Really? “Seems like longer.”
Bruce grunted in response, so Laddin elaborated.
“It seems like you’ve saved my life twice, been given an impossible task, and spent the whole time trying to do right by your brother.”
Bruce pushed back and ran a hand through his hair. “What do you want from me, Laddin?”
Laddin straightened his shirt and moved away from the wall. He knew Bruce wouldn’t accept any touch right then, but that didn’t stop him from holding out his hand. And when he spoke, he thought about his words and prayed they were the right ones. “I don’t want anythingfromyou. I want to help you.”
“I don’t know how to save the world.”
“I know.”
“I just wanted a break, you know? I just wanted….”
“Okay.”
Bruce stilled; then he turned back to Laddin. “What?”
“I said okay. We can fuck.”
“Don’t do me any favors or anything.” Bruce’s tone was angry.
Laddin gave him a lopsided smile. “I’ve had a hard-on for you since the moment we met.” Then his gaze slid to the floor. “I just wanted you to want me.” He lifted his gaze again as he struggled for the words. “I mean, you saved everyone. You’re a superhero that way. I wanted to be more than some random guy in the crowd.”
Bruce stared at him, his expression torn between tender and horrified. “You did not just call me a superhero.”
“I’m pretty sure I did.”
Bruce fell back against the dresser. “I thought you—out of everyone—were paying attention.”
“I was. What did I miss?”
“That I’m a monster who beat the crap out of my little brother. A lot. That I’ve fucked tons of women I didn’t respect and couldn’t care less about. That I ate fairy fruit so that I could get powerful. Don’t you get it, Laddin? I’m the monster, not Josh. My father guessed wrong. It wasn’t ever Josh. It was me the whole fucking time. I’m the monster.”
He really believed that. After everything he did to help people, he still thought of himself as a monster. “That’s a whole lot of guilt you’re carrying around. I can’t remember ever meeting a more remorseful monster in my life. And in the few weeks I’ve been with Wulf, Inc., I’ve met a few.”
Bruce lifted his chin and shot Laddin a glare. “Saying sorry doesn’t excuse what I did. Ask Josh.”
“I don’t care about what you did, Bruce. I care about who you are now. And nothing I’ve seen says you’re a monster.”
Bruce didn’t say a word. He stayed hunched against the dresser with his gaze on the floor, the picture of misery. He hated himself at a really deep level. He despised who he’d been as a kid, felt like he could never make up for his mistakes, and flat-out believed the bullshit his father had spewed for years.
“I’d really like to beat the crap out your father,” Laddin muttered.
“I’ve thought that a thousand times.”
“Then why haven’t you? You’re bigger than him, even without the werewolf or fairy stuff. You could probably put him on the ground by the time you were eighteen.”
“Sixteen.”
“So why didn’t you?”
“Because it would kill my mother. Because he was paying for Josh’s education, and I didn’t want Ivy to come home from war and find a broken family.”
“Because you made sure everyone got out without destroying your mother or committing murder.”
Bruce shrugged. “My dad had his good moments too. He came to my games, he protected Ivy from asshole boyfriends. I think he really loves my mother. It was just with Josh that he was crazy.”
