Page 21 of Embraced in Ink

He had always been all in with his relationships, they just hadn’t worked out.

While he liked being alone, he didn’t like being lonely. There was a difference, and not everybody understood. Bristol always did. Even when she was bossing him around, she still gave him his space.

Not even his sisters did that.

Some of his girlfriends had liked Bristol, had enjoyed being near her, and had ended up being her friend, as well. The only time Bristol had ever judged one of his girlfriends was the one who had only been with him so she could move in. She hadn’t wanted to pay rent at her apartment, so she’d figured that she could simply move in and mooch off him. Oh, he had seen beneath the layers of whatever the hell he’d had with her, but Bristol had been the one to lay into him about it.

He hadn’t wanted to be lonely, and hehadliked that woman. In the end, it hadn’t worked out. And not because they hadn’t liked each other, and not because Bristol hadn’t liked her.

He changed chords and started to hum a bit, wondering what he was going to do.

He wasn’t going to lazily move into a relationship with Bristol. He also wasn’t going to hurt his mother by continually lying. Because it wouldn’t be a lie if they kept with it. And if he went in, he’d have to goallin. There would be no going back. No tiptoeing around and hurting one another because they were too scared.

After all, he had gone all in with their promise ten years ago. He wouldn’t force himself into something that would hurt them both.

Maybe this could work. Perhaps they could have something. Maybe they could be each other’s someone.

He loved Bristol. He loved everything about her, even the things that got on his nerves. Because it was her. She was the light of his life, something that he had told his family before, even though his sisters had given him weird looks as his mother beamed.

When his mom had been ill, so sick that he’d thought he’d never see her again, and he had broken down, it had been Bristol he went to. Bristol who held him up.

And when Liam had dealt with his family issues, Bristol had come to him for help. And when Ethan had been hurt, she had come to him then, as well. They were always there for each other, so maybe they could love each other the way others thought they already did.

He didn’t know if they could. He’d always told himself that would be stupid. To cross that line would be something they could never come back from. And what would happen if he let himself question that line and let himself feel the temptation he had always buried deep down?

In the end, he didn’t know.

What if she deserved better?

What ifhedid?

Or, what if they were exactly what they each deserved?

He didn’t know the answers, but as he continued to play, and kept thinking of her, he knew that he didn’t want to go back to the way things were before. Sure, that had meant something, and even if he wasn’t worried about his mother, something was eating at him. Saying that this could be an excuse.

So, he would go all in.

Even if he had no idea exactly what that meant.

Chapter 5

“Oh my God. How is it that I have to hear from your brother that you’re engaged?”

Bristol closed her eyes and knew precisely which brother she would have to castrate later.

Of course, it would be Aaron. Oh, her older brothers might pretend that they were all up in her business and like to annoy her. However, this was all Aaron. The one she was closest to in age. Her baby brother. He was always the one meddling in her life. And he also happened to be Zia’s friend.

The bastard.

“Hey there, Zia.”

“Don’they thereme. You got engaged to Marcus.YourMarcus. And you didn’t even bother to call? To text? To send a pigeon across the pond?”

“I’ve been a little busy,” Bristol said, wincing. She was very thankful that Zia hadn’t used video chat, she didn’t want to be face-to-face for this. Although her ex-girlfriend—and now friend—was gorgeous, and Bristol didn’t mind looking at her, Zia would be able to see every emotion on her face. The fact that Bristol had no idea what she was feeling meant that Zia would know it before she did, and Bristol didn’t really want to deal with the ramifications of that particular cascade effect.

“I’m so excited for you! It’s about time you married the love of your life. Oh, and I’m totally doing your makeup.”

“What?”