On Dublin Street The Bonus Material - Samantha Young Page 0,18

to his room. He nodded at his bed. “Get in.”

To his surprise she didn’t argue with his command. He stripped off the rest of his clothes and slid into the bed beside her.

He settled Jocelyn into his side, loving the feel of her melting into his arms, the silky caress of her hair on his chest as she rested her head. If she ran again, he didn’t know what else he could do to convince her to run back toward him. “So what are you doing?” he asked reluctantly.

She was silent a moment and he held his breath waiting.

Then… “I had a really good family, Braden.” The pain in those few words made his arm tighten reflexively around her. He waited, hoping she’d give him more. She didn’t disappoint.

“My mom was an orphan. She grew up in foster care here, and then moved to the States on a work visa. She was working at the college campus library when she met my dad. They fell in love, they got married, and for a while they lived happily ever after. My parents weren’t like my friends’ parents. I was fourteen and they were still sneaking around, making out when they didn’t think I could see them. They were crazy about each other. They were crazy about me and Beth. My mom was overprotective and a little overbearing because she didn’t want us to ever feel as alone as she had felt growing up. I thought she was cooler than all the other moms because, well, she had a cool accent, and she was kind of blunt, but in a really funny way that shocked some of the preppy housewives that lived in our town.”

He smiled at the thought. “Sounds like someone I know.”

He felt her smile against his chest. “Yeah?”

Braden gave her a squeeze feeling that ache inside him grow. He wanted to give this woman everything and he couldn’t bloody well give her the one thing she wanted: her family back.

“Well, she was awesome. And my dad was just as great. He was the dad who checked in with you every day to see what was up. Even as I got older and became this entirely new creature called a teenage girl, he was still always there.” A tear splashed onto his chest and he squeezed his eyes in empathy. “We were happy,” She whispered.

He kissed her hair, holding her tight, probably too tight, but he couldn’t help it. “Babe, I’m so sorry.”

“Shit happens right?” She swiped at her tears. “One day I was sitting in class and the police came to tell me that my dad had swerved into a truck to avoid a motorcyclist who’d come off his bike. Gone. Mom. Dad. Beth. I lost my parents and I lost a little girl I hadn’t really had a chance to get to know. Though I knew enough to know that I adored her. I knew she would cry if she couldn’t see her favorite teddy bear—this ratty old brown bear with a blue ribbon around his neck that used to be mine and still smelled like me. His name was Ted. Original, I know. I knew that she had a sophisticated taste in music because all you had to do to stop her from crying was play Mmmbop by Hanson.” She laughed sadly. “I knew that when I was having a bad day, all I had to do was pick her up, hold her close, smell her skin, feel her tiny warmth against me and know that everything was okay… “

Braden was a grown fucking man and yet he wanted to bawl like a baby for her. All he’d wanted was for Jocelyn to give him this — this trust. Now that he had it, he’d do anything to turn back the clock for her, even if it meant he’d never get the chance to meet her.

And although he already knew he loved her, it was in that moment he realized what that love meant.

He loved Jocelyn Butler more than he loved anyone. More than he loved himself.

Braden hadn’t known this kind of love even existed. But he guessed it made sense. She tapped into his emotions like no one else could. Emotions he didn’t even know he had.

“I went off the rails when I lost them.” Jocelyn continued. “My first foster home was full of other kids, so my foster parents barely even noticed I was alive, which was fine by me since it meant I could