Whispers of a Broken Halo

by Glines, Abbi

  I almost went back to the apartment, but I remembered Rio had taken Cullen with him to the market today while I went to quit my job. Rio had been so happy this morning about my quitting that it made me feel all warm inside. Remembering the things he’d said to me last night before we passed out from sex also made life seem almost perfect.

  When I pulled into the parking lot of the market, it was clear summer had arrived. The place was packed. I drove around to the back and parked where the employees parked. I would get Cullen and take him to go get lunch before we went back to the apartment for his nap.

  I walked toward the entrance that Rio used when he was stocking the shelves, figuring he had probably kept Cullen in the back today. I heard a female giggle and turned toward the sound. Then, I heard Rio’s deep voice, although I didn’t hear what he was saying.

  The giggling female was a tall blonde, wearing white shorts and one of the employee T-shirts. Rio was grinning as he picked up another basket of corn and put it on a shelf. The girl continued to talk to him, and he nodded his head, as if they were in a conversation.

  I stood there, not wanting to get too close so that I wouldn’t be seen and struggled to hear their conversation. Rio wasn’t doing anything wrong. She was an employee, and he was talking to her while he worked. It was just the way they were standing too close. He was smiling at her. She was flirting with him. He had to know that. I couldn’t hear them well, but she wanted his attention.

  This was what I feared. Him finding someone else he was attracted to. Someone who didn’t have a kid. Someone new and exciting. He didn’t love me—or he hadn’t said it at least. I had no security that he would be around a month from now. He’d said things that made me think he would, and I wanted to believe it.

  But there was this.

  Maybe he wouldn’t mean for it to happen, but it could. He could meet someone like that girl and fall in love with her. It wouldn’t be his fault. Fate had never been on my side, and it would be stupid of me to believe it was going to be now.

  I took a deep breath, relaxed my shoulders, and put a smile on my face. Then, I made my way to them. I was here to get Cullen, and spying on them was rude.

  “I’m back. Where’s Cullen?” I said, announcing my arrival since neither of them had noticed.

  Rio jerked his head around to see me. “That was fast,” he said, smiling as he set the basket down and walked over to me. “It’s done?” he asked.

  I nodded. Yep, I quit my job, and you’re here, letting a pretty blonde flirt with you , I thought sourly.

  No, I wasn’t going to let my head go there. They’d just been talking.

  “Where’s Cullen?” I asked again.

  “Oh, I’ll go get him,” the blonde said, and I looked over Rio’s shoulder to see her smiling in Rio’s direction. “He’s with Hazel,” she told me.

  Then, she turned and sauntered off with an obvious sway of her hips, although Rio wasn’t looking at her leave. I guessed she had done that just in case he was watching.

  “I can go get him,” I said.

  Rio shook his head. “Vicky has got it,” he said and slid his hand around my waist to pull me close to him.

  At the moment, I wasn’t feeling much like being close, but I went anyway.

  “Gives me a minute to do this,” he said, then bent his head and covered my mouth with his.

  Not kissing him back was impossible because I loved him and his kisses. However, I must have done something different because he stopped kissing me, frowning.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, pulling me tighter against him.

  “Nothing,” I replied with a smile I did not feel.

  “Yes, there is. You’re stiff, and you normally melt right into me.”

  I tried to relax, but it didn’t work.

  “I’m fine,” I said, feeling frustrated.

  “Tell me what’s wrong.” His voice sounded stern, as if he could demand an answer from me.

  “Aunt Bryn!” Cullen called out my name, and I broke free of Rio to turn and smile at Cullen.

  “Hey, buddy,” I said as he ran to hug me.

  “I stocked apples with Hazel,” he said proudly.

  “You can tell me all about it over burgers and fries,” I told him.

  I stood back up and looked at the blonde who had brought Cullen to me and was not leaving Rio’s presence, it seemed. My mood was going from bad to worse real fast. I had to get out of here.

  “Well, I’ll see you later. Thanks for keeping him, or thank Hazel for me,” I said and took Cullen’s hand to leave.

  “Bryn,” Rio said my name.

  I looked back at him. “Yes?”

  “You’re just gonna leave?” he asked me, looking confused and hurt.

  He did not get to be hurt. He had Blondie over there, ready to flirt with him, and he could smile at her all afternoon. I was the one who got to be hurt. Me. Not him. I didn’t flirt with guys. I didn’t smile and talk to other men like he was doing with this girl.

  Okay, so I was doing what I’d said I wouldn’t do, but the more that girl stood there with him, the harder it was not to be jealous. He was looking at me, still waiting on an answer. My eyes shifted to the blonde, then back to him.

  “Looks as if you have enough company,” I replied, then took Cullen’s hand and headed out to the car.

  If that wasn’t a complete bitch thing to do, I didn’t know what was.

  When had I become this person?

  When you fell in love with a man who you were terrified of losing because he didn’t feel as strongly about you, that was when you became this person.

  “I learned how to weigh the bananas and tell Hazel how much they weigh, so she could ring them up,” Cullen said, and I smiled down at him.

  “That’s awesome, buddy!” I replied.

  My chest felt tight, and I felt sick to my stomach. I didn’t like this. Normally, when I left Rio, we kissed, and I would have butterflies in my stomach. I missed that.

  I was going to have lunch with Cullen, and I was not going to do it while on the verge of tears. I had to be stronger than this. After he was buckled in safely, we headed to the burger place.

  We had just sat down at a table when Cullen’s eyes lit up, and he waved his hand. I turned to see Rio walking toward us. He came over and slid in beside Cullen and directly in front of me. His eyes locked on mine, and I glared back at him. I hadn’t invited him to lunch.

  “Have you ordered yet?” he asked me.

  “No, we just sat down!” Cullen told him.

  Rio shot him a smile, then swung his gaze back to me. “Good. I’m starving.”

  “We didn’t know you were coming too,” Cullen said and took the crayons the waitress had set on our table with the menus. “I want the cheeseburger, fries with cheese sauce, and a chocolate shake,” Cullen told me and then began coloring his paper menu.

  “That sounds good to me,” Rio replied to him but didn’t stop looking at me.

  I decided to break the staring contest and picked up the menu.

  “You always get the bacon cheeseburger, medium, with no ketchup and a side of fries,” Rio said.

  I knew what I always got, but right now, I wanted to look at the menu and not him. He continued to stare at me, and I went on ignoring him. I didn’t want to be mad at him. I wanted to look at his dimple that I loved so much.

  “Did you tell Aunt Bryn about how you got to help me pick the blueberries?” Rio asked.

  “No, he didn’t,” I replied. “Did Vicky help you too?” I didn’t look up when I asked it.

  “No, just me and Rio,” Cullen answered. “We picked two big baskets of them. Huge baskets.”

  The heat from Rio’s stare was making it hard for me to concentrate on the menu. I closed it, deciding to give up looking at it, just as the waitress appeared and took our orders. Rio gave her his and Cullen’s order, then looked at me.

  “Bacon cheeseburger, medium, with no ketchup, fries, and a water please,” I said and th
en studied my hands in my lap while Rio watched me.

  “Couldn’t find anything new you wanted?” he asked me with a smile in his voice.

  Damn him. What did he have to smile about? He was going to ruin lunch. At least for me. Cullen was thrilled he was here.

  “Hey, Drake,” Rio called out.

  I wanted to roll my eyes. Now, we had Drake to add to this lunch.

  “Y’all had the same lunch idea,” Drake said, and I smiled at him.

  “Yeah, uh, would you sit with Cullen a minute? I need to help Bryn get something out of her eye.”

  What? My eye?

  “Sure,” Drake replied.

  “I don’t have any—”

  Rio took my arm and pulled me up.

  “Yeah, you do,” he interrupted me, then held on to my arm and walked me toward the restroom doors.

  I started to protest when he opened the door and pushed me inside, then locked it.

  He forced me to back up against the sink and then placed his hands on either side of me, caging me in. “Do you have any fucking idea how damn hot it is that you’re jealous?” he asked me, then leaned in and rubbed his lips over my jawline. “Jesus, you drive me crazy,” he muttered. “As if there were any other female on this planet who could compare to you. But if you want to get jealous, then please feel free. My dick is so fucking hard right now; there is going to be a zipper imprint on it.”

  I shoved him back off me before I started panting and letting him do whatever he wanted. “She was flirting with you, and you were letting her. You were encouraging it! You liked it.”

  He grinned and picked me up and sat me on the counter. “Keep it up, and I’m gonna have to fuck you right here,” he said, then leaned in and ran his tongue along my bottom lip.

  His hands slid up my thighs and inside the legs of my shorts.

  “Do you like her?” I asked, feeling pathetic.

  He stopped and looked at me, a wrinkle between his brow. “What?” he asked me.

  “You heard me.”

  “No man who has you in his arms and his bed is going to want anyone else.” He smirked after he said it. “There will only be me though. No other man is gonna get to find that out.”

  “She was flirting with you. You were letting her,” I pointed out, although I was losing my steam, the more his fingers moved higher.

  “No, I wasn’t. She might have been, but I swear, that was not how I flirt.”

  “You laughed at something she said.”

  He frowned, then nodded. “Yeah, she told me about Cullen coming out of the bathroom and announcing to Hazel that he had a really big poop and felt much better.”

  I laughed. He grinned.

  “Let’s go eat, then get Cullen down for a nap, and you can act jealous again while I fuck you in the shower.”

  I laughed some more.

  The ache was gone, and I could take a deep breath again.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Sex tonight had been different. It was sweet, and Rio had been gentle. As much as I enjoyed the rougher stuff and the dirty things he said while we were doing it tonight, I’d felt as if he were treasuring me. He pulled my back against his stomach and held me close to him when we were done.

  “I walked you home from school. You were reading To Kill a Mockingbird for English class and worrying over the book report you had to write,” he said.

  I knew he was talking about the day he had found his mother. It was also the last time I had seen him until we moved here. Finding out he was gone had been devastating for me, but I knew that day must have been a nightmare he could never erase.

  “You bought me an ice cream,” I reminded him.

  Money wasn’t something either of us had had back then. I still didn’t know how he’d afforded the ice cream cone.

  “Strawberry with sprinkles,” he added.

  “You remembered,” I replied, surprised by the detail.

  “There isn’t much I don’t remember about you,” he said. “Or the life we lived there.”

  A sadness crawled over me.

  Rio had been my savior. When I needed someone, he showed up, and for a moment in time, I was happy. He made me smile when I rarely had a reason to smile. When the world was against me, he was there beside me and often standing in the way of its hard blows.

  Then, one day, he was gone. I mourned the loss of him in my life, but it was then I realized good things weren’t meant for me. They would always be taken away. Accepting that was what had gotten me through school, living with my aunt, and then life with Tory.

  He had walked me to my aunt’s trailer that day and flashed me a smile that made the butterflies in my stomach go crazy. My aunt had already left for work, and it felt as if luck was on my side. But then the ambulance and cop cars surrounded his trailer. Neighbors came outside to watch, and I stood there, looking out the kitchen window, terrified yet hoping that Rio would come tell me what was happening. He’d never come.

  “I worried about you for the longest time. Wished I had a number I could call. Anything to make sure you were okay,” he told me.

  “Really?” I asked, turning in his arms to look at him.

  He smirked. “Yeah. I was pretty damn sure I was in love with you back then.”

  “Oh,” I replied.

  Did I tell him I had been in love with him then and I was now? He cared about me. I was sure of that. Today had shown me that. I was always expecting the happy to be taken away from me. If I admitted I loved him, then life might take that from me too.

  “I didn’t know anything about love back then,” he said.

  I started to turn my back to him again. I didn’t want him reading my expressions. He stopped me before I could and took my chin between his two fingers so that I had to meet his gaze. He was smiling just enough for his dimple to show. I wanted to reach up and touch it. He had to be the most beautiful man alive.

  “I was a stupid kid, fascinated with a gorgeous girl who wore clothes three sizes too big and had the sweetest smile in the world. But it wasn’t love,” he said.

  His description of me back then was nice. I hadn’t seen myself that way.

  “I’m still stupid at times, but I’m not a kid anymore,” he said, then pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “I’m addicted to you, intoxicated, obsessed, and in love. I know how that feels now.”

  I stared up at him, my heart thudding in my chest.

  “You love me?” I asked.

  “The crazy kind, yes.” He smirked.

  I sat up and covered my cheeks with my hands. They felt hot. I turned and looked down at him, still lying there, watching me.

  “We made love! That was why it was different,” I said more to myself than to him.

  Rio chuckled. “Baby, we’ve been making love for a while now. Just because I’m talking dirty and spanking your ass doesn’t mean it’s not making love.”

  I shook my head. “No, I mean, you were sweet and gentle. I felt special.”

  Rio frowned then and reached up to grab my arm, then pulled me down onto his chest. “You’ve always been special.”

  I held his face in my hands. “I love you,” I told him, realizing I hadn’t said the words back.

  He turned his head just enough to kiss my palm. “Yeah, I thought you might, but today, after the little fit you threw over Vicky, I was sure then.”

  I pressed my lips together and tried to scowl, but I was too happy. I couldn’t fully do it.

  “If you ever think I’ve done something wrong, don’t leave me. Talk to me first. Don’t get me wrong; you can throw a jealous tantrum anytime you want. It makes me horny as fuck. You are adorable, doing it. But don’t leave me. Because I swear to you, there is no way I’d mess this up.”

  I started to lie back down beside him when I realized I had to admit something to him. I’d come close many times and not been able to say it, but he needed to know. I had to get it off my chest.

  “I need to tell you something,” I said, not able to look at hi
m. I was afraid if I did, I wouldn’t be able to get it out.

  “Okay, I’m listening,” he replied.

  I closed my eyes tightly and took a deep breath. There shouldn’t be secrets between us , I reminded myself. “I moved us to The Shores because I knew you lived here,” I blurted out.

  Rio chuckled, and I opened my eyes, then turned to look at him. I hadn’t expected him to laugh.

  “I figured that out a while back,” he told me, then reached for my arm and pulled me to his chest.

  “You don’t think that’s stalkerish or crazy?” I asked him.

  He played with my hair. “I think it makes me the luckiest damn guy I know.”

  I sighed, relieved by his response and that I no longer had any secrets. This was joy. I wasn’t sure I had experienced it before. Deep down, I was afraid of what fate would do to me. I hoped that life, just this one time, would give me a break and let me have this.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Rio

  The summer was coming to an end. For the past few days, Bryn had been planning Cullen’s birthday next week. Now that he was at a kids camp during the day while we worked at the farmers market, he had some friends to invite, and I thought she was more excited about it than he was. Cullen was more excited about the fact that he would start kindergarten soon. He had his Spider-Man backpack already by his bed with his school supplies.

  I rarely stayed at my place anymore. I wanted to talk to Bryn about moving in and taking up the rent payment. She hadn’t mentioned us making our living arrangements permanent yet, but I thought she might. I was giving her time.

  “Is Bryn in the office?” Hazel asked, breaking into my thoughts as I did inventory in the stockroom.

  “Yeah. Why?”

  Hazel pressed her lips together nervously. “Uh, well, there is someone asking for her.”

  “Who?” And why did Hazel look so uncomfortable? I put my smart tablet down on a shelf, ready to go see for myself.