Her chest clenched tighter. His kind words were causing havoc inside of her mind and her heart. “Oh, Brad. Why did this have to happen? Why are things so complicated?”
“Breanna, tell me why you’re here tonight. Why aren’t you home with Tom?”
She sucked in a quick breath. Dare she tell him? She didn’t want him thinking she was on the rebound, mainly because she wondered that herself.
She licked her suddenly dry lips. “I felt I needed to be with a friend tonight.”
He arched an eyebrow. “You don’t have any girlfriends? What about Amanda?”
She shook her head. “Okay, I’ll rephrase that. I needed to be withyoutonight.”
“Why?”
“Because I needed to talk to you, to hear your comforting voice telling me I’m not stupid... telling me I did the right thing by changing my appearance.”
His gaze narrowed on her. “What happened? Did Tom yell at you or something?”
Tears burned in her eyes, so she quickly blinked them away, but Brad must have seen. He cupped her face again. Tenderness was written all over his expression. Why was he being so sweet? She didn’t deserve it.
“He came over after work and saw me for the first time since the change.” She choked on a sob, trying to control it.
“What happened? Did he... hit you?”
“No.” She swallowed hard. “But he yelled at me, and he called me some unforgivable names. Oh, Brad,” her voice broke, “you were right. He had been controlling me this whole time. He didn’t like the way I looked because he didn’t want other men to look at me.”
“Did you tell him about me?”
“No.”
He was silent as he gazed into her eyes. She wished she knew his thoughts. But his tender expression told her he wasn’t upset. He genuinely cared about her. That was a first, since Tom had never done that.
“Tell me something, Breanna.”
“Brad,” she quickly cut him off. “Why are you calling me Breanna?”
He gave her a half smile. “Sorry. I just didn’t know if you wanted my form of endearment since you want to be only friends.”
“I do enjoy the way you say my name.”
He winked. “So Tyger, tell me something.”
“What?”
“Do you love Tom?”
Breanna clenched her teeth. That was a hard question, and she really didn’t know how to answer. She and Tom had been together for a few years. During those years, they argued a lot. Of course, she always gave in because she was frightened of his temper. She’d told everyone she loved him. She even told herself that. But did her heart truly love him? Or had she only loved the idea of having a boyfriend?
“I... I don’t know, Brad. That’s not something I can answer right away. Please forgive me.”
He touched his finger to her lips. “There’s nothing to forgive. I should’ve realized you’d still hold some kind of feeling for him.”
She nodded.
“But, are you two still together or did you break up?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t say the words. All I did was order him to get out of my apartment.”
His eyes widened. “That’s a good start. I’m proud of you.”
