A cold cloth brushes over my face, and I blink rapidly, trying to open my swollen eyes. Bryce’s lips touch each eyelid softly, and he hushes me.
“Go back to sleep, angel.”
I finally get my eyes open and focused on Bryce leaning over me.
“I’m okay but thirsty.”
He reaches over and hands me a bottle of water. I drink eagerly until it’s empty. “What time is it?”
“Seven.”
“P.M .or a.m.?”
“P.M.”
“So it’s still New Years?”
“Technically,” he answers sadly.
My stomach growls embarrassingly loud, and I burrow in the pillow.
“Someone needs to eat.” Bryce kisses my stomach lightly.
“Do you have any peanut butter?”
He grins and lifts me up, carrying me into the kitchen. I smell the astringent scent of cleaner and faint Italian, and my hunger disappears.
“Oh my God. I need to clean your living room.” I remember the mess and scramble down.
“Jamie did it.”
“Poor Nate. I’ve made the worst impression on his girlfriend. She’s going to think I’m a nutcase.”
“No, she’s a tough woman and full of sweetness. He’s found a good one.”
I search his face, and for the first time, notice the bruising on his jaw. My fingers run lightly over the discoloration, and he flinches.
“My brother?”
“Yeah, but I deserved it and so much more.”
“What exactly happened?”
He sets me on the counter and reaches in the cabinet for peanut butter. I scrunch my nose when he tries to feed me a spoonful.
“You need to eat, babe.”
“I’ll eat after you tell me what happened.”
“I’ll make you a deal. You first. Tell me exactly what you’ve been holding back. Months of hiding the shit Liza planted in your head. I want to know it all.”
“I’d prefer to forget everything to do with that woman,” I mutter, focusing on the wall behind him.
“We will. She’s not in our lives anymore. I’m going to make sure she never, ever gets in your head again.”
I sigh and spill everything, from her nasty attitude to her implications and insinuations.
When I’m done, his body is stiff, and his face is hard. “Why didn’t you talk to me?”