Chapter One
“Fucking shit,” I muttered as I pressed my now bleeding thumb to my lips, sucking on it for a moment to make it stop bleeding.
If there was some way to hurt myself, trust me, I’d find a way to do it. I was clumsy as hell - had been my entire life. Hell, I was nicknamed Sweetie McFreeze my junior year of high school by my ex-boyfriend because I slipped on ice and knocked myself out. I had been lying there until my ex found me and rushed me to the emergency room.
Not the best moment in my life, to tell you the truth.
And just thinking about Brody Henly, my ex, sent a bolt of anger through me, even six years later after our break-up.
We’d made plans together. Even to this day, I was still madly in love with the guy - stalked his social media like a crazy woman. I couldn’t get over him.
What he and I had was real. I knew that. Nothing with anyone else ever amounted to all the feelings I felt for him.
But instead of deciding to keep what we had together, one day right after graduation, he just dumped me to go pursue a life in the Army.
I gritted my teeth at the thought all while my chest ached.
I’ll be back for you. I promise. Just give me time.
Suck my fucking dick, Brody.
I shook all of those angry, depressing thoughts away. It was Christmas - a time for joy and celebration, not a time for anger and bitter feelings.
But God, years later, it still hurt as much as it did the day he chose the military over me.
~*~*~
I screamed in frustration when my doorbell rang right as I was getting ready to hang the last string of garland. I’d been busting my ass all day to finish up my last-minute Christmas decorations. All I wanted to do was finish this last bit up and crash on my couch.
I stepped off the stepladder and stormed to the door, ready to rip a new one into whoever was bothering me at nine at night.
Didn’t people know fucking decency?
I swung open the front door and instantly, anything I’d been about to retort died on my tongue.
I was only able to utter one word: “Brody.”
He flashed me a grin, the same grin he’d had when we were eighteen. My heart skipped a beat in my chest, and I hated that it did. Why couldn’t I be like normal women who moved on from their stupid exes?
“What—”
His grin widened, his dimples showing. “I told you I’d come back for you, sweetheart.”
My heart clenched in my chest at the sound of the name he used to call me. Every other girl before me had been babe. But me? I had always been sweetheart. When I’d asked him why, he said it was because under the tough exterior I always wore, I was the sweetest girl he’d ever known, and he was happy to call me his.
I tightened my grip on the door frame at that thought. He was about to realize I wasn’t so damn sweet after all. “And you think showing back up after six years is okay?” I demanded, suddenly getting angry.
His eyes lit up. “There she is,” he breathed. I narrowed my eyes at him. I was not falling for this bullshit all over again. My heart wouldn’t be able to take him leaving me a second time. “Let me in, sweetheart, and I’ll explain everything.”
I gritted my teeth. My heart was bleeding upon seeing him. How dare he show up here like he hadn’t ripped me to pieces when he left? No warning. No explanation of why he’d given up on me.
Nothing but an “I’m sorry, but I joined the military. I think it’s best if we end things.”
“Go fuck yourself,” I sneered.
And I slammed the door in his face.
He opened it before I could lock it, and he stepped into the house. He dropped a large, green duffel bag on the floor before he swept me into his arms, kicked the door shut with his military-issue boot, and covered my lips with his.
I couldn’t think. He consumed all of my senses.
I eagerly kissed him back, my soul singing with his lips on mine. Our kiss turned urgent and angry - hot, explosive.
He slowly parted our lips. My chest was heaving. My head was spinning with confusing thoughts all while my heart rapidly beat in reaction to him touching me again after so long.
Before I could stop myself, I slapped him.
His head whipped to the side, but when he turned to look back at me again, he was grinning still. I breathed heavily, trying to catch my breath after that hot as hell kiss. Everything between us had always been explosive, and turns out, that hadn’t changed.
“What game do you think you’re playing here?” I demanded. “You made your choice clear six years ago. You chose the Army over me. You didn’t even have the decency to give me more than a two-minute warning that you were leaving and breaking up with me,” I seethed.
He had hidden the military from me. He had hidden this big dream he had from the girl he supposedly hid nothing from.
He’d broken me.
He swallowed thickly. “I know, but I thought it would be easier on both of us if I ended things before I left for basic,” he explained.
I barked out a humorless laugh. “Are you kidding me right now?” I demanded. “Easier for us or easier for you?” I demanded. “You just couldn’t stand the thought of having a girl waiting on you back home while you got your fucking dick wet with women in other countries.”
Anger crossed his features. He crowded me in against the front door and planted his hands on either side of my shoulders. “Is that what you really fucking think, Chiara? You’ve consumed every fucking free thought I’ve had for six damn years. All I could picture in my head when I wasn’t trying to keep my ass alive was the heartbroken expression on your face. I made you a fucking promise back then, and I intend to keep it. I’m back home - for you, Chiara. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come at all.”
“Lies,” I bit out. I refused to believe him.
He grabbed my shoulders and gently shook me. “Don’t you fucking get it, woman? I’ve had multiple opportunities to come home over the past few years, to come see my family, and I haven’t! I didn’t want to show up in this town until I knew I was ready to start a fucking life with you.”
Angry, hurt tears streamed down my cheeks. “You broke me, Brody,” I choked out. I tried shoving him away, but he wouldn’t budge. I sobbed, beating on his chest. He gathered me close, holding me in his arms. “You fucking broke me.”
“I know, sweetheart, and I’m so goddamn sorry,” he rasped. I sobbed, my heart breaking even more. It had never healed from the way he abruptly broke up with me. “I’m going to make it up to you. I’m never leaving you again, you hear me? I swear to you – promise you – I’m never leaving you again, no matter how hard you try to push me away.”
He leaned down and took my lips again. I turned our kiss angry, pushing every bit of hurt and rage I’d held in the past six years into our kiss. He growled and shoved me back against the door, pressing his hard, muscular body against mine.
