Bring Me Home Read Free Page A

cousin?”
    His hands moved up to squeeze her shoulders. “I didn’t screw her, Mi.”
    â€œSure.”
    He traced his fingers down her arms, kneading at the muscles bunched with tension. Warm tingles followed every inch of skin he touched. “She came to me after the party that night. I didn’t even know she was in the room until I woke up. I thought it was you.”
    â€œIs that supposed to help?” Panic gripped her. She shouldn’t be responding. Shouldn’t fucking care what he had to say. It would be so much easier to walk away in that moment than to relive the memories. Color her a glutton… “I mean, really? You thought she was me? She might be my relative, but there must have been some distinguishing differences you could have noticed.”
    â€œI did.” He nodded, his gaze intent. “Maybe too late to stop all of this from happening, but I did. She was already naked, touching me—and when I realized it wasn’t you, I was furious.”
    â€œEnough to finish what she’d started and then promise not to tell me?” She couldn’t help wanting to hurt him. She’d been heartbroken, angry—relieved? No. That couldn’t be right.
    His grip on her arms tightened, the line of his jaw tensing. “ Nothing was finished that night. I kicked her out once I realized what she was up to. I promised not to tell you what she ’ d tried to do. Her reputation was bad enough, but adding that stupid move would have killed her mother. Hell, her dad had threatened to send her away, and things were so bad in your family already, I thought it would be better—”
    â€œWhat?” she interrupted. “Better to lie to me?”
    God, she wished he didn’t sound so sincere. Wished he wasn’t saying all the things she’d thought he might say, over the years, when her pride had been too bruised to let her come crawling back home. She wished more that his touch didn’t affect her as much as it did. She’d spent a lot of time trying to hate this man, and he was breaking down her reasons without much effort. Evidently, New York hadn’t hardened her the way she’d hoped. “If that’s all true, why didn’t you just tell me?”
    â€œMiya,” he breathed. The warmth of his hand soaked into her skin as he cupped her cheek. “You always stuck up for her, always rooted for her and believed in her when no one else would. I knew it would destroy you to find out she’d tried to do this to you. I made a bad decision when I chose not to tell you what she’d done. At the time, I thought it was the best way to handle it all.”
    â€œSo you did it for me?” Nausea rolled through her stomach. He had no idea what his stupid decision had cost them, and the old anger sparked deep in her heart. “You didn’t think I’d be hurt more believing you’d fooled around with her?”
    â€œThe way you say it makes it sound stupid.” His eyes narrowed. “I did it for us. For your family. I thought I could keep it a secret.”
    Miya stared at him. Did it matter now? Four years was a lifetime when your life ended and began again in one night. She’d picked up the pieces alone. There was no way she would let his reasoning scatter them around again. “It doesn’t make any difference now anyway.”
    â€œIt does to me.”
    â€œYour feelings stopped being my concern four years ago.” Damn, this was hard. If the feelings she’d buried long ago would stay where they belonged, it would be much easier to walk away. “I’ve moved on, Shawn.”
    â€œSo did I, at least for everyone else to see.” He let out a slow, measured breath. “But I couldn’t. I can’t. Not knowing that the moment I saw you again, everything I ever wanted had walked back into my life.”
    Tears welled in her eyes. How many nights had she wished to hear him say