Page 50 of Breaking Bristol
“Even if you think that… I need someone who will be honest with me, and you let me go through weeks of torture not knowing how to tell you. You just sat by and let me believe you had no clue.” He clenched his jaw. “Just like Lauren, you played me for a fool.”
“Okay, no. You’re not gonna deflect like that.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Shit. You’re right. I’m sorry,” he said immediately. “I know you’re not her.”
I hesitated because I didn’t think he would apologize at all, let alone that easily. “I was waiting for you to be comfortable to talk to me about it. I didn’t want to push you and—”
He slashed his hand through the air. “God, Bristol, that’s such bullshit, and you know it. I’m not one of your patients. I was the man in your bed.”
“Exactly,” I retorted. “The man I let there, who I wanted there.”
“You wanted me so much you couldn’t even look at me last night.”
“That had nothing to do with you.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Enlighten me, then.”
“Don’t be a dick, Matthew.”
“I’m not trying to be.” He lowered his voice. “It’s not you, it’s me. Shit, that sounds cliché, but it’s the truth. You’re the first woman I’ve been with since Lauren, and everything between us happened so fast I didn’t give myself time.”
“So do you need more time?”
He jerked his head. “I don’t know. I just know that you’re everything I’ve ever wanted and I need to be that for you.”
“If I told you that you were, would you believe me?”
Our eyes were locked on one another’s and I knew the answer without him having to say a word, but he gave them to me regardless. “No. And I might regret this, but if I went on pretending I did, I’d be a liar. So as cowardly as it makes me feel, at least I’m being honest when I say that yeah, Bristol, I need some time.”
“I understand,” I said thickly.
“If you don’t, I—”
“It’s the opposite of cowardly, Matthew. I’m lucky that you care enough about me to want to give me the best version of you, so whenever you’re ready, I’ll be here.”
He rolled his lips and then palmed the back of his neck. I waited until he moved, and when he reached me, he cupped my jaw as his eyes roved over my face. “You’ll be here?”
I didn’t need to respond vocally because the sincerity, the stark relief in his voice had a tear rolling down my face. He watched it fall but didn’t wipe it away. Then his lips were on my forehead, and he kept them there for long seconds before he lowered them to my ear and whispered, “Thank you.”
CHAPTER 14
Bristol
My work line rang, and I answered it. “Hello?” I heard some commotion, like I’d been butt-dialed, so after a few more moments of no response, I just hung up. Then it rang again, but I didn’t answer it. When it stopped, I waited to see the voicemail light illuminate, but that didn’t happen.
Don’t overreact. It was probably a wrong number.
“Do you have a minute?” Reese asked, sticking her head into my office.
I jerked in my seat, and my hand flew to my chest. “You scared me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I pressed send on the email I’d been working on. “I do have some time. What’s up?”
“Is it okay if I close the door?” she asked.
“Of course. Is everything all right?”