Page 86 of Give Me Perfect Love

Austin gives me a sideways glance. “How much do you really know about Bryce?”

My heart gets defensive and buffs up its chest.

“Don’t talk about our man,”it says.

But my mind tells it to back off. Austin is right. I only know what Bryce has told me.

Regardless, it doesn’t change the way I feel about him. I’ve made up my mind about that. Bryce may have his secrets, but if he loves me like he says he does, like Ifeelhe does, then eventually he will share them with me.

And if it’s up to this girl, it will be sooner than later even if I have to make meaningless threats to get it out.

“I know him well enough,” I say, looking out the window. “We didn’t really get a chance to talk last night.” I bite my lip, thinking back on what we actually did make time for. Butterflies swarm in the bottom of my belly as my chest grows lighter.

“Y’all didn’t talk about anything that went down?” he asks, pulling up to our apartment.

I look back at him. “No. It was late, and after everything that happened, I didn’t feel up to it.”

He nods in understanding. “Typical Kat.” He pulls the e-brake up and wiggles the gear shifter, making sure the car is in neutral.

“Hey, I’m getting better,” I say in defense.

He chuckles before reaching in the back with the smoke hanging from his lips.

“What do you mean you know?” I ask as he grabs the food. Has Claire told him what I told her about my past? I’m not mad at her. Austin is like my family. I’m a little relieved if she has. It means I won’t have to.

He talks over his smoke as he removes the keys from the ignition. “Claire may have mentioned a few things.”

I nod. “Okay.” I give a closed smile before I open my car door. We say nothing else about it as Austin pulls the door open, letting me go first before taking one last hit from his cigarette and tossing it into the road.

Claire sits on the sofa with her hair pulled away from her neck and her feet up.

“Hey,” I say, removing my coat and walking over to her. She covers her mouth, her eyes filling with tears. I look over her face and body. She’s wearing black sweatpants and a long-sleeved T-shirt so I can’t see the bruises I know are on her legs. Black mixes with blue, and one of her eyes is bloodshot. Her lip is busted, and looking down at her wrists I see marks that resemble mine but aren’t as bad.

“Good God,” she breathes, shaking her head.

“We’re a sight, aren’t we?” I ask as I sit down beside her. I try to make light of the situation. Make her see that we’re okay. Bruises and wounds heal. We’ll be okay. Austin walks past us and goes into the kitchen, giving us a little privacy.

“Kat, I’m so sorry.” Her tears spill over, wetting a web of lashes.

I reach and grab her hand. “This is not your fault. None of this is anyone’s fault,” I say a little louder so Austin can hear me again.

Our apartment has an open floor plan, so the kitchen isn’t closed off. While Austin removes our food from the brown bag, he will hear me.

“Cain was a bad person, Claire. You didn’t deserve this, and you are not to blame.” She lifts her free hand and gently touches the side of my jaw.

“He hit you so many times,” she says, her voice full of emotion. “And I just lay there.”

“You were tied up, just like me. How do you think I’m feeling knowing I couldn’t do anything when he…?”

She closes her eyes and swallows. My phone starts to ring in my pocket. I reach up and slide it out, seeing it’s Bryce.

“Hey,” I answer.

“Hey, you left?”

“Yeah.” I clear my throat. “I’ll be right back,” I mouth to Claire. She nods and I stand and walk to the stairs. “I needed to come check on Claire and to change clothes.”

“Oh,” he says. “Yeah, of course.”

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