In the time that I’ve spent with Brookes, I can’t recall him ever being this angry.
He’s practically vibrating. His cheeks are ruddy, hands trembling, his chest heaves with the racking breaths he’s trying to contain. He’s furious. I’d almost be scared if I didn’t know with absolute certainty that he’d never lay a finger on me.
“Poppy?” he presses, ducking lower to get into my line of sight, forcing my eyes to his.
I swallow hard, trepidation swirling heavy in my chest because I know that what I’m about to tell Brookes has the potential to ruin everything. Maybe even his life. Or at least what he’s spent the last year working so hard on. Licking my lips, I consider my words, thinking back to the night at Brookes’ house.
“The other night, when we got back to your house from the Pro-Am,” I begin, checking he’s following along. When he nods, I continue, “I-I went to take a shower. But then I remembered I had a heap of clothes in the dryer, so I went to the laundry room to get them, and as I was walking out, I… ran into Blake. Well, he ran into me, really… we ran into each other.” I shake my head, knowing who ran into whom isn’t important.
Brookes closes his eyes for a few seconds, nodding once.
“He seemed… angry.” I shrug. “I said sorry, but when I went to walk around him, he stopped me, grabbed my arm, and?—”
“Hetouchedyou?” Brooke practically barks, his brutal tone startling me.
“He didn’t hurt me,” I quickly reassure him, placing my hand over his chest to placate some of his anger. His heart hammers beneath my palm. “I promise. He just… he grabbed my arm to stop me.”
Brookes’ throat bobs with a hard swallow, and he closes his eyes again, steeling himself before nodding once. “What did he say?” he grits out, his voice gruff, threatening.
I look down at my hands then, avoiding his eyes, taking a moment, a stammered breath shuddering through me.
“Poppy?” Brookes cups my jaw again, stroking my cheek with the pad of his thumb, and when I look up and meet his eyes, he softens a touch. “It’s okay, I promise.Iam okay.”
“He told me that he,andCam, thought I was getting too close to you,” I say quietly. “That I was… lettingyouget too close tome. And then he reminded me that… that I’m being paid to do a job. Like a—” My stomach roils at the moment. “Like a hooker, nothing more.”
Brookes’ eyes flare with another flash of anger but he says nothing, his jaw clenched so tight together I’m worried for his teeth.
“Then he told me that, I-I can’t allow the lines to be blurred. That it’s my responsibility to keep it strictly professional,” I continue, sighing hard. “That you’re an addict, and the last thing you need is me making a mess of your life and risk relapsing.” Emotion gets the better of me, and I swallow back a sob. “The last thing I want is to make your life harder than it’s already been.”
Brookes opens his mouth to say something, but I hold my trembling hand up in the air, stopping him.
“Blake told me that if I didn’t stick to my end of thebargain… that he would make sure the whole world would find out about my dad and why he’s in prison. And I just… I can’t go through it all again. It almost killed me the first time. I won’t survive it a second time.” I shake my head, fresh tears sliding down my cheeks. “I-I’m so sorry Brookes, I… I didn’t know what to do.”
“Fuck, baby, come here.” Brookes wraps his arms around me, crushing me against him, holding me so tight it’s almost impossible to breathe but in the most comforting way.
Burying my face into Brookes’ chest, I cry harder than I’ve cried in a long time, holding onto him so tight, scared to let him go.
“I need you to listen to me right now, Poppy,” Brookes says after a moment, pulling back enough to look at me, cupping my face again. “I meant what I said last night.” His startlingly blue gaze cuts through the darkness, meeting mine with nothing but raw, unabashed honesty. “I fucking love you.”
I sniff back more tears.
“I do,” he continues. “And I knew I did the moment I saw you lying there on the floor in our hotel back in Tulsa, in pain, when it felt like someone had reached into my chest and ripped out my goddamn heart. I knew at that moment, despite it being way too soon, that I loved you, and that no matter what, I would do anything—anything—in my power to protect you, to keep you safe.”
More tears hit my cheeks at his words and the unfiltered honesty as he says them.
“I’ve never loved anyone before, but I know without a doubt that I love you.” He steadies me with a look of promise. “I need you to trust me. Do you trust me?”
I nod.
“I need your yes, baby.”
“Yes,” I manage through a sob.
Brookes closes his eyes at that, releasing a breath and, when he opens them, there’s this unexpected clarity in his gaze. “I’mnever gonna let anyone hurt you. Never again, Poppy. I fucking swear to you.”
“But what about?—”
“No.” He cuts me off, shaking his head. “Neveragain.”
