His brows knit in confusion as he kneeled in front of me. “How sober are you?” he asked bizarrely as he sat down next to me. Great, apparently we were going to have a heart-to-heart in the bathroom.
I narrowed my eyes. “Pretty sober now, but not ready for a romp in bed if that’s what you’re asking.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “No, baby, that’s not what I’m going for at the moment.”
I cocked my head to the side, not at all clear as to what he was getting at.
His face got serious as he regarded me. “Granted, I have my faults, a lot of them. And I could have done a lot of things better with you. You were right before when you said we have something precious and we need to protect it, but, did it ever occur to you that you should have let me see all this shit before? I know I was closed off, but you responded by locking yourself down so tight, I only knew a piece of you,” he explained gently.
You could have heard a pin drop as I took in his words.
Shit, he was right. He wassoright.
“I would have held your hair back then, babe. I would have backed you with your family. I want to know the real you, not just the one you want me to see,” he stated.
“You do?” I squeaked.
“I do,” he replied, his eyes intent and warm on mine. “We both fucked things up before, and I’m sorry I got so pissed this afternoon. I don’t want to keep reliving the same mistakes. I want to move forward. Can we try to do that?”
“If you promise to stop running out on me,” I said quietly, meeting his eyes with quiet determination.
He nodded. “I promise,” he agreed. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling, pondering his next thought. “Maybe it will come with time, but you’ve got to let me in. You can’t be embarrassed about revealing yourself to me; it’s the only way we’ll ever make it. I’m going to do the same. It won’t be easy, but we can do it together,” he said, reaching out and grasping my hand.
I believed him.
“I’ll try, I promise,” I agreed quietly. “I’m just not good with letting people in. I hadn’t even realized I’d been keeping you out until you mentioned it.”
“Well, now that I know more about you I can understand that,” he replied softly, reaching out to move my hair behind my ear. “And I can try to help you with it. We can help each other,” his soft voice sounded, washing over me like a caress. “Let’s get you up and into bed.”
I cocked my head to the side regarding him. “How come you’re not pissed at me?”
“I was,” he admitted. “But then you started barfing all over the place and I figured you’d been punished enough.”
I cringed at the mention of me barfing in front of him.
“But, babe, you pull that shit again and I will tan your hide. I swear to God,” he swore.
“Fine,” I grumbled.
“Bed,” he ordered, standing up and offering me his hand.
I nodded, more than ready to get out of the bathroom, after I’d brushed my teeth anyway.
“Let’s talk about Ryan,” Sal ordered when I walked into his bedroom. He was in bed, lying on his back shirtless, and eyeing me intently. Clearly, Cole had already relayed some sort of message. I couldn’t say I was surprised.
“Let’s not talk about Ryan,” I pleaded, feeling tired as I crawled into bed with him.
“He put his hands on you. Let’s. Talk. About.Ryan,” he replied, emphasizing his last words with quiet intensity. He wasn’t going to let this go.
I shrugged. “I’m sure it was nothing. He was just drunk, Sal. No big deal.”
“It happens again, you tell me,” he ordered.
It was unlikely that I would do that. I figured Ryan liked his face the way it was.
“Kat,” Sal said in warning as though reading my mind.
I sighed in resignation. “Fine, but only if you promise not to get all crazy about it.” I knew this was wishful thinking.