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“Not happening,” Watson answered as he pushed open the door. I heard the lock click once he shut it behind him. “What’s going on with you right now?” he asked.
I shook my head without looking at him. “Nothing,” I mumbled into the pillow.
“Liar.”
I turned to glare at him. “Please leave me alone,” I ordered. “I don’t want to... What are you doing?” I asked when he yanked his shirt off and proceeded to climb into my bed and wrap himself around me. “Get off.” I tried to untangle myself, but he simply wrapped his legs around me, too. “Watson, seriously. Stop it.”
“Why are you mad at me? I just confessed to our parents.”
“No, no, you didn’t. They think you have a boyfriend. They don’t know we’re together.” I stopped him. “Release me, jerk.” I shoved hard at his chest just as my elbow knocked into his face. “Shit, Watson, I’m sorry.”
He fell off the bed in his attempt to get up. “Jesus Christ, Holt.” Blood seeped through his fingers, as he clutched his nose.
“I didn’t mean to!” I insisted. “Let me see—”
He shook his head. “I think you’ve done enough.” Watson grabbed his shirt from the floor and pressed it against his nose.
“You don’t... you don’t think I did that on purpose, do you?” Tears stung my eyes. “Watson, I would never hurt you. Like, ever.” The way he was looking at me told me he didn’t believe a word I said. “Watson?”
“I know you wouldn’t.”
“Then why are you backing away from me every time I step closer? I need to touch you. Make sure you’re okay.”
The shirt against his nose was slowly turning crimson. “Funny, five minutes ago you couldn’t get away from me fast enough,” he barked bitterly. “I’m going out.”
“Watson, no. Wait a minute.” I grabbed at his arm. “Talk to me. Just for a second.” He looked down at my hand. “Didn’t... didn’t we have a good week? Together? Wasn’t... don’t...” I couldn’t get it out. I couldn’t talk, and I couldn’t get the words to come together the way I wanted them. I suddenly couldn’t breathe. My lungs were fighting for air, and I felt like I might choke.
Watson placed his palm over my hand. “H, are you okay?” He sounded scared as he moved me back to the bed and sat me down on the mattress. “It’s okay. I’m not going anywhere.” He rubbed my back with his big hand while he kept his shirt against his face. “Look at me, okay?” His dark eyes never left mine. “Focus, there you go, baby, right here.” I watched his eyes crinkle up into a smile as I managed to suck air in through my nose and out my mouth.
I let out a shaky breath. “Sorry,” I muttered. Wait, did he call me baby, or did I just imagine that? “I thought you were going to leave, and I didn’t want you to be mad at me. Go find someone else...” I swallowed nervously at the thought of him kissing another person after everything.
“I was going to. Leave, I mean,” Watson admitted.
My stomach dropped. “You were?” My chin began to tremble.
“No, no, don’t... Shit.” He dropped the shirt as he cupped my face, and I was thankful the bleeding had stopped. “I’m so fucking sorry, baby. I shouldn’t have said anything at dinner. I just wanted to start to prepare them.” He took a deep breath.
I dropped my chin to my chest. “Don’t leave, okay? Just... I’ll do whatever you want as long as you don’t go. You want to fuck? We can do that. As long as you’re here, in my bed, I’ll let you do whatever you want to me.” Christ, that sounded pathetic. I couldn’t stop the tears as they filled my eyes and slipped down my cheeks. I was already too far gone with him.
“Baby.” Watson forced me to look back at him. “I would never, ever want you to have sex with me when you weren’t ready. Is that the kind of man you think I am?” His thumb brushed at the tears on my face. “Why are you crying, huh?”
“I love you.”
“You’re crying because you love me? Shit, I’d be crying, too.”
A laughed bubbled out of my throat. “I do, though, love you, I mean.”
“I know, baby. I know you do.” Watson brushed more wetness from my face. “You scared me.”
My throat grew tight. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.” I reached up to touch his face.
“No, I mean, that’s what happened to make me realize I wanted to be with you.” I stared at him as the words sank in. “When Jones hit you, I realized that if you were really hurt or worse, I wouldn’t be able to survive. Okay, sure, we had been forced into being stepbrothers, but friends? That came so naturally to us. I care about you, H, and if you were gone, who would take care of me like you? Who would make sure I was eating my vegetables, not getting into trouble, stop me from beating the crap out of Jones for hitting you with his damn car?”
“Watson—”
“I’m not fucking done,” he growled. “Maybe I needed something almost horrific to happen for me to open my dumb eyeballs, okay? I never... I never realized you felt that way about me because I didn’t know I did, too.” Watson suddenly dropped down between my thighs. “I’m not easy, you know that. I’m a slob, I’m an idiot, I’m not a morning person, I drink way too much, but you don’t care. You’ve lived with me for the past couple of years in an RV, which, by the way, is hard to do, and you’ve never complained once. You wash my dirty clothes, pick up my messes, and cook me dinner. You cheer me on when I win races, even when I don’t, and hell, you’re my shoulder to cry on when I have a horrible one.”
I combed my fingers through Watson’s light hair. “I think I’m your biggest fan, Watson James Brooks.” I smiled down at him.
