My arms wrap tightly around him, “you made me cry ass-hat.”
“Good tears I hope.” His voice is strong, and even if I wasn’t looking at him I could tell you that he’s got a smirk on his face.
thirty-five
LUCAS
I stare at Claire and Davis from across the bar, she’s leaning against him, her back is against his chest, his arms are wrapped around her waist, she laughs at something he says.
I hate how comfortable she is with him.Ishould be the one wrapping my hands around her waist and holding her close.Ishould be the one making her smile and laugh, not him, not any of them.
August watches Claire, closer than he ever has before, waiting for the moment she snaps and tells us she takes back her forgiveness.
I can’t lie, I’m waiting for that too.
She’s too perfect for this world, too perfect for any of us to have her in our lives. The rest of us are broken, and break perfect little things because they scare us… or maybe that’s just me. Claire scares me, the way she makes me feel scares me. I’ve never felt like this towards anyone, and while I’m terrified, I’m also excited to see what could happen.
She’ll bring me to new worlds.
I want to know if she read my letter, what she thought… if she’s ready to forgive me and give me a chance to win her heart. All I want is to have her, even if it took me too long to realize it.
Why the fuck did it take me so long to realize how I felt about her?
I tried to hate her for so long, I thought I did hate her, but she nudged her way into my heart and stayed put until I was finally honest with myself.
Whether she’s mine in the way I want or not, I’m going to take care of her, I’m going to make sure she’s happy.
I don’t think there’s anything Iwouldn’tdo for her. I mean, she could tell me to run my car into a lamp post, and with the right look… I would. I’m not the only one who feels that way either, all of us would do whatever she wants.
Miller just likes seeing people happy, and he’s grown attached to her. He’s gotten used to her soft voice and how gentle she is with him.
August instantly became one of her closest friends, he understands her in a way I don’t. She opened up to him and as much as that bothers me now, I’m happy they have each other.
Davis thought she was the hottest thing to walk the planet when he first met her, he still does, but he’s become protective of her in a way I don’t think any of us will ever understand.
Blair loves her, he loves that she challenges me and forces me to be myself, he loves that she keeps up with our crap and puts us in our places when we deserve it. He thinks she brings a perfect balance to the house… and he’s right.
Steph is her best friend, the one she’s closest to out of anyone, the one person who knows every single one of her deepest darkest secrets. She’s already made it clear that Claire comes before all else, her love is rooted deep.
Tony is like her dad, they love each other in a way only family can. He watched her grow up. We all see how proud he is of her, and how excited he gets when he talks about her accomplishments, there is no question in my mind about whether or not he’d do anything for her.
Our worlds revolve around her, she’s the centre of our universe, she’s everything.
I lock eyes with August, and something passes between the two of us.
She hides it well, but I can see it… I can see her.
She’ll close her eyes for a brief moment when something hurts her, then laugh it off to convince herself that she’s fine. She’s trained herself well, she can lie in a split second, she can hide everything she’s feeling, except for when she can’t. There’s always this brief moment, between her hurting and covering it up, where everything shows.
If you watch someone close enough you can start to understand everything about them.
I may not have seen it before, been able to put the pieces together as to why she’s like this… but I sure as hell spent enough time watching her to see bits and pieces of who she is.
She’s strong, she holds on for others, she absorbs everything around her.
She’s resilient.
“There’s still something bothering her you know” He says, slamming back a shot before waving over the bartender for another.
