Page 68 of Give Me Perfect Love

I leave my bag and walk around the counter. “One or two? Bryce, you beat a guy up the last time we hung out.”

He shakes his head at me. “You’re scared,” hysteria says. “You’ve got it in that head of yours that we’re going to end up like them.” He walks closer to me again.

“I do not. I’m pointing out what is wrong with us.”

“There’s nothing fucking wrong with us but your mind,” he throws back. “You’re being fucking stupid, K.”

A bolt of anger shoots throughout my nervous system. “Don’t call me that.”

“Why?” he says. “It’s true. You’re ruining us because of them.”

My actions speak for me and I reach out and shove him backward.

“Say it,” he says to me.

“Fuck you.” I reach out and shove him again, sending him closer to the wall. I shove him harder the third time, and the fourth he catches my hands and stops me.

Madness.

Madness and rage are what I feel because I know he’s right and I hate him for it.

“Tell me I’m wrong,” he says, holding on to my hands. Contact liquefies the ice inside of me, but like I said, pride is a bitch.

“You’re wrong. We suck together. Look at us.”

He shoves my hands away. “So, what? You wanna be friends again? You wanna act like what we have together is a fucking friendship?”

My chest jumps rapidly. “I don’t know.”

He nods. “That’s one thing I think you got right, baby. I don’t think you’ve got a clue what you want.”

We look at each other as our breaths begin to even out. Small inhales and exhales break the silence.

Discontent shows on his handsome face, turning his blues a darker shade, but then Bryce does what he is so famous for. His back straightens, his chin lifts, and his blue eyes look indifferent. “How about you call me when you figure this out?” Passiveness lines his deep tone, and he leaves me in the shop with my heart on the floor and my wants scattered around it. I’m fickle and undeserving. Glutton for self- punishment and like he said…stupid.

ChapterTwenty

Bryce

Veins bulge and sweat slides. Anger and heartache collide in my broken-down chest. This girl has me so caught up I can’t even go a day without thinking about her. It’s been three days. I jab the punching bag harder. Three fucking days and she hasn’t called. How can she give up this quickly on us?

How can she do that when I told her I fucking loved her. Jab, jab. I can’t stand this shit. I step back from the swinging bag and quickly remove my gloves.

I’ve got to have a drink.

Or ten.

I walk back into the locker room when Ronnie, the owner of this gym, calls me. “Hey, Bryce.” I turn around. “That guy you got into it with. I found out his name.” I wipe the sweat from my brow and head with the towel draped over my neck.

“Yeah. So, what is it?”

“Cain Wells.”

My eyes narrow and I look to the floor.

Holy shit.

“You know him?” Ronnie asks me.

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