Chapter 49

CHAPTER49

“What?” Cayley mumbled absently as she moved to climb off his lap to grab the scissors from the bathroom, wondering how long Sean was planning on keeping them locked in here. She really should have smothered him with a pillow when she had a chance, Cayley thought with a sad shake of her head. She-

“Your favorite candy bar and movie,” Bryce said, making Cayley swallow hard as she slowly turned her head back to face the man that was close to destroying her.

“I need you to say the words,” Cayley said, thinking about that conversation in her kitchen that felt like a lifetime ago as she searched his gaze, watching his expression soften as he leaned in and pressed his lips against her forehead.

“I’m in love with you, Cayley,” Bryce said, pressing another kiss against her forehead before pulling back just far enough so that he could kiss the tip of her nose, her cheek, and then he was brushing his lips against hers in an achingly sweet kiss that left her trembling.

“You pushed me away, Bryce,” Cayley whispered, tempted to say the words back to him, but…

She had to be sure.

“Untie me, Cayley,” Bryce said, shifting beneath her to pull his hands free as she slowly exhaled, wishing that it didn’t have to come down to this, but he really didn’t leave her with a choice.

“I’m afraid that I can’t do that,” Cayley said with a sad shake of her head as she climbed off his lap and considered the large man currently at her mercy and-

“Oh, shit,” Bryce said, clearly seeing the problem.

Nodding, Cayley said, “Exactly,” as she stood there, debating her next move while Bryce began frantically yanking at the ropes securing him to that chair.

“Does the fact that I just confessed my undying love to you mean anything?” Bryce demanded as he continued trying to yank his hands free, but he wasn’t going anywhere, and they both knew it.

“I mean, it definitely helped,” Cayley murmured absently as she considered her options, which she had to admit were kind of limited with them being locked in here and all.

Then again, maybe the James boys already left. It was possible, considering that it was Christmas and their sister would kill them if they didn’t show up. With that in mind, Cayley made her way to her bedroom door and-

“Not happening,” Sean said from the other side of the door, sounding bored.

“Shouldn’t you be at Rory’s?” Cayley asked, turning around to take in her room as she debated her next move.

“We’re taking shifts,” Sean said with a long-suffering sigh that had her absently nodding.

“You know that they’re not going to save you any food, right?” Cayley asked as her gaze landed back on Bryce as he continued tugging at that rope.

“Probably not,” Sean said, not really sounding all that concerned.

“You ate everything in my kitchen, didn’t you?” Cayley asked, shifting her attention to her bed as she debated something, but…

No, this would work, Cayley thought as her gaze shifted back to Bryce.

“And everything in Bryce’s fridge,” Sean murmured.

“You mentioned something about supplies during my kidnapping?” Cayley said, watching as Bryce’s panic doubled. She hated having to do this, she really did, but she needed to make sure before she said those three little words that would seal her fate.

“In the closet,” Sean said, sounding pleased.

“Cayley, we can talk about this,” Bryce said, shifting nervously in his chair, but sadly, they were past the talking stage.

Nodding, Cayley said, “You can go now, Sean,” as she made her way to the closet and found the box they’d left behind.

“Wait. Don’t leave!” Bryce said with an edge of desperation to his voice.

There was a heavy pause, and then Sean murmured, “Merry Christmas,” as she heard the telltale sounds of a lock click open, once again reminding her why he was her best friend.

“You son of a bitch!” Bryce shouted when the sounds of her apartment door closing followed seconds later, leaving her to ensure that this was a Christmas that neither one of them ever forgot.

* * *

“Now, where were we?”the small woman that should be professing her undying love for him asked with a satisfied sigh as she dropped down on the chair that she’d dragged in here from the kitchen.

Bryce opened his mouth only to swallow hard as his gaze shifted to the assortment of items that she had lined up on the floor next to her chair. Trying not to panic, he took in everything from the kitchen shears to the can of whip cream before landing on the bottle of peppermint lube and the roll of duct tape that she got from the box before shifting his attention back to her and-

“Why are you taking notes?” Bryce found himself wondering as he watched the woman in question shift to get more comfortable as she glanced down at the legal pad on her lap.

“I’m not taking notes,” Cayley murmured absently as she frowned down at whatever she was reading on that legal pad.

“Then, what are you doing?” Bryce asked as his gaze shifted back to those scissors as he discreetly tried to pull his arms free, but they wouldn’t budge.

He was going to make the bastards pay for this.

Oh, were they going to fucking pay…

“I’m ensuring that this interrogation is more productive than the previous ones,” Cayley murmured, looking thoughtful as she finished reading through the list, nodded to herself, mumbled, “This will have to do,” and shifted her focus on him.

When she only sat there, blinking at him, Bryce found himself once again glancing back down at those items by her side and-

“How long have you been in love with me?” came the curious question that had him looking up to find Cayley still watching him as she pulled a ballpoint pen out of her pocket and clicked it open.

“How long are you planning on keeping me tied to this chair?” Bryce countered, only to frown when the question was met with a forlorn sigh and a sad shake of her head as she made a small mark on the bottom of the page.

“That’s one,” Cayley said with a shrug that left him even more confused.

“One, what?” Bryce asked, watching as she muttered something to herself as she made another mark.

“That’s two,” Cayley murmured as she glanced up at him expectantly.

When he only glared at her, she explained, “Two strikes,” only to follow that up with, “For every question that you answer, you get a reward, but if you get a strike, you lose that reward.”

“I see,” Bryce murmured absently as he glanced back down at the items on the floor.

“Now, you were telling me how long you’ve been in love with me?” Cayley said, double-clicking that pen to draw his attention back to find her watching him expectantly.

“I’ve always loved you, Cayley,” Bryce admitted, watching as she absently nodded to herself as she scratched off one of the strikes.

“And the reason why you avoided me?” Cayley asked, throwing him a questioning look as she asked the question that he’d managed to avoid answering the last time that she tried interrogating him.

It was the same answer that he refused to give her now.