Page 44 of Pretty When He Bleeds

“You good?”

He blinks up at me, his hazel eyes searching mine before he nods. “Yeah, I’m good.”

That weight on my chest eases some, and I can’t help but stare at him again. His hair is a mess, sticking up in every direction, and the evidence of the fight he was in last night is plain as day on his face. I draw my hand toward his mouth and run my thumb over the cut, watching as he flinches.

“You need to stop this shit, Roman,” I say with a sigh. “I told you to come to me if you need the pain.”

He scowls and swats my hand away as he sits up. The sheets pool around his waist and he runs a hand through his messy hair. “I don’t need a fucking lecture this early,” he says, but there’s no bite in his tone.

“It’s not a lecture, smartass, it’s the truth,” I say, taking another sip of my coffee. “You think I don’t know what you’re doing when you walk into those fights? You want to get hurt, and fuck if I know why.”

He looks away and I watch as he clenches his jaw while his fingers toy with the edge of the sheet. “I don’t need you to fix me, Damon.”

“I’m not trying to fix you,” I say, setting my mug on the nightstand. “But this can’t lead anywhere good, and you know it.”

“Why do you care so much?” he asks, and I catch the slight defensiveness in his tone.

I don’t bother answering; instead, I grab him by the back of the neck and press my lips against his, catching him off guard. He freezes for half a second before melting into it, his lips opening for me as he lets me in.

The faint taste of blood hits my tongue, and it makes my chest tighten. I break off the kiss and pull back just enough to meet his gaze and cup his jaw. “I care because it’s you,” I murmur, shaking my head. “If you need to bleed, if you need the pain, let it come from me.”

His lips twitch, and he tries and fails to hide a smile. “You’re such a possessive asshole.”

“Yeah,” I admit, leaning in to kiss him softer this time. “I am.”

The soft kiss turns into something deeper, and the sounds he makes head straight to my cock. God, this guy and what he does to me. I spent so much time hating him that I didn’t bother seeing what was underneath.

“You’re so fucking reckless,” I say against his lips. “I fucking hate that it makes me want you more.”

Roman leans back and doesn’t say anything. He just looks at me like he’s trying to figure out if I’m lying and it fucking kills me. “Did you mean it?” he suddenly asks and I can’t help but frown.

“Did I mean what?”

“Last night,” he says, his gaze locked on mine. “About… about me… and us.”

I nod and draw my hand to his jaw, cupping it. “Yeah, I was serious. I want us to be together, Roman.”

He turns his head and looks away from me causing alarm bells to go off in my head, especially when it looks like he wants to crawl into a hole and disappear. I narrow my eyes at him and lean back slightly. “What’s that look for, Hotshot?”

Roman hesitates and those alarm bells turn into sirens. Fidgeting with the edge of the sheet, he breathes out a sigh and looks at me again. “If we’re going to do this. If this is… if we’re going to be a thing, then there’s something you need to know.”

“Alright,” I say as the tension in my chest tightens like a vice. “I’m listening.”

He swallows hard, and I watch his jaw clenching as if bracing himself for a fight. “Caleb and I weren’t just best friends.”

The words hit me like a punch to the throat and, for a moment, all I can do is stare at him. He just confirmed what I’ve always suspected about my little brother.

“Three years,” he continues, his voice quieter now. “We were together for three years before he… before he died.”

A spike of irrational jealousy twists so hard in my gut that it nearly takes my breath away and I hate myself for it. Caleb had someone who obviously loved him before he died, and here I am, being a jealous asshole about it.

While Roman is looking at me like he’s waiting for me to lose it. I can’t do this to him.

Forcing the feeling down, I let out a slow breath, then take his hand in mine and kiss his fingers. “I figured.”

Roman’s head snaps up toward me, his hazel eyes wide. “You…what?”

“I suspected,” I say with a shrug. “You guys were too close for it to be only friendship, and I saw the way he would look at you. I didn’t have proof, but I wasn’t blind, Roman.”

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