Breathless (Steel Brothers Saga 10)

He nodded, trotting along at her side.

I drew in a breath, trying to will my cock back to normal size but having no luck. As much as I wanted Donny to sleep peacefully, I was slightly thankful for the interruption. I could fix this mistake I’d been about to make.

As if she’d read my mind, she looked over her well-kissed shoulder, arching her eyebrows. “Make yourself at home. Don’t even think about leaving.”

I sat back down on the couch with a thud. “Now what?”

Leave. You should leave.

Absolutely.

Somehow, though, I stayed glued to the couch.

My head spun a little, though not from the drinks I’d had earlier. They’d long worn off.

No. This was Marjorie Steel’s doing.

The woman made me crazy. I didn’t know up from down when I was with her. And damned if I didn’t enjoy it.

She’s your best friend’s sister.

She’s thirteen years younger than you are.

You remember when she was born.

Pink and yellow unicorns.

You’re a mess, Bryce Simpson.

You have no business getting involved with anyone, especially not Marjorie Steel.

She means something to you.

Don’t hurt her.

Over and over, I played through the myriad reasons Marj and I could never happen. Every single one, and I even invented a few for good measure.

And still I remained glued to the damned couch.

I sighed. Fact was, I wasn’t leaving.

I didn’t want to leave.

“Damn the consequences and damn the fallout,” I said aloud.

I rose and walked up the stairs and into the kitchen where I poured myself a glass of water and downed it. Then I stood, leaning against the granite countertop on the island.

I am not my father.

A mantra I’d repeated since I’d discovered who he truly was.

All the men, women, and children he’d abused…and Tom Simpson had never once laid a hand on me—his only child. He hadn’t abused my mother either, as far as I knew. I felt certain she’d have told me by now if he had.

In a warped way, I’d come out of this smelling like a rose. I was truly lucky.

I felt anything but.

I was determined not to lose myself to self-pity. I had no reason to pity myself. I’d been through nothing. Nothing. Talon Steel had been through everything. That little boy Marj was currently comforting had been through everything.