Ignite On Contact (Brotherhood by Fire #2) -Jaci Burton Page 0,96
to you, when I should have been giving my attention to my grandpa.”
Rafe started to speak. Stopped. Then started again.
“Look. I get it. You’re stressed and upset. You need to give it some time. Get a good night’s sleep. By tomorrow—”
She shook her head. “No. Don’t patronize me like I’m some idiot. I know what I’m talking about. He needs me. I’m sorry, but he needs me more than you do. I can’t do this with you anymore.”
“So, what? You’re breaking up with me? You can’t have both of us in your life so you’re dumping me?”
She turned and looked down at her hands. “Yes. I’m sorry. I have to do this for my abuelo.”
“This is ridiculous. Come on, Carmen. You don’t mean that. What we have together is special. If you need help taking care of your grandfather, I’ll be there for you. I’ll help you.”
“I don’t need help. I don’t need the distraction.”
She raised her gaze to his, her entire body filled with misery. “I don’t need you. I can do this alone.”
He went quiet and turned to face the street, his fingers gripped tight to the steering wheel. She thought maybe he’d say something else. Instead, the silence was like a giant boulder suffocating her in the truck.
Finally, he put the truck in gear and drove the few miles to their houses. He pulled into her driveway. She unbuckled her seat belt and started to pull the door open, but his hand on her wrist stopped her.
“I love you, Carmen. I kept waiting for the right time to tell you, but I guess there never is a right time. And I think you’re wrong about this, but I will never make you choose between family and me. Family always comes first. I know that better than anyone. But if you ever need me, for anything, I’m right next door. All you have to do is ask.”
Tears pricked her eyes, and it was all she could do not to burst into sobs right there in the truck. She wanted more than anything to fling herself against him and cry, and ask him to hold her until all of what she felt—the hurt, the fear, the uncertainty—went away.
She needed him. Now more than ever. But she had to do this herself, had to eliminate the one thing from her life that made her lose her focus. And that one thing was Rafe.
So instead, she nodded and slid out of the truck, shutting the door behind her.
She walked into the house and turned on the light, the emptiness of the house making her feel lonely.
Empty.
She didn’t have her grandfather here. She didn’t have Rafe.
Right now, she had nothing.
She turned off all the lights, went into her room and closed the door.
CHAPTER 30
RAFE SWIPED THE SWEAT FROM HIS EYES AS HE FINISHED mowing the last row of grass in the front yard. He turned off the mower, then glanced over at Carmen’s house.
Her car was there, so he knew she had the day off. But it had been nearly a week since she’d broken up with him, and he thought that since Jimmy was home and settled, maybe she’d have called or texted him by now, that she’d have realized she made a mistake. That she wanted him in her life.
Instead, he hadn’t heard a word from her.
Maybe all his feelings for her had been just that—his feelings. And his feelings hadn’t been reciprocated. Because when you loved someone, they were supposed to love you back.
Had he totally misread that? He’d never been in love before, so how the hell was he supposed to know how it played out?
Since he looked like a dumbass staring over at her house, he put the mower away and finished off the weed eating, figuring a good sweat session in the steamy late afternoon would help clear his head. When he went inside, Jackson and Becks were in there, and the house smelled fresh.
“Cleaning?” he asked, swiping his brow with a paper towel.
“Top to bottom,” Becks said.
“Looks good. Smells even better.”
“Well, we make a fantastic team, even scrubbing toilets.” Becks beamed a smile at Jackson, who rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, it’s my favorite thing to do on my day off,” Jackson said. Becks laughed.
“Oh, and Kal called,” Jackson said. “Mom and Dad are doing a mini housewarming party at the new house today and want everyone to come over tonight for dinner.”
It wasn’t like he had anything else to do, and helping his parents celebrate their