Page 56 of Obligation
Bradley’s face softened with understanding. “You’re incredible, you know that?”
“No, I’m really not.”
“Sorry, but you don’t get to tell me how I’m allowed to feel about you.” He sat up, swung his legs over the side of the bed, then stood.
Carissa sat up, too, and watched as he stretched. His back rippled with the effort, and her gaze slowly lowered to the waistband of his sweatpants. Her mind wandered to the memory of what he was packing beneath that cotton material. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and bit back a very ill-timed groan.
Danny was a cheater. He’d admitted to cheating once, and she had no doubts he’d done so a lot more times than she knew about. Hell, he’d had another girl in his room last night.
He constantly said mean things with the sole purpose of hurting her. He yelled and screamed and accused her of terrible things. He had no issues leaving her in dangerous situations. He hadn’t ever hit her, but she worried if things continued as they were that that’s exactly where they were headed.
She’d already cheated on Danny when she’d kissed Bradley. Cheating was cheating, right? Did it really matter how far she went? The line had been crossed, and there was no going back. And would anyone really blame her for giving in to Mr. Walking Temptation over there? She didn’t know a single woman capable of resisting someone as wonderful as Bradley. God knew she wasn’t strong enough; she had no idea how she’d lasted this long.
“Carissa?”
Her attention was drawn back to Bradley. He stood near the side of the bed, arms crossed over his bare chest. Her lips tingled with the remnants of his taste.
“I’m sorry. Did you say something?” she said, confused.
The corner of his mouth quirked up in a teasing smirk. “I asked if you were hungry.”
“Starving,” she said, and then forced herself to get out of bed.
“I’ll make some breakfast.” He turned to leave.
Carissa chased after him, grabbing hold of his hand just before he reached the door. “Wait.”
He stopped and turned toward her, brow raised.
“Are we going to be okay?” she asked, dropping her hold on his hand. “I mean. I hope that we can forget about all that awkwardness this morning and still be friends.”
Something in his expression shifted, and she held her breath.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Sorry, Carissa, but I can’t forget what happened this morning. I don’t want to.” He closed the little distance that was between them. “And I really don’t want to be your friend.”
Her heart stopped, and she stared up at him with hurt and disbelief. He knew she had a boyfriend. Just like she knew she had nothing but friendship to offer him. Why wouldn’t he want that from her? Wasn’t something better than nothing?
Bradley reached for her, taking hold of her waist and flexing his fingers. His touch was hesitant, but his actions were self-assured. The heat from his body wrapped around her, and she leaned into him. Her hands trembled as she tenderly rested them on his chest and trailed them down his stomach, her gaze following the path of her fingers.
“I won’t tell anyone what happened, but I’m not going to pretend it didn’t happen,” he said. “I don’t want to be your friend. Hell, I don’t want to be just your boyfriend, either. I want to be your everything, Carissa. I want to be the man you can count on one-hundred percent of the time. The man who will always be right there for you, no matter what, who will never yell at you or hurt you or take you for granted.”
Her gaze lifted to his, and she blinked back tears.
“Iamthat man. You just don’t know it yet,” he said.
He was wrong. She did know that. She just couldn’t accept that any guy was that perfect, least of all a guy who was interested in her. She didn’t deserve that kind of devotion and unconditional love.
Bradley dropped a kiss to her forehead. “I’m going to make some breakfast. Feel free to come out whenever you’re ready.” Then he left without another word.
Carissa’s entire body slumped—with too much emotion or lack of his touch, she had no idea. But she did know that she couldn’t keep doing this. She had to either let Bradley go for good and recommit herself to making things work with Danny, or she needed to cut her losses with Danny and give Bradley a fair chance.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Carissa stood where Bradley had left her, dazed and confused and unsure what she was supposed to do now. She’d known asking Bradley to stay with her last night was a mistake, and she’d been right. With a heavy sigh, she rubbed her hands over her face. Conflicting emotions were a tornado in her gut, wreaking havoc on her.
Her feelings for Danny were waning by the day, and she questioned if she truly loved him anymore. Had she ever? Or had she been swept up in the excitement and passion of a new relationship? She didn’t know, but she was certain of one thing: her and Danny didn’t value the same things, and that made having a relationship difficult.
She couldn’t deny she liked Bradley, but what if she ended up trading one bad relationship for another? Sure, he was great right now. Kind, caring, compassionate, funny… Danny had been all of those things in the beginning, too. What would prevent Bradley from changing in a few months? What if this initial attraction was only surface level?
