I stretched as I woke up and groaned. My body was sore after the sex I had with Brody the night before. He was a great lover, but I didn’t feel as fulfilled as I had whenever I had sex with Bryce.

I understood the casual hookups more than I did before and understood why people continued to have them. They were looking for the feeling I had with Bryce. I was lucky to have him and wanted nothing more than to get him back. I knew he loved me even if he was trying to fill a void with that tramp who sat on his lap, but I was just as bad as he was and had no reason to be angry.

I looked around the room and wondered when Brody would be back. I wondered if he expected sex every day since I was so hot to have him the day before. I was hot to have him. I couldn’t deny that.

I pulled the covers up when the door opened and kept them close to me when I saw it was Tim. I expected to see Brody, but he didn’t walk in behind him.

“Hey, good morning. I hope you’re hungry.”

“I am. Where’s Brody?”

“He has some business to take care of. He’ll be by later.” He set the breakfast out and smiled again. “Do you need anything else?”

“No, that’s perfect.” I watched as he turned to go. “Wait, I’m sorry. Brody said he had some glue for the puzzle. Do you know where it might be? I’d like to get that started and have the table back.”

“Regular school glue will work for that. I’ll bring you up some and a brush to apply it.”

“Thanks.” I waited for him to leave before I got up and dressed. It was odd that Brody wasn’t there after the day we had together, but maybe he did have work to do.

I had work to do, as well. Not the work I wanted to do. I missed looking at dresses and accessories for the boutique. I wondered if Bryce paid the lease while I was gone. It was a silly thing to wonder about, but we put a lot of work into that place, and I didn’t want to lose it. It may have been the only thing I had left of us.

I shook my head. I couldn’t think like that. I needed to stay positive and hope Bryce still loved me after everything I’d done. I still had more to do. It would be difficult to pretend to be in love with someone when I ached to be with Bryce, but I had to convince Brody my feelings had changed. It was my only way out.

If I were honest, my feelings had changed. I no longer wanted to gouge his eyes out with hangers or hurt him in anyway. I never thought I’d forgive the man who stole me from my life. I thought some of it had to do with the fact he was doing a job for my father. If it was a sick and twisted game he wanted to play, he never would’ve gotten into my bed.

I felt a little guilty when I thought of the game I was playing. To make someone think you were falling in love with them and hope they were falling in love with you was cruel. I knew what being in love felt like. I knew what seeing those photos of Bryce and other women did to me. I may not have wanted to hurt Brody any more, but that was exactly what I was going to do if my plan succeeded.

If my plan didn’t succeed, I’d rot in that room and never make it back to Bryce. I couldn’t let that happen. I had to get out.

I had just finished the breakfast Tim brought up when he walked back in. He looked at my plate. “Good. I’m glad it was edible.”

I wiped my mouth with a napkin. “It was great. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He smiled and set the bottle of glue down along with a foam brush and reached for my plate.

“May I ask you a question?”

He looked surprised I wanted to ask him something. “Of course, you can.”

“Why is Brody alone?”

“Ah, that question.” He set the plate down and scratched the back of his neck. “Brody’s always been kind of alone. In case you haven’t noticed, he’s huge.”

I smiled. “I noticed.”

“Well, kids can be cruel. Our family isn’t big like he is. I don’t like to use the term freak, but it was a freak of nature that he is as big as he is.”

He sat down and looked at me. “He can’t know I’m telling you any of this because he doesn’t know I know. Part of his recovery was to journal his feelings. He’s always struggled with his emotions. When you’re young and kids pick on you, it makes you cry. Then, it makes the kids pick on you even more.

“He stopped feeling and started beating the shit out of those who hurt him. When he found drugs and alcohol, he was able to cut off those feelings so much he didn’t even want to beat the shit out of them anymore. He would just sit there and take it.”

“That’s terrible.”

“That’s drugs. Or, any device people use to stop the pain.”

“What made him stop using?”

He looked down to the table and played with his fingers. “Our mom died. It’s what caused him to hit rock bottom. He went on a bender he almost didn’t come back from. He drank half a bar after getting high on cocaine and then destroyed the bar. He was in jail and missed her funeral.” He blew out a breath.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. I don’t really get to talk about it much. Brody shuts down, and since I’ve sided with Brody, my dad and sister want nothing to do with me.”

“I’m sorry.”

He smiled and looked at me. “It isn’t your fault.” He cleared his throat. “Brody’s a great guy. He just hasn’t had many people tell him that. After the funeral, I had come across our mom’s diaries. They were filled with worry about him and the fear she had that he would end up dead. I made copies of some of the pages and sent them to him while he was in prison.

“He hated me for a long time and still does for making him feel that, but I don’t think he’d be clean now if he hadn’t been clean when he read our mother’s plea for him to get his life back in order. It devastated her that she couldn’t help her son. I’d like to think she’s happy that she got to help him after all.”

I reached across the table and held his hand with tears in my eyes. “I’m sure she’s very happy both of her boys are doing so well.”

“Thank you.”

“Brody mentioned that his mom loved to do the puzzles, too, and he remembered where she put them. Why isn’t your dad still living in this house?”

“Our parents divorced, so Mom left the house to us kids. Brody feels guilty that he contributed to their demise, but they had problems well before him. The trouble he always got into didn’t help, but they would’ve divorced anyway.

“My sister wanted nothing to do with the house or us after our mother died, so we bought her out. She headed off to college and our dad followed her. Brody needed a place to come home to when he got out of prison, so I kept the place up. He and I didn’t get along so well while he was on his steps to sobriety. I moved out and let him have his space.”

“I’m sorry for all the questions. I’m trying to get to know more about Brody, but he makes it difficult.”

Tim laughed. “Yes, he does.” He took a deep breath and laced his fingers together.

“What is it? If you have something to say, please, say it.”

“I told you during one of our first conversations that I was worried about Brody more than you in this situation. I’m worried more than ever.” He stood and pushed his chair back in. “When it’s all said and done, just remember that my brother is a person, too. He isn’t without flaws, and some of them are huge. I’ll be the first to admit that.”

“What do you know?” I stood. “Where is he?”

“I honestly don’t know. He never came back home last night.”

“He told me he’s an addict. Do you think he’s using again?”

He shook his head. “Not yet, but it’s a matter of time. He’s a bomb waiting to go off, and I hope for our sake, you’re out of here before that happens.”

“Wait.” I tried to stop him from leaving. “You can’t just—” He shut the door in my face. “You can’t just leave me with that.”

I sat back at the table and closed my eyes. I didn’t want Brody to start using again, but I didn’t have any experience with that to watch for the signs. How would I know? His behavior was erratic as it was, so I couldn’t have detected any real change in him. What if he was already using and hiding it from his brother?

I stood and paced. I needed to become a little more focused and stop dreaming of Bryce when I was with Brody. I needed to pay attention to the man in front of me instead of the man I was trying to get back to. I would have the rest of my life to pay attention to Bryce.

I looked at the puzzle and picked up the glue. I wanted him to see the impossible could be done and the broken could be mended. You just had to want it bad enough.

* * *

I was testing the puzzle to see if it was still tacky or if it had completely dried when Brody walked in. He looked exhausted as if he hadn’t slept all night and was on the go all day. I ignored the puzzle and walked over to him. I cupped his face when I got to him. “Hey, I missed you today.”

He held my hands and kissed my fingertips. “How’d you get these little cuts all over your fingers? I meant to ask you the other day, but I forgot.”

Getting the crushed can back to as normal as possible was what caused my cuts, but I wouldn’t let him know I’d done that. I was sure he’d destroy it again. “I’m still learning how to care for the electric razor.” I pulled my fingers from his grasp and pointed to the table. “I glued the puzzle together.”

He walked over and touched it. I walked up behind him and slid my arms around his waist, placing my cheek against his back. His heartbeat was steady but slower than normal. He gripped my hands, pulling them up to his chest and hugged my arms. Something had changed. Tim knew more than he was letting on.

“I’m sorry I was gone all day.” He let go of my hands and walked out of my embrace.

“From what I heard, and how you look, you’ve been out all night.”

“I was.” He reached up and put my hair behind my ear.

I held his hand as it rested on my cheek. “Is everything okay?” His somber attitude was making me nervous. I knew how to deal with the brooding Brody, but the depressed Brody was new to me.

“It will be.” He walked over to the clock and unplugged it. “There are a few things we need to talk about, but we need to talk quickly. We don’t have much time.”

“What’s going on?”

“I’ll answer your questions, but first you need to listen to me. Do you remember when I first brought you that hamburger and you said anything that happens here is our secret?”

“Yes, like Vegas. What happens here stays—”

“I still mean that. What’s happened between us,” he looked at the bed as he spoke and back to me, “will remain between us. No one has to know.”

“I don’t understand.”

When he looked at my face, it was as if he was scanning every inch. It was as if he was recording it to memory, and his grip on me got tighter. I squeezed his wrists, hoping he would loosen up. He didn’t.

“Promise me.” He raised his voice when I didn’t respond. “Promise me.”

“Promise I won’t tell anyone you kidnapped me?”

“No, I’ve already done that.” He looked into my eyes. “Promise me you won’t tell anyone we had sex.”

“What do you mean you’ve already done that?”

He let go and jogged to the bed where I kept the can. How did he know about it? He picked it up and looked at it as he walked it over to me. I tried to take it from him, but he dodged my every effort and grabbed my hand with his other.

“This is how you got these marks.” He kissed my fingertips again and placed the can in my hands. “I want to help you make this whole again. It won’t be the same. It won’t be what you had before, but we can make it stronger.” He cupped my face again. “Don’t tell anyone what we’ve done in this room together.”

I stood there and held the can as he walked over to the dresser and took out my clothes. “You can have the athletic clothing I bought you. I want you to keep up the workouts, but drop the intensity. Your body is rocking now. Don’t give up the workouts, but don’t bulk up much more. You won’t be happy with it.”

“You’re taking me home?”

“No, I’m taking you to the police.”

“You’re turning yourself in?” I wasn’t sure how I felt about that anymore. “Your life will be ruined.”

“I didn’t care about your life when I took you, so don’t worry about my life now.” He shoved the last of the clothing into the bag and zipped it up. “You’d better carry the can if you’d like to keep it. It won’t stand up to cops going through your bag when we get there.”

He opened the side pocket and took out the vibrator I’d packed for my honeymoon. “I know it’s a favorite, but do you want them to—”

I didn’t need him to finish that sentence. “If they’re searching my bags, I’ll get a new one.”

He smiled and tossed it onto the bed before walking over to me and gripping my arms. “I know you don’t trust me. You have no reason to, but I’m going to ask you to trust me anyway.”

My mind was spinning as I tried to wrap it around what was happening. I had no idea what to believe. Was he high? Did he think he was saving me? He took me. Why just let me go?

I took a few steps back and looked at him. He hadn’t shaved, his clothes were wrinkled, his hair was all over, and his eyes looked glassy and dark. All of that could’ve been due to the lack of sleep, but it also could’ve meant drugs. How could I trust him?

He sighed and dropped his arms by his side. “I’m sorry, Laney. Please, let me make this right.”

“How are you going to make it right? Are you going to give me the past however long I’ve been stuck here back?” I wanted to believe I was going home. I wanted to run out the door before he changed his mind, but I didn’t know what he was thinking or what home meant to him.

“I can’t give you the past three months back.”

“Three months?” I’d lost track of time. I knew it had been a couple of months, but I hadn’t expected three. “You took three months of my life. You took everything away from me just to fuck me?”

“What? No, I didn’t mean for that to happen.” He reached out for me, but I walked around the table to put some distance between us.

I set the can down. “I must have been lousy at it because you’ve yet to touch me again, and now you’re sending me home.”

“That night with you was the. . .” He sighed. “I can’t even put it into words. I’ve never.” He shook his head. “I will never be able to experience another night like that for as long as I live, and that is my loss. It was just sex to you. It meant nothing more than trying to get out of here.” He motioned to the room.

I couldn’t deny that. I enjoyed the orgasms, but it left me feeling hollow as if all my feelings were carved out and put away somewhere safe.

“Tell me it meant more to you than just trying to get back to Bryce. Tell me you started to have feelings for me, too.”

“Too?” I looked down. “You can’t feel anything for me.”

He’d come over while I was looking at the back of the chair I was gripping and lifted my chin with his finger. “I didn’t think it was possible to love anyone.” He cupped my face and bent down until his lips almost touched mine. “Kiss me like you kiss Bryce. I want to feel it. I need to feel what you feel.”

“No.” I gripped his wrists and hung on for the reaction I thought I’d get, but it didn’t come.

He put his forehead to mine and whispered, “I’ll take you home.”