Page 67 of Bad Boys After Dark - Brett
He wanted to take that lifeline and run with it, but he knew better. He needed to be sure she fully understood where his head had been.
“I knowingly did things that would make my father angry, and that’s shameful.”
“That’s a hurting child,” Sophie insisted. “I’m sure your parents knew that.”
He shook his head. “Do you understand the ramifications of what I did? My mother lost her forever-kiss guy because I couldn’t keep my shit together long enough for him to get through his own grief. She’s alone now, Soph, because of me.”
Sophie studied his face, and he wondered what she saw. The new pain slicing through him as he bared his soul? Or the relief he was ashamed to feel, because revealing that secret felt like he’d released a hundred ghosts from the cavern of his chest?
“People get second chances, Brett. You asked if broken marriages meant the couple was out of luck.” She shook her head. “There are more opportunities to find love and even to fall back in love with an old partner. If your mom is still alone, maybe she wants to be. Or maybe she’s waiting for your father to become the man he once was, or some rendition of that person. What I’m saying is, you’re carrying an awful big burden that you picked up as a kid. I wonder if you’ve added to it over the years as you became stronger and felt you could carry more weight?”
He folded his arms around her and touched his forehead to hers. His rational mind knew he’d only been a grieving kid, but the guilt he’d harbored had magnified. He’d kept that secret for so long, he expected others to feel the weight and shame of what he’d done, too. He’d feared that confessing would unleash demons he’d always believed could drag him so far under he’d never resurface. But just as Sophie calmed him, she made everything seem clearer.
“I don’t know. Maybe. It feels good telling you, and that makes me feel guilty, because you don’t need to be brought down.”
“You’re not bringing me down. You’re letting me in. Now I understand more about who you are, how deeply you hurt, and how intensely you love.”
“Sophie…” He was at a loss for words. He never realized how good it would feel to finally have someone to talk to about this.
“It’s not surprising that you didn’t want to get close to anyone for all this time.” She placed her hand on his cheek, drawing those feelings right out.
“And now I can’t get close enough to you.”
Chapter Fourteen
SOPHIE AWOKE TO the sound of voices outside her bedroom door. Brett’s arm was wrapped tightly around her as he slept. She wondered if he was having a bad dream or was afraid she might run away. The thought made her smile. Like she’d ever run away from him? When they’d come to bed last night they’d made slow, sweet love, and then they’d made wild, frenzied love, and she knew they’d crossed another bridge and taken their relationship to another level.
Her bedroom door flew open, and Brett bolted upright, putting his arm out in front of her like a barricade.
“Rise and shine!” Nana said as she burst into the room and threw the curtains open.
Brett turned his face away from the bright light.
Sophie’s mother was on Nana’s heels. She closed the curtains and said, “Sorry, baby girl! Nana! We talked about this!”
Brett’s arm dropped, and he flopped onto his back with a groan, pulling Sophie against him, and whispered, “Thank you for making me sleep in my underwear.”
“I told you. Personal space does not exist in this house.” Nana and Poppi lived only down the road, but she wondered how long they’d been waiting for them to wake up.
Nana opened the curtains again. “Wake up now, kids. The day is waiting.”
Lindsay leaned against the doorframe in her pajamas, her blond hair a tangled mess. She didn’t live far from their parents, but when Sophie was in town, she always stayed over. She covered a yawn and said, “Welcome home, sis.”
“Nana, we’re tired. We got in late last night,” Sophie pleaded as she glanced at the clock. Holy cow, it was already nine? Brett usually woke up at the crack of dawn. Had their talk helped ease his conscience so he slept better? Or had they simply worn each other out?
