“Bryce, what are you talking about?” Liza sidles up to his side, staring straight into the screen.
“What have you done?” he asks her but holds the phone to his face. “Devon, baby, are you there? Please answer. No matter what you heard, I can explain.”
“What the hell is that smell?” Nate’s voice startles me. He stops in the doorway and looks around. His eyes find mine and instantly cloud in fury.
I reach over and hit the end button and then look back to my brother.
“What the fucking hell is going on,” he yells, coming in.
“B-b-b-ryce cheated on me with Liza last night.”
“What? Who told you that?”
“Nicole confirmed she walked into her living room with both of them naked and saw Liza on her knees. And there’s pictures of them in bed together.” I shake my phone in the air.
The anger on his face turns furious, but what it doesn’t do is look surprised. He fists his hands and turns to the door. I notice for the first time a gorgeous brunette standing there. When she looks at me, there’s pity and sympathy.
“Oh my God,” I jump up, realizing I have vomit on my clothes and in my hair. “Oh, God, I’m so embarrassed,” I sob then scream in frustration. In my rambling, I tell them about the call and all the things Liza’s ever said to me. The temptation on deployments, the on-ship trysts, comments about being a Navy wife… all of it.
“Where is he?” Nate fumes when I stop to catch my breath.
“At some bar with Dani, Nicole, Liza, and Tommy. Liza had his phone.”
He starts shaking but takes a deep breath and looks at me with pure brotherly love. “I’m going to find him. Remember, he doesn’t know you’re here. If you want, I’ll keep him away and get you a hotel room.”
“No, she can stay with me. No one can find her there. I’ll take care of her.” Jamie’s sweet voice breaks me apart even more.
She walks over and takes my hand. “Let’s get you cleaned up, okay?”
I nod. Before Nate walks out, he kisses both of us on the forehead and whispers, “I’ll take care of this.”
Jamie leads me to the bathroom and helps me out of my ruined clothes and into a hot shower. If I wasn’t numb, I’d be mortified. Blindly, I go through the motions of washing, drying, and changing into my sweats. She starts to lay me on Bryce’s bed, but I whimper, and she seems to understand. Gently, she guides me to my brother’s room and pulls back his covers.
I lay down, tears streaming down my face. She disappears and comes back with two shots of something dark, a glass of water, and an aspir
in.
“Here you go.” She hands me a shot glass and raises her own.
The whiskey burns but helps the buzzing in my head. My stomach lurches in protest until she hands me the water to chase it down.
“I can’t believe this is the way I meet my brother’s girlfriend.”
Her cheeks turn pink as she gives me another sweet smile.
“Don’t mention it again. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”
Suddenly, the past hour hits me, and my heart physically crumbles. I cover my face with my hands and scream until my voice is hoarse. She crawls in and cradles me to her, rocking us both as I fall to pieces. I don’t know how long she holds me, but I finally pass out from the pain and shock. My last thought is that Bryce has managed to crush me for the second time in my life.
Chapter 27
Warmth surrounds me, and I snuggle closer, breathing in the undeniable scent of Bryce. His arms tighten so hard that I start to take off my sweatshirt. Then it all comes crashing back to me, and I bite my tongue to hold back the tears.
His hands rub up and down my back, and his chest vibrates against my cheek. He lowers his head and kisses my head over and over again. When he moves to my temple, his teardrops wet my skin. It kills me, but I remain still, faking sleep.
“Please, baby, wake up and let me explain.” His voice cracks. “God, I need you to wake up. I’m dying here.”
There’s a knock at the door, and he stiffens. I hear the muffled sound of my brother’s voice.