{"product_id":"come-to-me-softly-isbn-9780451467973","title":"Come to Me Softly","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom the \u003ci\u003eNew York\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eTimes \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eCome to Me Quietly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCome to Me Softly\u003c\/i\u003e is\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003ea scorching New Adult romance in the Closer to You series, perfect for fans of Colleen Hoover!\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA second chance at life…\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eA second chance at love…\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Jared Holt never thought he deserved either—until he found both in the arms of Aly Moore. Aly has loved Jared for as long as she can remember, and she’s more than ready for the future they’re making together. But Jared can’t help remembering his own family. And he’ll never forgive himself for what happened to them. How can he allow himself the very happiness he once destroyed? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e To live a life worthy of Aly, Jared knows he has to stop running and finally put his past to rest. But when he decides to face his demons head on, he encounters more than he bargained for: a dangerous mix of jealousy, lies, and dishonest intentions. When those intentions threaten Aly, Jared loses all control, giving into the rage that earned him his bad boy reputation years before. And he’ll fight to protect her no matter what it costs…even if he destroys himself in the process.\u003cb\u003ePraise for A.L. Jackson’s novels\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Exquisite, beautiful, poignant—A.L. Jackson is in a league of her own!”—S.C. Stephens, #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eReckless\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A devastatingly beautiful story of love, grief, and healing. Every emotion on the page will grip at your heart, and leave you stuck in the characters’ lives for days after.”—Molly McAdams, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author.\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eCome To Me Quietly\u003c\/i\u003e is a riveting tale of loss, two souls destined to be together and discovering strength in forgiving ones self from regrets keeping them chained to finding true happiness. Simply breathtaking.”—Gail McHugh, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003eBestselling Authors of \u003ci\u003eCollide\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003ePulse\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A.L. Jackson has written such an emotionally impactful story that grabs you right from the start.”—Kim Karr, author of \u003ci\u003eTorn\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A.L. Jackson delivered another emotionally driven love story. I was captivated from the first page until the last.”—\u003ci\u003eRomanceLoversBookBlog\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Oh this book was amazing. I know I gush like a school girl, but I cannot contain myself when I find a story that leaves me clutching its pages to my heart.”—\u003ci\u003eTina’s Book Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Can A.L. Jackson write anything but excellence? Not in my eyes!...5 star perfection!”—\u003ci\u003eMadison Says\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eA. L. Jackson \u003c\/b\u003espends her days writing in Southern Arizona where she lives with her husband and three beautiful children. She is the author of the Closer To You Series, including\u003ci\u003e Come to Me Softly \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Come to Me Quietly.\u003c\/i\u003e She is also the author of \u003ci\u003eLost to You\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWhen We Collide\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTake This Regret, Pulled, At the Edge of Surrender \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eBeyond the Blue Horizon\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlso by A. L. Jackson\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChad ~Thank you, thank you, thank you. All of this would be impossible without a man like you at my side, constantly supporting me and picking up the slack. I love you forever.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThank you to Devyn, whom I love with every piece of me. You are incredibly brilliant and beautiful, and having you a part of this every day is something I treasure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo my little men, Eli and Braydon, for being such amazing boys. I am so thankful I was blessed so much to get to call you my sons. I love you more than you know.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKatie ~ Thank you for being with me every step of the way, through thick and thin, through the good times and the bad. I love you so much, my BFF.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThank you to Big Rollin’ Bitches Rebecca Shea, Molly McAdams, and Kristen Proby for challenging me to stay on task, for pushing me harder and faster and farther! I love calling you amazing authors my friends!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo the team at New Adult Library ~ Thank you so much for your support and dedication to my work.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd I have to mention the incredible authors of Authors off the Shelf. I cherish the laughs and insight, the goofiness and the advice. I love you all.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eONE\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJared\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eComfort.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI’d gone without it for a lot of years. It was like this hole had been hollowed out inside me, begging for anything to fill it. Like hunger pangs when you’re starving and your body eats at your insides, searching for satiety when there’s no sustenance to be found. The idea of it’d become a vague memory, there to taunt me with what I could no longer have. Mocking me with loneliness and desolation, reminding me I’d lost the right to be loved.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeaving me to rot.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBecause without love, what’s left?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNothing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd that’s exactly what I’d become.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI’d accepted it because that’s what I deserved.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy life as a penance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA due.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the hazy morning light, I breathed in the coconut and the good and the girl. Swimming in her warmth, I lost myself in the way it felt to have Aly’s perfect little body all tucked up close to mine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eComfort\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt surrounded me now.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI brushed my fingers through the silken strands of her long, dark hair, so dark it looked black in the silhouettes of the soft morning light that filtered in through her bedroom window.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDid I deserve that comfort now? I had no fucking clue.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReally, I didn’t know anything aside for one fact.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI loved this girl.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI was in love with Aleena Moore.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow that I’d finally admitted it, it was all I could see.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePart of me wanted to climb out of bed and grab my journal, my fingers itching to pour my confusion out in words across the pages, to release the chaos tumbling through my mind. But at the cost of leaving Aly’s bed? Not a chance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA soft sigh slipped through her parted lips, and a little moan of contentment flowed from her mouth as she sank further into the security of my hold. That little sound lit every one of my nerves.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI pressed all my hard to her soft, holding her close against me as I flattened myself to the snowy skin of her back.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMmm . . . yeah.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI was in love with this girl.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd I wasn’t going to let her go.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot ever. Days without Aly were darkness, and I was done surrendering to it. The seedy shit I always found myself in. The self-destruction. That fucked-up kind of life was over because I had finally come to accept Aly \u003ci\u003ewas\u003c\/i\u003e my life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI’d been lying there in her bed awake for hours. Just thinking, trying to sort it all out while I watched her sleep. Guilt fluttered along the fringes of my consciousness. Pressing in. All night, I’d been asking myself if I was wrong by coming back here to her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWould she and our baby be better without me? Was I still taking what I had no right to? Was this gorgeous girl curled up in my arms tainted by me? Had I wrecked her good by putting part of myself inside of her? Would I destroy her?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI’d been certain I would. Now I had no idea what to believe. Because Aly had shattered all my beliefs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eComing back to Phoenix yesterday had terrified me. I had no idea what to expect or what I would find. All I felt was the intense need spurring me forward. One that told me I had to somehow get her back.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOr maybe I’d come here to win her for the first time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGod knew I’d spent so many nights while I’d been staying with Aly and her brother over the past summer, sneaking into her room, that she and I had never really felt real. I’d given us over to fantasy. Figured if I couldn’t have her, at least I could pretend. Take a little before I lost it all, before she became just another fucked-up memory.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTurned out she’d always been mine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI’d just been too much of a fool to see us for what we really were.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAly and I had grown up together, this girl a part of me for all my life. We grew up living across the street from each other, her brother, Christopher, my best friend, our mothers best friends, too, like our families were one and the same. Until the day I turned sixteen—I’d been so careless. Reckless. My chest tightened as visions flashed. Guilt pressed in as all the air seemed to get sucked from the room.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI killed my mother in a car accident that day.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI was driving us home from getting my license. I’d slipped quickly after that day, diving into drugs and alcohol, hoping it would cover up the suffocating guilt of what I’d taken from this world. But that lifestyle had never dimmed the shame, that shame growing so much that two months after my mother’s death, I tried to take my life. But Aly, this girl, had been there. Saved me.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat act had sent me away to juvie until the day I turned eighteen. My father had shunned me, and I’d thought I had nothing left in Phoenix, so when I was released, I ran. As far as I could, living for four years in New Jersey. But I’d been drawn back here. Should have always known it was Aly, that we were connected in ways I didn’t understand.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSix months ago I came back to Phoenix and ran into Christopher, who took me home to stay at his place. He was living with Aly. What grew between Aly and me was intense, and I soon found myself trying to keep from falling for her. But I did. I fell hard.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe kept what was going on between us a secret, mostly because I couldn’t accept what we were or what I was feeling. I’d always believed love wasn’t something I deserved. I didn’t get happiness. But we’d also kept it a secret because of her brother. He knew as well as I did I wasn’t good enough for his sister. So when he’d discovered us and everything had come to a head, I did what I did best. I ran. I fled everything I couldn’t face and ended up in Vegas for the last three months, once again trying to drown out the pain of my life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI thought I’d always be running until I crashed my bike one night three weeks ago. In that flash of a moment before I hit the pavement . . . in that singular moment . . . it was the first time I didn’t want to die since I’d turned sixteen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd I knew it was Aly. Even if I had to live with this guilt for all my life, I knew then I had to come back to her. And I finally made it to her last night.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow her back burned into my chest. As I slowly slipped my hand down to her abdomen, my breath got all locked up inside me. I was filled with both fear and a need I didn’t quite understand. My palm came to the flat plane of her stomach, to the place that harbored one of the greatest shocks of my life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeneath my touch, Aly’s stomach lifted and fell in a slow rhythm, her breaths calm in the depths of sleep.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePinching my eyes closed, I did my best to imagine what was happening inside her, this little life I had no idea how to manage.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf I’d expected anything, it sure as hell hadn’t been this—the news Aly had given me last night when I returned to Phoenix, the new weight that had been added to my shoulders.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYeah, a weight. I’d admit it. I wasn’t cut out to be a father, and the idea of it scared the shit out of me.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut this weight was no burden, and the strongest sense of devotion pumped a new kind of need through my veins. Something overpowering. Something right.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAly made me want to be better.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI pressed my hand firmer to her belly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis\u003c\/i\u003e made me want to be better.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLast night, I warned Aly that I was fucked-up and I was always going to be. I could feel it there, still simmering in my bones, the truth of who I was.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd damn, Aly and I were young. I got that. She was only twenty and I was twenty-two, and I knew that only added to our issues, too.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI buried my nose in her hair and held her as close as I could get her. Because I thought my love for her . . . maybe . . . maybe it was stronger than all of that shit.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGod, I hoped so.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI needed to be better, because there was no doubt these two needed me.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat scared me most was how much I needed them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAly sighed and mumbled, these cute, muddled sounds that did something crazy right at the center of my chest.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI nipped at her ear, coaxing her from sleep. “Baby,” I whispered low. I just needed to see her face. Talk to her. Make sure it was all as real as it had felt last night. “Come here.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn my arms, she slowly rolled over to face me and her eyes blinked open. The intense green slipped all over me, memorizing, searching my face in the shadows like maybe she was needing reassurance of the same thing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eToday was a first for us. Waking up next to her instead of sneaking out of her room in the middle of the night like the asshole I’d been, hiding us away and making her ashamed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA slow smile curved her perfect mouth, and I couldn’t do anything but lean down and brush mine against the fullness, kiss the girl who’d undone me.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy chest tightened. All the months I’d been gone, I hadn’t known what to do with what I felt for Aly. The truth of what she was that I’d been fighting for so long. Now it was prominent, thrumming wildly with every pulse of my heart.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Hi,” she said quietly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShifting, I wedged a knee between her legs as I climbed over her, hovered close. Damn, she was the most gorgeous thing. She stared up at me, her olive skin all smooth and flawless, her cheeks high and striking, defined.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStill, everything about her was soft.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eGood.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI cupped my hand around that trusting face. “Morning, beautiful.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGod, how perfect was it waking up next to her?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSoft fingertips fluttered along my jaw. Something powerful simmered in her eyes. “You stayed.” The words seemed to come from somewhere deep within her, revealing the fear she still kept harbored inside.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy gut twisted because I wanted to take all that away from her, all the pain she’d been living with during the months I’d been gone. For the longest time, I just looked down at her, a promise held in my stare. “Baby, I already told you, I’m not going anywhere.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy hold increased on her cheek, my nose an inch from hers. Because inside I already knew the answer to all the questions plaguing me.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAly needed me.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI let part of my weight settle on her, careful not to hurt her, because I was finished with all that hurting shit. I murmured close to her ear, “I need you to believe that. Yeah, we’ve got some shit to deal with, but we’re going to do it together. Okay?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeaning back, I let myself get lost in her hopeful gaze. Instinctively, I twisted a lock of her hair with my finger. A bond. My home.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eI’m not going anywhere.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAly blinked like she was absorbing what I’d said. She wound her arms around my neck and buried her face in it. A breath of words flooded out to kiss the skin just under my ear. “I believe in you, Jared. I always have.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAffection pounded against my ribs. God, it felt so good because this girl really fucking got me, understood when no one else could.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Thank you.” I gripped her face and swept my mouth across hers. “Thank you for seeing something in me that I didn’t know was there.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI kissed her deeper. My tongue dipped in to taste the sweet and the good, and Aly met me, her tongue all soft and welcoming.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd damn if just that little brush didn’t cause every last inch of my body to harden.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eMotherfucking trigger.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor so long I’d thought of her that way, provoking all these feelings inside me I didn’t believe I had the right to feel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTurned out I didn’t mind this trigger so much after all.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOutside her room, a door slammed, hard enough to shake Aly’s walls.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe both froze, eyes going wide, before our attention flashed to her closed door. For so many months, that door had hidden us away. Like some kind of sick, dirty little secret. Instead I should’ve been screaming out about how much this girl meant to me.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat’s how twisted I was. But I never claimed I was right in the head. Far from it. Thought I was doing her some kind of warped favor, saving face when in turn I’d just brought her shame.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWorry flashed in Aly’s eyes when the heavy footsteps plodded down the hall. A shadow blinked under the door when her brother passed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI dropped my forehead to hers, and I suppressed the groan that rose in my throat.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eFuck.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCould anyone blame me for being none too excited at the thought of going toe-to-toe with her brother Christopher? Him finding me here? Dude was not gonna be pleased. But that meeting was inevitable.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eNo time like the present\u003c\/i\u003e, I thought sarcastically. \u003ci\u003eSeize the day and all that\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePretty sure it was going to be Christopher seizing my balls.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLast night Aly told me she’d confided in him about the baby and how important it was to her that he’d been there for her in the time I was away.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Think I have some business to take care of. Why don’t you wait here or maybe grab a shower while I have a little chat with your brother?” I whispered softly, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWasn’t exactly a question. More like a plea.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAly didn’t need to deal with more of the shit storm I conjured, then fled from the moment it hit land. I wanted her to stay here where I could protect her from what needed to be said. Or maybe I just didn’t want her to hear it, whatever Christopher would spew, because in it would be nothing but the truth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAly grimaced, like maybe I’d just wounded her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI shook my head, knowing exactly what she was thinking. “Give me ten minutes, baby, then I’ll come back and we’ll spend the day in bed. Just you and me.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKnowing eyes peered up at me. The look alone called out my bluff. “You can’t start hiding stuff, Jared. We’re a\u003ci\u003e team\u003c\/i\u003e now,” she emphasized. “We’re supposed to do this together.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOld pain twisted my face, and I edged back a fraction. I was so used to handling shit on my own, just dealing, pushing it all aside so I could stay afloat. Really, I’d just been drowning.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd here was this girl, promising she’d stay by me and help me keep my head above water.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI searched for her hand and pressed her palm to my face. I hoped somehow she could feel the sincerity in my words. “This isn’t because I want to hide you away, Aly. But I \u003ci\u003eneed\u003c\/i\u003e to do this alone. I’m the one who fucked it up and I’m the one who has to make it right. I’ve known your brother a long, long time, and this isn’t just about you and me.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBefore I left, I’d lost control on my oldest friend, beaten him bloody, my mind a cloud of rage and agony. It was the night he busted in Aly’s door and discovered us together. He’d confronted us, and the tension between us had escalated fast. I didn’t even realize how far I’d slipped until it all came back into focus and I realized his body was a heap in the middle of Aly’s bedroom floor. After what I did, I had no idea if I even could make it right or if he’d give me the chance. No doubt, I didn’t deserve one. But for Aly, I was going to ask for it. Face him. Own up to the shit I still wasn’t sure I knew how to control.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI brushed my fingers through her hair. “Let me talk to him, okay? I need to start facing some stuff in my life. It started with you yesterday, coming back here. Now it needs to be him. I can’t keep running, can’t keep tossing walls up to hide behind. Please understand.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I get it, Jared. But I also need you to know you’re not alone anymore.” Tender fingers burned into my skin where she ran them down my jaw. “I want to be a part of whatever you have to face in this life so I can be a part of your future.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHer statement washed over me like a balm. Like overwhelming peace I didn’t deserve. But there was no stopping myself from submerging myself in it. I placed a closemouthed kiss to her lips, before I turned to the soft shell of her ear and whispered, “You are my life . . . my future.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNever had one without her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAly’s fingers curled in my neck as she drank in the words that had been locked up in my heart. I could feel them race through her veins and take hold. Because the two of us?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe fit.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis fucked-up puzzle that finally made sense.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReluctantly, I climbed from her bed. Grabbing the jeans I’d left in a pile on the floor, I couldn’t help but smirk as she watched me pull them on. Those eyes raked down me with pure need. It felt amazing that this girl wanted me as badly as I wanted her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHer fingers trembled toward me from where she lay on her stomach. I came back to her and brushed my lips over her fingertips. “I mean it, Aly.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I know,” she said, everything I never thought I’d have lighting in her eyes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen I turned and headed out her door. Quietly, I latched it shut behind me.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI stepped out of the sanctuary of Aly’s room. In one second flat, all my nerves were wringing me tight. My chest tightened, and I could hear my pulse drumming in my ears, this steady progression of unease spinning me up and stringing me out. Harshly, I blinked and squinted, trying to adjust to the bright light blazing in through the sliding glass door in the living room.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI had no clue what to expect when it came to Christopher, but I sure as hell didn’t want a repeat of the last time I walked out Aly’s door, that argument and fight that ended with me running to Vegas for three miserable months.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSome things were unforgivable. All the fucking deplorable sins I’d committed that would haunt me all my life. I drove my hand through my hair. Pretty sure beating my best friend to a bloodied pulp qualified as one of them.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFigured the fact I knocked up his little sister probably didn’t sit very well with him, either.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI drew in a deep breath and pushed all those thoughts aside.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDidn’t matter. I made the decision when I came here. I was finished hiding.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSilencing my feet, I inched down the hall, buying a little time, trying to feel him out.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI spotted him over the bar that separated the main room from the kitchen. He was flinging open cupboards and slamming them closed just as hard. I studied him as I passed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe shock of black hair on his head was a fucking disaster, sticking up everywhere, probably three inches longer than the last time I saw him. He wasn’t wearing anything but a pair of holey jeans. Color bled all over his back and arms, intricate tats sketched in beautiful patterns across his skin, the opposite of the horrors that stained mine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut I didn’t miss the way his muscles bunched in his shoulders, his entire being ticking with hostility and his movements harsh. He kept banging shit around, all wound up and fucking on edge. Tension radiated from him as he shoved two pieces of bread into the toaster.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAwareness prickled between us like a live wire, just waiting for the spark, one little movement that could cause us to combust.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith my stomach twisted in about fifteen knots, I rounded the bar, hesitating right between the border of the kitchen and the small, round dining table. He kept his back to me, like maybe I was dead to him, the way I should be.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eHe will hate me before I’m gone.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHow many times had that silent promise made its way through my thoughts? Enough times to know their truth—that was for sure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFinally, I pulled out a chair from the dining table, turned it around, and sat down facing him. Slumping forward, I rested my elbows on my knees. I rushed my hand over my face and down my chin, as if the action could wipe away all the shit we had to deal with.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChristopher had been my best friend all through my childhood, our tie thicker than blood, the brother I’d never had. Without question, he’d welcomed me in when I’d first come back to Phoenix last summer, the guy cool enough to overlook all the crimes that had sent me away in the first place years before.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd what had I done to repay his welcome? Lied straight to his fucking face, taking advantage of the situation—and his sister—with every turn I made.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShame. It was thick. Stifling. I hated what I’d done, how I handled things, the way everything had gone down when it all came to a head. The sad thing was I’d known it was coming. It’d been so clear what was building, and I’d just fucking stayed until the situation had exploded.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut it was because of Aly. Because of her\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eI couldn’t walk away all those months ago. Because of her I was sitting here today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStill, Christopher didn’t turn around. The toast popped up in the toaster, and he jerked a plate from the cupboard. Utensils clattered when he ripped open the drawer and grabbed a butter knife.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd I just sat there. Waiting. Giving him time to let out whatever was roiling inside him.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen he finally spoke, his voice was tight, laced with disgusted amusement. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the infamous Jared Holt. Figured I’d be seeing your sorry ass this morning. Saw that piece of shit bike sitting in that spot downstairs when I got home last night. Then I come inside and, lo and behold, my little sister’s door is all locked up tight.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA hot breath pushed from my lungs, and I tipped my head up to witness the disdain pouring from him when he turned around to meet my face. He crossed his arms over his chest and backed up against the counter. “How ya been, man?” It was all sarcasm and sneer. “Wait . . . let me tell you what it’s been like around here first.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Christoph—”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Why don’t you shut your mouth and listen to what I have to say? Or do you feel compelled to feed me some more bullshit first?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI sat back, staring up at the venom pouring from his gaze, welcoming it because I knew I had this coming. I mean, shit, I had no defense. I knew what I’d done.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“So how did it feel last night? Climbing right back into my little sister’s bed?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy jaw clenched at the accusation, and my lips pursed into a thin line to keep from lashing out. Dude knew how to hit me where it hurt. I jerked my head with one harsh shake, nausea winding through my being while he stared down at me like I was some kind of bastard traitor. And maybe I was, but I hated the way he saw it, thinking I was taking advantage of Aly. As if she wasn’t the most important person in this world. To him, I’d just been fucking his little sister.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Come on, man,” I muttered low. I rushed a shaky hand through my hair and cut my eye to the wall before I found the courage to look back at him. “It was \u003ci\u003enever\u003c\/i\u003e like that.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Wasn’t it?” The accusation dripped from his twisted mouth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“No.” The word grated from my throat with the sound of remorse, and my knee was fucking bouncing because I didn’t know how to handle it. That old warning flare was blaring, telling me to grab my stuff and go. I strangled it, silencing that shit because nothing could tear me away from Aly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAverting his gaze to the floor, he grasped the counter, contemplating something before he angled his chin up. “Did she tell you?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy nod was slow, filled with understanding of what he was asking. “Yeah.” Shame hung my head, and I felt a new kind of guilt wash over me. God, I wished I’d been here for all of it. Wished I’d been the first one to hear Aly’s news. Wished she hadn’t had to rely on him.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThank God she had him, though.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChristopher edged forward. Every step was calculated contention, anger, and hate. He worked his fists as he advanced on me. My chin lifted further with each step he took until he was right up in my face. “You think you can just come back here and act like nothing ever happened? Like everything is the same? Well, guess what, asshole. Nothing is the same.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAggression spiked, heated in my stomach. A tremor of that same fucking insanity that had tormented me for years rolled through my body. My own fists flexed, and I struggled under the weight of it. He was breathing his bitterness all over me, and it took about all I had not to shove it back in his face.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe laughed, smug, and his voice dropped lower. “Does me getting in your face piss you off, Jared? You want to hit me again? Watch me bleed? Lose control? Will that make you feel better?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe was baiting me. I knew it. Maybe that pissed me off the most. My jaw clenched and I squirmed under the anger blazing from green eyes that were so much like Aly’s.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSomething that sounded like fear wove into his words. “What happens when it’s Aly who pisses you off? Are you going to beat her, too? How about when that baby gets in your line of fire?”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvery nerve in my body fired—pressed and pulsed with a crushing pain.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Never.” I blinked hard. My hands fisted in my hair and I choked over the words. “Fuck, Christopher, I would never hurt them.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe took a single step back, still glaring down at me like the piece of shit I was. “Yeah, and you’re supposed to be my best friend, too, and you didn’t seem to mind letting it out on me.” Conflict reigned in his gaze, questions and worry and blatant hurt.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGuilt knotted in my throat, and I found myself trying to explain what had sent me over the edge that night. “I know you didn’t mean to, but you hurt her and I just . . . I lost it, man. The thought of anyone hurting her makes me crazy.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUnderstanding flashed like a bolt across his face before his eyes darkened. The anger from seconds before was replaced with disappointment. “Yeah, well, guess what, Jared. You hurt her, too. You want to know what it was like while you were gone? Her not knowing where you were, or if you were coming back? The pain she’s been going through? And guess who was here taking care of her while she puked her guts out for three straight months. Guess who held her while she cried and wondered how in the hell she was going to make it. \u003ci\u003eMe\u003c\/i\u003e, Jared. And now I’m not going to stand aside and let you ruin her. Not after everything you’ve already put her through.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eI ruin everything I touch.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe thought slammed me like a kick to the gut. Air wheezed down my throat as I struggled to pull it into the well of my lungs. That was something I was going to have to come to terms with—the fact that I didn’t have the first clue what Aly had suffered while I was away. I only knew my own pain, the fucking misery I’d endured day after day—all those days praying she’d somehow find a way without me, not knowing I’d walked away and left her with the greatest reminder of me I could have. Marking her. Scoring my body into hers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEven if I hadn’t left her with our baby inside her, I’d been a fool to believe she could ever forget about me. As if I didn’t feel the honesty in her touch and hadn’t witnessed the truth in her eyes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eAly loved me.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI shot to standing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCaught off guard, Christopher stumbled back. I began to pace. I turned back\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Berkley","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48532133511397,"sku":"NP9780451467973","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780451467973.jpg?v=1773182775","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/come-to-me-softly-isbn-9780451467973","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}