

But I can’t force her to make this decision, no matter how much I wish I could. It’s on her. All I can do is be patient and hope the pros of opening up and giving me a chance will be worth the potential cons of heartbreak.

So here I am. Twiddling my fucking thumbs and distracting myself with Roman’s empire-building tactics. Or at least, I was.

Now what?

“She’ll come around,” Rafe promises.

“I hope so.”

“She will,” he reiterates. “You’re a good guy, Pax. It’s why she’s scared. She doesn’t wanna lose you.”

My eyes narrow. “I know the feeling.”

With a low chuckle, he volleys, “Then you know she has no reason to worry.”

I scoff. “Whatever, asshole.”

“I’m just sayin’, man.” He lifts one hand in defense before adding, “But maybe wait ‘til I’m out so I can come to the wedding, yeah?”

I laugh a little harder. “Oh, so now we’re getting married?”

“You tellin’ me my little brother’s intel is off?” he challenges.

“Are you saying Roman’s spying on me for you?”

“Already told you, Pax,” Rafe reminds me. “I’m good at making friends, and I know what’s going on outside these bars. Maybe you should start trusting me.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, man. Whatever you say.”

“Glad you see it my way. Now about the wedding…” He cocks his brow and leans back in his chair, looking about as humble as Tom Brady during the Superbowl.

“Yeah, man,” I grumble, scratching the edge of my nose as I try to keep my amusement in check. “I think I can make that work.”

51

TATUM

My hands shake as I stare up at Paxton’s house. After my call with Lia, I took a much needed shower and asked Rory for her keys as soon as she got home with the ice cream. She handed them over without batting an eye, making me love her even more.

Now here I am. Trying not to overthink or overanalyze things so I can listen to my heart and tell Paxton what I never had the guts to tell Archer. Even if it’s scary. Even if I want to run in the opposite direction and hide.

Breathe.

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