Broken Course (Wrecked and Ruined #3)(62)

At the mere mention of his name, her face goes pale. "Oh my God." Her chin begins to quiver. "Fuck, f*ck, f*ck. I outed him. I thought—"

"I’ve known for a while, Sarah. You didn’t out him."

"Oh Jesus. I’m going to throw up," she announces, bolting from the bed.

"Stop." I pull her back down, but as she threatens to make good on her promise to puke, I decide maybe helping her to the bathroom is a safer option.

"I can’t believe I said that!" she shouts at her reflection in the mirror.

"Why are you puking all the time?" I tease, sitting down on the side of her bathtub.

"Oh God, why did I tell you that? I am such a f*cking bitch."

"You really are," I say with a laugh, and she glares at me in the mirror. "I’m kidding! You were pissed. We all say stupid shit when we’re mad. Just apologize. He’s a big boy. He’ll get over it."

"Leo, you don’t understand. That is not a line you cross. Even if you’re pissed."

"Well, it happened. Now, all you can do is try to right the wrong."

"That sounds like some seriously hypocritical advice." She crosses her arms over her naked chest.

Reaching up, I snag her elbow and pull her down to sit on my lap, teetering her off balance so she has no choice but to hold my shoulder to stay upright.

"See, now that was a bitchy comment."

Her shoulders fall. "I’m sorry. I just—"

"Feel guilty. I got that. But stop being defensive. I’m not here to judge you and I sure as hell don’t expect you to judge me either."

"I’m really sorry." Tears begin to well in her eyes.

"It’s okay, ángel. It’s been an emotional night. But don’t let it happen again. Next time, I won’t be so forgiving." I sit her back upright and she curls into my chest.

"We’re a mess, Leo."

"I can handle a mess," I say matter-of-factly, rising to my feet with Sarah securely in my arms.

"Are you sure? Because I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to go now."

I set her down on the bed. "I just spent the entire night fighting to get you back. I’m not going anywhere. We might be a mess, but you’re my mess, Sarah."

"I don’t think you really understand what you’re getting into."

"I don’t think you really understand that I’m not getting into anything. I’m already in so deep there isn’t a chance in hell that I could ever turn back." I relax on the bed and sling out an arm, nodding for her to crawl into my side. She quickly obeys. "Besides, I’ve known from the beginning what I was getting into. It’s you who just got all of this sprung on you tonight." I look down to find her staring up at me.

"I meant it earlier when I said I don’t care about your past, Leo. I have questions, but none of them are whether I should be with you. I just want to learn more about who you are so I can better understand what goes on in your head."

"So the only thing you question is why I should be with you?"

"Um, pretty much." She gives me a tentative smile.

"Well, how about this? I’ll make all the decisions for Leo, and you make all the decisions for… Hmm, just let me make the decisions," I tease.

She slaps my chest. "I love you," she breathes on a content sigh.

"I love you too. But I want Thursdays."

"Huh?"

"I want to talk on Thursdays, so in case things get rough, we can spend the weekend together making it smooth again."

"Of course he would pick Thursdays," she mumbles to herself.

"What’d you say?" I ask.

"Nothing. Yeah. Thursdays will work."

"Good. Now go to sleep. I have a few days off, so we’re going somewhere tomorrow. I don’t know where yet. But we need a vacation."

"We just got back from Puerto Rico," she laughs.

"Sleep," I repeat.

She doesn’t say another word. Moments later, her arm grows heavy across my chest and her breathing evens out.

I close my eyes and drift off to sleep, knowing this won’t be the last time I have to fight for Sarah.

I didn’t tell her nearly enough.





THE MORNING after Leo and I got back together, we slept until noon then got up and headed for the airport. Leo had no bag or clothes with him, and he convinced me to do the same thing. So, armed with only my purse and the toothbrush I snuck inside, we left for an impromptu vacation.


When we arrived at the airport, Leo walked to the desk and asked for the cheapest flight they had going anywhere. We were given two choices: Detroit or Boston. Two hours later, we were in the air and on the way to Massachusetts.

We didn’t do a lot while we were there. We stopped at a local mall and picked up a few necessities then found a hotel downtown. We were only there for two nights, but Leo was right—it was a much-needed vacation. We didn’t get deep or talk about the issues that were looming over our heads. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t ask him some questions. The fact that he already knew most of my drama made me brave enough to ask. He didn’t bat an eye as he told me about the ten months he’d been working undercover before meeting Erica, but I always stopped him before he got to that night when everything went wrong.