I nod to the door with my head, telling him he should go.
“Yeah, that’s not happening.” He takes another bite of his burger before noticing I haven’t touched mine. “Eat. I’ll help you with whatever you need afterwards.” I look at the burger,then back at Banner and sigh. Why do I even bother with the stubborn asshole?
We sit and eat in silence. Banner never takes his eyes off me the whole time, unnerving me with his intensity.
I manage to eat most of it, but with my stomach churning, I don’t want to push my luck. I slide the plate away. I stand and grab two Cokes from the fridge, hoping he’ll leave when he has finished eating, but also hoping he’ll stay.
I hand him his drink before I start cleaning up. It isn’t until I realize how quiet it is that I turn back around and notice he’s wandered off.
I hurry to the living room, coming to a stop in the doorway, when I find him staring down at the photos I have spread out on the coffee table. I brace myself for what’s to come. It’s too late to hide them now. He doesn’t move for the longest time as his eyes rove over the photos that tell the story of mine and Alec’s ill-fated relationship. Banner’s eyes move over them again and again, burning them into his memory before he stops on one and frowns.
Bending down, he picks it up and looks at it closer. I don’t need to see the photo to know which picture because his whole body goes rock solid before rocking backward as if he’s been punched.
I take a step back, remembering the last time he lost his temper. I don’t get far. Instead, his arms band around my waist, stopping me from going any farther. He isn’t hurting me. I can tell he is trying to be gentle. I don’t fight him—I just stop and wait.
He turns me to face him before looking deep into my eyes. He takes the hem of my T-shirt and pulls it up over my head, tossing it on the sofa beside him. He looks at my arms before looking down at the photo in his hand.
“Alec marked you?”
I don’t answer. I don’t know how to, but my silence speaks volumes.
“More than once?” Again, I don’t answer, but I know he can read the truth in my eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I glare at him. Is he kidding me? He left. When the fuck would I have told him?
“This is all so fucked-up. I don’t even know what to do with this.” He stares off into space for a minute before turning back to me. “For the longest time, I was so mad at you.”
I swallow, feeling his pain as if it were my own.
“You shouldn’t have been driving out in the storm. There were weather warnings all over the place telling people to stay inside. My parents said you’d been arguing and that you took off. And that Alec was worried about you, so he jumped into the passenger seat, yelling for you to stop. If you hadn’t been out in the storm, you wouldn’t have lost control of the car. If you hadn’t been drinking, your reactions would have been faster, and Alec might still be alive. So many shoulda, woulda, coulda moments.”
His words hit me harder than any fist ever has. He trails his rough fingers over the purple blotches on my arm, his gentle actions making my heart ache.
“But he hurt you and, suddenly, nothing makes sense anymore. Because if he’d lived, I’d have killed him myself,” he snarls.
He lets go of my arm and cups my face with both of his hands. “I didn’t know, I swear, or I would have stopped him. I would have done something. I?—”
I shake my head at him sadly. Nobody knew. And looking back, if I had spoken up, I’m not sure anyone would have believed me.
“I’m sorry, Sorrow. I…Christ, this is a fucked-up mess.” He steps back from me, and straight away I feel the cold.
“I’m just gonna go. I need a minute to process it all.” He gave me just that earlier, and now it’s my turn to return the favor. I nod, rubbing my hands up my chilled arms.
He turns and walks away without another word. I hear him open and close the door behind him, but I don’t make any effort to move from my spot. A part of me is glad he’s gone. Just like him, I have a swirling mass of shit inside my head to deal with. But the bigger part of me, the lonely part, wanted him, just for once, to stay.
I jump when there’s a knock at the door moments later and rush over to open it. I swing it wide and there he is, standing on my doorstep looking like every bad boy fantasy I’ve ever had. Something in me breaks wide open.
“You came back,” I choke out, stunning us both.
“Baby, I never left.”
Chapter Twenty
BANNER
I’m on her the second the words are out. I pick her up and slam my mouth on hers as she wraps her legs around my waist. I cup her ass and walk her inside, kicking the door closed behind us.
I spin her around and press her against the wall. Every nerve in my body is electrified as I finally get to what I’ve been dreaming of for years.
