Chapter 18

CHAPTER18

There was definitely a lot to be concerned about, Cayley decided, shifting to get more comfortable as she glanced over her shoulder and noted that the dryer only had a few minutes left. That was followed by shifting her attention back to the iPad on her lap as she went through everything that she still needed to do to prove to the annoying jerk that ate everything in her apartment last night and forced her to make another run to the store this morning, wrong after-

Nope, she wasn’t going to think about last night.

She’d promised herself that this morning when she woke up to find herself in Bryce’s arms and decided that there was definitely no reason to think about what happened last night. Not when she had this lovely list to work through. With that in mind, Cayley focused on her list and released a satisfied sigh with a smile as she checked another item off her list. She-

This is for your own good.

Frowned as she tried to make sense of the text message Sean sent even as she responded back.

What’s for my own good?

Not really thinking much about it, Cayley placed her phone back down on the washing machine and went back to looking at her list, trying to figure out if she’d missed anything and-

My plan.

-remembered the four terrifying words that should have had her running for her life, but at some point, she’d stupidly convinced herself that Sean would move on and let it go and there was honestly no excuse for that level of stupidity. She knew better than most what Sean was capable of once he set his mind to something, and at the moment, he was determined to make her life a living hell.

Please don’t.

She responded back quickly, not bothering to waste precious time asking him what he was up to because it didn’t matter. Whatever he was planning wasn’t going to end well for her. She also knew that it was probably too late. With that in mind, Cayley jumped off the dryer, resigned herself to grabbing her laundry later and quickly made her way back to her apartment, where she planned on hiding for the rest of the night and-

He’ll be there in an hour for a romantic midnight date.

-slowed down on the basement stairs, unable to help but frown in confusion as she asked, Who will be here in an hour?

Your date, came the reply that had her quickly calling him.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Cayley demanded as soon as the phone stopped ringing.

“Your date. You’re welcome,”Sean said with a satisfied sigh.

“I don’t have a date,” Cayley pointed out as she made her way up the stairs.

“Yes, you do,”Sean said as she carefully opened the basement door and slowly stuck her head out, knowing that if Sean said that she had an hour that it was probably already too late because there was no way in hell that he’d ever be that stupid to give her enough time to make a run for it.

“And why is that?” Cayley asked, licking her lips nervously when she didn’t see anyone in the hallway.

“Because I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands.”

“And what matters would those be exactly?” Cayley asked, swallowing hard as she stepped into the hallway and threw a nervous glance over her shoulder.

“Well, after you left me to die-”

“You weren’t dying,” Cayley said, cutting him off as she turned her head and looked at her apartment door to make sure that the coast was clear.

“I had the fucking sniffles, woman! I could have gone at any moment!” Sean snapped, only to release a shuddering breath before continuing. “Anyway, after our discussion, I realized that what you really needed was someone to take care of you.”

“I can take care of myself,” Cayley pointed out as she looked over her shoulder one last time and-

“But this way, you don’t have to.”

* * *

He should probably be concernedthat Cayley was breaking into his apartment but after last night…

Bryce decided to see where this was going. With that in mind, he took a sip of soda as he watched Cayley, who was too fucking adorable for words, quickly close his door behind her, throw the lock, and immediately plaster herself against the door so that she could look out the peephole. As she mumbled to herself, something that she seemed to do a lot when his brother was fucking with her head, Bryce leaned back against the kitchen island as he ran his eyes over her, taking in everything from her oversized sweatshirt to the way that she stood up on her tippytoes so that she could reach the peephole.

“Your brother’s insane.”

“This is true,” Bryce murmured in agreement even as he couldn’t help but wonder what his brother did to piss her off this time. He watched as her small shoulders dropped in defeat as she mumbled, “Damn it.”

“What’s he done this time?” Bryce asked, still surprised that she hadn’t smothered Sean with a pillow by now.

“Besides piss me off?” Cayley asked, closing her eyes on a defeated sigh as she pressed her forehead against the door.

“Besides that,” Bryce said, shrugging it off since that was a given.

“He’s taken it as his personal mission to see me married,” she said, making everything inside him go still.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Bryce asked as she raised her hand and gestured weakly in the direction of her apartment before dropping it. “He set me up on a blind date.”

Frowning, Bryce pushed away from the kitchen island and made his way to the door, only pausing long enough to pick her up and move her aside. Once he had her out of the way, Bryce looked through the peephole and was forced to bite back a sigh when he spotted some asshole standing outside her door, looking really fucking hopeful as he held a bouquet of red roses in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other.

He was going to fucking kill Sean.

Taking his phone out of his pocket, Bryce quickly typed a message that he was praying that his brother didn’t ignore.

Call off the date.

He-

Not happening.

-was going to fucking kill the little bastard. Biting back a curse, Bryce looked through the peephole again to find Cayley’s unwanted blind date leaning back against the wall, looking resigned to the long wait ahead.

Shit!

“What happened on the eighth-grade field trip?” Bryce asked, glancing back at Cayley to find her worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

“I already tried that,” she admitted on a helpless shrug that left Bryce standing there, trying to come up with something that would get his brother to back the fuck off while he tried to figure out what the hell he was supposed to do about Cayley.

She…

Fuck.

He didn’t know what she was. The only thing that he knew was that he couldn’t fucking stop thinking about her or just how badly he wanted to pull her back in his arms. He just needed time to figure this out and he couldn’t fucking do that if his brother was pushing every asshole that crossed his path at Cayley. With that in mind, he sent another text message.

Call. It. Fucking. Off!

Bryce glanced back out the peephole and found himself frowning as he watched the asshole waiting in the hallway pull his phone out of his pocket, only to shake his head in disgust and walk away. That had been too fucking easy, Bryce thought, glancing back down at his phone just in time to see the next text message come through.

Done.

When his brother didn’t elaborate, Bryce looked back through the peephole and-

Sighed when the little brat shoved him out of the way and went back on her tippytoes. That was followed by an adorable frown and a mumbled, “He’s gone?” as she threw him a questioning look.

“It appears that way,” Bryce said as he watched her absently worry her bottom lip between her teeth as she thought it over. After a moment, Cayley shook her head as she stepped away from the door. “It’s a trap.”

“Probably,” Bryce murmured in agreement as he stood there, considering the small woman in front of him.

“Looks like you’re stuck with me for a while,” Cayley said with a helpless shrug and a hopeful smile that quickly died away when he didn’t say anything. “Please don’t send me back out there.”

Making sure to look put out because he couldn’t very well have her knowing that kicking her out was the last thing on his mind, Bryce leaned his shoulder against the wall as he considered how he wanted to handle this. Make her beg or-

“I’ll take the couch. Thanks!” the little brat said with a huge smile as she made her way over to his couch, grabbed the blanket he had folded over the back, and dropped down on it with a satisfied sigh and an absently mumbled, “This is a really nice couch,” as he stood there, glaring.

When she simply ignored him, Bryce pushed away from the wall and dropped down on the oversized leather chair so that he could glare at her. She really was a pain in the ass, Bryce thought as he watched her quickly settle on a movie, toss the remote back on the coffee table before curling up on her side as she settled in for the night and-

“Are you going to tell me what you’re up to or do I have to guess?” Cayley asked, her beautiful green eyes that looked blue today glanced in his direction as he turned his attention to the movie that she’d picked out and-

Of course, she picked Die Hard, Bryce thought, biting back a smile as he asked, “Guess what?”

“Why you’re suddenly acknowledging my existence,” Cayley said, sounding more curious than anything.

“Is that what I’m doing?” Bryce drawled as his gaze flickered back to her to find her watching him.

“Yes,” Cayley mumbled, looking lost in thought as she watched him.

“Fair enough,” Bryce murmured absently as he watched her for a moment. “Then again, the same could be said about you.”

When she began worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, he knew that he’d fucked up. “Is that what you think? That I ignore you?”

“You can stay here if you want,” Bryce said as he got up, deciding to call it an early night since the last thing that he wanted to talk about tonight was just how fucking much it killed him that she’d barely said one fucking word to him over the years.

“Bryce, I-”

“There are extra blankets in the closet and food in the fridge. Help yourself if you need anything,” Bryce said as he headed to his bedroom, more than ready to call it a night.

He hated this fucking hold that she had on him, always had, Bryce thought as he headed to the bathroom and took a quick shower before pulling on a pair of boxers and dropped down on his bed with a sigh as he told himself that it didn’t fucking matter. He was only doing this to prove that the Bradford curse was complete bullshit so that he could get his hands on Thomas House. He kept telling himself that until sometime later as he watched Cayley quietly let herself into his bedroom and headed for his bathroom.

For the next fifteen minutes, Bryce lay there, staring up at the ceiling, grinding his jaw as he struggled to stop thinking about her, only to pray that she put him out of his fucking misery as he listened to her taking a shower.

God, she was fucking killing him.

Closing his eyes, Bryce slowly exhaled as he folded one arm behind his head while he waited for her to finish what she was doing so that he could clear his fucking head and-

Bite back a groan when he felt her climb onto the bed and lay down next to him a few minutes later. After a slight hesitation, Cayley was curling up next to him and placing her head on his shoulder as he slowly exhaled and felt all the tension in his body fade away.