A Broken Forever(39)

I couldn't help but notice the way his jaw tensed the way it did every time he tried to hold something back. Stefan always had a hard time speaking freely about his emotions, but when I began taking notice of what he did to hold it back, I begged for him to let it out. I was terribly tempted to ask what was wrong, but I was even more afraid to hear the answer.

I didn't need to ask though; suddenly his hand reached out as he took hold of my chin and finally met my gaze. The deep shade of blue his eyes were right now only occurred when something intense or passionate followed. This had to be my favorite shade of blue, because it was when they looked like this that he had declared the depths of his heart to me. When he first said he loved me, when we made up after a fight and when he kissed me after hearing the beautiful cry of our newborn baby girl.

It was impossible to handle the silence while I waited to hear what he had to say, but I knew I needed to keep quiet. Whatever he had to say, I wanted to hear it, and if I rushed him I knew I wouldn't.

A deep, chest falling breath escaped him. "I can't remember the last time I had a day that I never wanted to forget. Anytime you're around I feel like a different person, and I like the way I am when I'm with you."

A knot formed in my throat, preventing me from responding.

"Greyson Rose, please promise me this won't be the last time I see you."

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out as my head still tried to process those words. "I will personally screw up your car so we end up right back here if I have to."

I couldn't hold back my laugh, which was just what I needed to loosen the knots in my throat and stomach.

"I promise this will not be the last time I see you, Stefan Harrison." The ear-to-ear grin that I watched form nearly took my breath away as his fingers left my chin to brush away strands of hair from my forehead. 

"I'm going to hold you to that." Before I could respond he leaned down and I felt my entire body stop. My heart stopped beating, my lungs stopped breathing and I refused to blink. His lips lowered closer to mine, but just as I thought he was going in for a kiss, he repositioned himself to press a kiss to my forehead.

"Until next time."

With that I got in my car, waved and drove away. I knew I should stay away, but whenever he was near I couldn't think straight and everything in my soul told me I needed to be there. It was wrong to like it, but it became even more natural to accept the way I felt with him near. But as I approached my neighborhood I forced Stefan from my mind as I thought of the fiancé I had waiting for me in the home we shared.



I parked the car in front of my house, flipped down the visor mirror and did a quick check of my reflection. Besides the obnoxious smile growing on my face the rest of me looked fine. You couldn't read from my expressions that I had just spent the day with my ex-husband. So to me I looked great. I grabbed my purse and ran inside. I couldn't stop feeling that if I didn't hurry Richard would somehow be suspicious of me. It didn't make sense; I did nothing wrong, so there was nothing to be worried about!

I yanked open the door and let my smile brighten the room as I scanned my eyes to see where Richard was. My mood, my demeanor and the smile on my face that I thought wasn't going anywhere quickly deflated as I looked at the person sitting on my sofa. With his legs kicked up on the table and a beer in hand he gave a cursory wave; having my brother here was in no way a good thing.

"Hey Jayden … what are you doing here?" I tried to keep the accusations from my voice, but the last thing I wanted today was to see him. It wasn't because I didn't love him or didn't want to see him. It was solely because the only person beside Stefan that could read me well was Jayden. And right now I felt as if my face was holding a sign that said I just spent the day with Stefan Harrison-the guy that left me when I needed him most.

Worst of all Jayden used to consider Stefan one of his best friends, but now he hated everything about him. There was no way Jayden would think of Stefan around again as a good thing. Not to mention, he has never agreed with my choice to not tell Richard about my past, but now with my past-not so much in the past-he would demand relentlessly that I spill everything. Which I planned to, just not yet. Just not right now.

"What's up, Grey? Where have you been?" I was a little taken aback when his voice showed concern and not anger for what I had been doing. Maybe it wasn't written all over my face as I originally expected.

"Getting my car fixed, why?"

He cocked an eyebrow and rose from the couch. "Just asking because you weren't here when your boy was off of work and he said you weren't at the salon."

"Oh, yeah." Cue awkward pause. "What are you doing here?"