Bryce

Chapter 30

Bryce sat in his home office finishing up some work before it was time to head into the city for Samantha’s last performance of the week. They hadn’t said anything more about moving in together, but in the two weeks since he brought her home from her canceled appointment, she’d only been to her place once to pick up clothes.

It wasn’t the easiest commute, so Bryce insisted on driving her back and forth as much as he could to take some of the burden off her. Their much-needed discussion cleared up a lot of things between them. It seemed to lessen the guilt, knowing they were each grieving Brandon in their own way. Samantha and Bryce weren’t together out of spite. It was just something that happened. A connection that couldn’t be ignored, no matter how hard they’d tried.

When his phone rang, he assumed it was Samantha, making sure he didn’t forget her. He had a lot of work to do, and she had made plans with Meka, so she talked him into dropping her off at the PATH station so she could take the train into the city. Instead of her name lighting up across the screen, it was Lizzy’s.

“Hello?” he answered hesitantly. Their relationship had grown almost to what someone might call a friendship, but it was strange for her to call him.

“Are you planning on coming into the city any time soon?” she asked without wasting any time.

“Yeah,” he said, hesitating once again. “Why?”

“I have a proposition for you,” she said before stopping to correct herself. “That didn’t sound right. A proposal? An offer?” She laughed. “Whatever you want to call it, if you can spare a few to meet up for coffee I can tell you about it.”

“Well, I need to leave in a little while to pick up Samantha. I have some time. I was just going to hang out at the coffee shop down from the theater until she’s ready anyway.”

“Perfect. I think I know the one. I’ll meet you there.”

She hung up before he had a chance to dig for information. With a heavy sigh, he stood from his desk, grabbed the book he planned to read while he waited, and headed to the door. He hated driving in a coat, so he carried his layers with him and tossed them all onto the passenger seat.

The drive wasn’t bad. It was nice driving opposite the heavy traffic pattern. He wouldn’t be able to drive her back and forth during the day, so they needed to come up with a different solution at some point. Knowing the drive like he knew the back of his hand, he used the time to try to figure out what Lizzy could want. The job was mostly complete, and she contacted him after business hours, so he figured it wasn’t work related.

By the time he parked his truck in a nearby parking garage and made the cold walk to the coffee shop, he was no closer to figuring out what she wanted. He could see her sitting in the back corner, her foot tapping as if she was nervous. The bells on the door jingled when he opened it, drawing her attention.

“Hey,” she said as he walked up to the table. “I’m glad you were able to meet me. How have you been? How’s Samantha?”

“She’s doing good. Busy, but good. Things are easier now that they are in production. Do you want a coffee?” he offered. “I’m going to go order one for myself.”

“Sure. Regular coffee with cream and sugar, please.”

While the coffee was being prepared, he went back to guessing what she could possibly want. It was silly since she was going to tell him in a few minutes, but he didn’t want to be blindsided by any bad news. Things were just beginning to calm down.

“Here you go.” He passed her a steaming mug of coffee before taking a seat across from her. “So, what’s up? Everything okay?”

“Everything is great, actually.” She took a sip of her coffee.

He waited patiently for her to continue, his feeling of unease growing with each passing moment. He sipped his coffee in an attempt to distract himself, but it wasn’t working. After another few minutes, he gave up.

“What do you want, Lizzy? Why did you have me meet you? Yes, we get along and shit, but we don’t just randomly meet for coffee.”

Lizzy chuckled. “Sorry. I just wanted to let you know my dad has a building in Bayonne. He was originally going to buy everyone out and do a full reno but decided not to. There’s an empty three-bedroom that’s been mostly gutted and is ready to be completed.”

He squinted in confusion as he looked at her. Once again, he waited for her to continue, but she didn’t. The way she shifted in her chair let him know she was nervous. “Okay, why did you call me here to tell me that? Not to sound like a dick, but you know I don’t do much residential work.”

“I hope I’m not overstepping, but with Samantha being pregnant, I kind of assumed you were thinking about getting a place together. If not, that’s fine. No judgment. But, Bayonne would be the perfect location. Easy to commute from.”

Bryce struggled to keep his jaw from hitting the floor. He hadn’t seen that one coming. He just knew it was going to be some bullshit bringing him to the coffee shop, not some potential good news.

“Oh. Well, for now, she’s been staying with me most of the time.”

“And she’s enjoying the forty-five minutes to an hour commute each way?”

He wasn’t sure why he was being so tight-lipped about it. The woman already knew Samantha was pregnant because of his big mouth; what difference did it make if she knew he wanted them to get a place together? There was no need to go into all of the details about how she wasn’t exactly on board with the idea.

“Not so much,” he admitted. “We’ve talked about it, but nothing more than that. I’m pretty sure we aren’t ready to buy, but thanks for letting me know.

“If the price was right?”

He sat back in his chair, arms folded across his chest. “Why are you so interested? I’m sure your dad can have it sold in no time. And we’ll find something when we’re ready. I do appreciate the heads up, though.”

“It’s my unit. I bought it a couple years ago but… things changed. I don’t need anything that big anymore. I’ve been on the fence about selling, and I thought it would be perfect for you.”

Bryce didn’t move from his position, his arms still crossed as he thought about what she said. According to Samantha, Lizzy’s affair with Brandon would have been around the time she bought the place, or not long after. But even if that’s when things went bad with their marriage, it didn’t explain why the place was in the middle of a renovation.

“Has it been sitting there gutted for the past few years?”

She shook her head sadly. “No. I got it in my head that I wanted to go through with all the plans we had when we were married, but that was a mistake. Every part of it made me sick. So, I called it off. I’d rather sell it cheap and let the new owners do what they want with it. You would be able to do most of it yourself if you wanted. Between that and how low I’m willing to go, you’d really make out in the deal. If you’re interested.”

It didn’t take a detective to figure out there was more to the story than just her marriage going bad, but he didn’t pry. It wasn’t his business. The more he thought about it, the more inclined he was to agree with Lizzy. It did sound perfect. He would have to be careful about how he broached the subject with Samantha, considering they hadn’t exactly come to an agreement about where the relationship was heading.

“When are you putting it on the market?”

“Obviously I’m not in a hurry. I was hoping to do it soon, but if you want some time to think about it, I can wait. I’ll let you guys take a look at it first.”

“Okay. Give me a few days to talk it over with Samantha, and I’ll let you know. Thanks for thinking of us.”

Lizzy finished her coffee and left after reiterating how perfect the place would be for them. All he could do while he continued to sit at the coffee shop was imagine what life would be like if they lived together in a place meant for them. A place without memories. A place that felt equally like home to both of them. All he had to do was convince Samantha to take a look. The renovation would be easy.

Samantha woke up to the smell of coffee and… bacon? She opened her eyes to find Bryce sitting on the side of the bed holding a tray of food. Eggs, bacon, toast, and cantaloupe. A glance at the nightstand led her to the steaming coffee she’d been anticipating since she opened her eyes.

“Good morning,” he said, smiling when her gaze found his.

“Good… morning?” she greeted him hesitantly.

Sitting up, she scooted until her back was against the headboard. As soon as she was situated, he placed the tray over her lap and added the mug of coffee to it as she continued to watch him suspiciously.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” she asked, her tone dripping with skepticism.

“Why are you so suspicious?” he asked, laughing softly. “Do you not trust me?”

She dug into her food. After taking a bite of each item on her plate, she finally responded to his question. “Random breakfast in bed? No, I don’t trust you. Something is definitely up.”

He tilted his head back and laughed. If she wasn’t so busy devouring her food, she would have been annoyed. She felt the bed shift as he climbed in next to her, but her attention was on the tray in front of her. Once she had finished, she finally looked over at him and prepared to demand he tell her what was going on.

“I think it’s time for us to get a place together,” Bryce blurted before she had a chance to demand answers.

“I thought I pretty much moved in here. Is this your way of telling me I’ve worn out my welcome?”

“No,” he answered quickly. “I’m saying I don’t want this to end. And I don’t want it to be like you just came here one day and then never left. Not to mention, the commute is bad now, but it’ll really be bad once you start a new show and get on a rehearsal schedule.”

It would be a lie if she told him she hadn’t thought of that. She was already getting tired of the commute, and it had only been two weeks. They’d gotten the new paternity test results back, and they were as they expected. Bryce was ruled out as the father and Brandon confirmed.

“I’m surprised you still want to do that knowing…” she said before trailing off.

Before she realized he’d moved, his fingers gently gripped her chin as he turned her head to face him. “Look at me when I say this.”

Swallowing hard, she dragged her gaze up to meet his. “I’m not sure how many ways I need to tell you this before you accept it. I love you. I want you. And I’m honored to have the chance to be in this baby’s life. He’s my flesh and blood and I don’t want anyone raising him but me. As far as I’m concerned, he’s mine and I will not spend days and nights away from the two of you.”

“Oh. Okay,” she breathed.

“Now. As I was saying, I want us to get a place together. There’s a place in Bayonne that sounds pretty perfect for us. Well, it will be once I finish it.”

“Have you been looking for places without me?” she asked, slightly annoyed at the thought of it. “I know we haven’t talked about it, but I would like to be a part of it. Not just look at the places you deem acceptable.”

“No. It’s not like that,” he explained. “I haven’t been looking. This just kind of fell into my lap.”

She moved the breakfast tray to the floor beside the bed so she could sit yoga-style, facing him. Giving him her undivided attention, she listened as he explained how the perfect place landed in his lap.

“We’re trying to move to a place without memories. I know we cleared the air with her, but I’m not sure I want to think of her when I’m in my house.” Even if the house was amazing.

“It doesn’t sound like they even lived there. But even if they did, it’ll be a brand-new unit once it’s finished. New walls. New floors. New appliances. New everything. And you get to pick it all out. And since I’ll be the one doing the work, just think of me in there all sweaty as I do hot construction shit.”

Samantha burst out laughing at that. “Hot construction shit?” she echoed.

“That’s not why you like me? No construction worker fantasies?” he teased.

She snorted with laughter. “While yes, you are hot, I don’t have a construction worker fetish. It’s you I love, not your job. Although, it’ll be nice having someone who can fix up the house and carry out my ideas after too many DIY television shows.”

He laughed briefly before his face grew serious. “So, you want to at least look at it? If you take a look and aren’t into it, then we’ll keep looking. She said she’s willing to price it low since it’s technically a fixer-upper. Priced low enough for someone to hire a contractor…”

“And you would be the contractor. So, it’ll be an even better deal that way,” Samantha said, filling in what he wasn’t saying. “Okay. Let’s look at it.”

“So, you want to buy a place together?” Bryce confirmed.

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she nodded her head. She never expected to be ready to move in with anyone so soon. Even if the paternity test ruled Brandon out as the father, she didn’t think she was ready to move in with anyone. But the two weeks she’d spent at Bryce’s house was the wake-up call she needed. She could either waste time fighting her feelings, or she could accept that it was finally her chance to be happy. She chose happiness.

“Yeah. Let’s do it. Let’s get a place together.”

Before she had the words out of her mouth, Bryce had his hands cupping both sides of her face as his mouth took hers. His kiss was desperate, as though he thought she might disappear. Gripping his shirt, she pulled him closer and kissed him until they were both out of breath, only pulling apart for air.

“Okay,” he said after a moment. “Okay, we’re doing this.”

“Yeah. We are. I guess that would make us really official,” Samantha said slowly.

Bryce placed his hand along the length of her jaw, carefully tilting her head to look at him. “We were official the night we found Asher. After the bathtub, there was no way I could stay away from you. But you were it for me the moment I woke up next to you in the hotel room.”

Samantha looked at him in surprise. She had thought of that morning every day since it happened. Between the first glimpse of him leaving the bathroom freshly showered, to the fact that he hadn’t touched her even though she slept half naked beside him.

“The hotel room? Really?” she asked, recalling how pissed off he’d gotten when she asked if anything had happened between them.

“Yeah. The hotel room. When I woke up with your body pressed up against me, it was all I could do to keep from touching you. That’s why I wasn’t in bed when you woke up. I had to take a shower to get some space between us,” he explained, pausing to flash her a devious grin. “That’s also why I got so pissed when you asked if we’d done anything. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to. But the fact that you even had to ask made me determined to show you what it’s like being with a better man. Even if we didn’t end up together, I needed you to know what better was like.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too. Will you be my girlfriend?” he asked with a teasing grin.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. “Well since you asked so nicely—”

Bryce yanked her into his lap, causing her to squeal with laughter. Before she could say anything else, he covered her mouth in a tender kiss, his firm hold causing her to relax against him. He was it for her, too. There was no denying her feelings.

“I’m ready to do this,” he said, pulling away just enough to break the kiss. “All of this. For as long as you’ll allow me to.”