Page 74 of Kiss Me Forever

Reece didn’t say a damn word. Instead he turned on his heel and walked away, leaving me alone with my team. And there were no other words for that.

In the forty-eight hours since the unfortunate work incident, my entire family had shown up, at least my immediate family and a few cousins. They all came to the house, making sure I was fine, and I held up the small bandages on my hands, and sighed.

“No stitches, no broken bones. Just a couple of bruises, and an annoying splinter.”

I repeated that statement to the point that I could say it in my sleep.

And Reece hadn’t shown up.

No, apparently he was giving me the space I didn’t know we both needed.

He had texted, at least he had done that.

A simple text saying he was glad I was okay, and that I should get some rest.

Away from him.

He didn’t say that last part, but it sure as hell felt like it. However in this moment, I wasn’t exactly alone. Aly paced by my side in the kitchen, worry on her face.

“He’s scared,” Aly said after a moment, eyes narrowed.

“I don’t care. He doesn’t get to yell at me.” That was when I realized that tears were sliding down my cheeks, and I didn’t know if it was fear or anger, and I hated it. Hated it all.

Aly handed me a tissue and I wiped my face, annoyed I’d cried at all. At least it was in front of her and not any of my family. “Reece yells. He’s a growly asshole, but he was worried about you.”

“I may not be his direct boss, but I am part owner of this company. He doesn’t get to do that.”

“No. He doesn’t. He needs to hold his temper. But he was scared. We all were. We had no idea what happened, but then you screamed, and we were all running over there.”

I looked down at my hands and let out a shaky breath. I’d thought of nothing else these past two days and come to the realization I should have in the heat of the moment. “Reece pulled me out of the way. From the second beam. I could have died, and I can’t even focus on that because I’m too worried about the fact that my boyfriend is yelling at me.”

I wiped away my tears, this time knowing they were full of anger.

“You can yell right back. It’s okay.”

“No, it’s really not. But I don’t know what to do with him, Aly.”

“Do you love him?”

I swallowed hard, unable to say the words aloud, but she saw the answer, nonetheless. Without a word, she hugged me, telling me I wasn’t alone. I was a Montgomery, after all, one was never alone—something Aly had seen firsthand when the family phone tree and chat group had been enacted when I’d been hurt. That at least brought a smile to my face and once Aly left to head to the nursery, I knew I needed to get my act together and either get to work or reach out to Reece. There didn’t seem to be another option.

Anger and confusion warred within me. What was I supposed to do? Lean on my boyfriend. The one who didn’t want to be called boyfriend. Because neither one of us wanted labels. No, this was just a reminder that life was complicated, and I was going back to work today, and everything would be fine. The inspector had apologized, but I didn’t think that was enough. Neither did Lex and Dash.

In fact, we were going through every step that we had taken after that particular inspector, and repeating everything that we could. It was just a freak accident, that’s what I kept telling everyone, and that’s what the evidence seemed to prove, yet it seemed that the house there wasn’t the only thing that had broken.

My doorbell rang, and I frowned, wondering which Montgomery it was this time. I opened the door, careful of the bandages on my hands, and sucked in a breath when I realized who stood there.

“Brooklyn!” Bella launched herself at me, but Reece caught her at the last moment.

“She’s hurting, Bella. I don’t want you to jostle her.”

Bella frowned, her eyes wide and sad, and I opened up my arms. “I could do with a hug though.” Then Bella was there, holding me tight, and I let out a shaky breath.

“Dad said that you needed some time,” she whispered, and my heart did that little clutching thing at the sound of her calling Reece Dad. From the way that Reece’s eyes warmed for an instant, before they went to their normal glower, I knew he felt the same.

“I’m really okay. It’s a long day at work, but I have sourdough bread to keep me company.”

“Will you help me make a starter?” Bella asked.