Page 57 (1/1)
To her surprise, he nodded, still very serious "Yes Yes, you did" He lifted one of her hands to his ood way As fast as this happened, I already can’t iine my life without you I just wish I couldlike I love kissing you was another ive Serenity was the only tiht And it was only because I panicked"
Regina peered at hi a deep breath, he suddenly looked very deterina,I wanted to share with anyone It wasn’t pretty" His jaent taut as she’d seen it before when his expressions would go so icy all of a sudden, so she squeezed his hand "My father was abusive, mostly to my mom but also with me sometimes if I ever tried to defend her, which happened o older Then, the only tiet close to anyone and open up even just a little bit ith the girl I told you about" He shook his head "It’s a long story, babe"
"You said she wasn’t a girlfriend"
"She wasn’t, and she’s not the whole reason for my fear of attachments"
Fear? He’d called it a rule Never once had he irl was part of the reason? Sing back her sudden anxiety, Regina reo Obviously, he’d seen the unease on her face because he reached for her other hand
"It’s coina, not the part about her but--"
"Then tell irlfriend but it’s a long story I’m curious now"
Brandon’s head fell back for a an He went all the way back to when he was a kid Her narown up down the street fro brothers No one dared mess with her unless they had a death wish
"I lived in that house in the neighborhood," he said then took a bitter drink of his tea "You know the one There’s one in every neighborhood--the one where the cops have to be called out at least once a week because of some domestic disturbance My family was the only trouble in the otherwise peaceful upscale neighborhood I was known as a loner and a loser, and, yeah, when I was a lot younger,called a loser or looked down on was to act out So I pissed her brothers off a lot Even got my ass kicked a few times, so, of course, there was no way I was allowed anywhere near her where her brothers were concerned"
Regina listened intently as he fast forwarded to his senior year in high school Sofie was all grown up and really turning heads, including Brandon’s He said he really thought he’d made a connection with her because she was in his Geoether Sofie had told him she’d come to realize over the years he was misunderstood, not bad like everyone otten pretty close" He shrugged "Closer than I’d ever been to anyone instory short is during a leave when I carown up and in a relationship But that didn’t stop us froun talking, he broke their eye contact, looking down at his glass "I kissed her, and not only did she let me but she kissed me back Up until then, it was the only tiht she felt it too" Finally, he looked up andEnd of story"
"What do you ? Did she tell you or you just assu more than a curiosity to her, a chance to be with the forbidden bad boy, to kiss souy she’d ever kissed--her boyfriend But she called it a irl like her evernot to sound as bitchy as thinking about this girl made her feel "She let you kiss her when she had a boyfriend"
"Yeah, well, like I said, she took it back real fast and sentto do with me after that Of course, when her brothers found out about our moe of their innocent little sister One of them even made it a point to come down to my place and warn ain So that was that" He squeezed her hand but sat back when the waitress arrived with their desserts
Regina had just about lost her appetite Brandon thanked the waitress and motioned for her to eat as the waitress walked away
"She’s not the reason I swore off attach I ever had to one I’d been so far off the ood at them My dad was cold and heartless with no desire to connect with anyone It wasn’t a surprise I didn’t even cry at his funeral, but then when my mom was killed less than teeks later, I went co I never cried I didn’t take tiood-bye No services, no nothing Just took her ashes and dumped them out in the lake the e discussed at my father’s funeral just weeks earlier She didn’t want services, but as her only son, I should’ve given her a proper good-bye That’s when I became convinced that I’d turned into h the hell he put h"