Bound by Fear by Jayce Carter

Author:Jayce Carter [Carter, Jayce]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary Romance Fiction
Publisher: Totally Entwined Group
Published: 2021-11-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Connor cursed to himself, pacing their living room. “Three days.”

“Give her time.” Garrison sat at the kitchen counter, his papers spread across it as he often did. The man hated to work in a closed room, choosing instead to set up in the middle of the living room.

Garrison claiming their central living space didn’t normally bother Connor—they’d lived together for years, so he was used to his friend’s oddities—but Connor’s mood was beyond foul. He could pretend it was just a random hissy fit, but he damn well knew the cause. “How can she ignore us for three days?”

“Because she’s nervous,” Garrison answered without looking up. “We got under her skin and she’s trying to shore up her defenses.”

Connor shook his head. Garrison was right, of course, but that hardly soothed him. After taking her apart that night, after tucking her against his chest for over an hour as she’d come down from her high, Sunny had retreated. It wasn’t uncommon, even with people who were perfectly well adjusted, so it wasn’t a shock that she’d done it.

Sex was…complicated. So fucking easy to do in the moment and so hard to understand or come to terms with later.

Or so he’d come to learn after spending years dealing with subs.

So not hearing from her the next day wasn’t a surprise. She’d responded with one-word answers to any text about her health, about how she felt, as if she knew ignoring those would bring one of them running. She gave just enough to keep them away but not enough to constitute a conversation.

Stubborn woman.

He suddenly thought she should have dressed up as an ass that first night, to go along with her hard head.

“You’re going to wear yourself out,” Garrison said from his spot, as if scolding a child but not really caring what they did.

“How are you not annoyed by this?”

Garrison sighed and set his arms on the papers before giving his full attention to Connor. “Because I expected it. You should have, too. She needed to get her head on straight, to come to terms with what happened.”

“She shouldn’t do that alone,” Connor griped. “She’ll just twist herself into knots that she doesn’t know how to untangle, and then she’ll end up worse off than she started.”

“But we will only make it worse. We swore we wouldn’t press her, and don’t you think showing up when she’s pretty clear about not wanting us there would be pressing her?”

Connor tightened his lips into a thin line, silenced by the fact that Garrison was absolutely correct again.

Not that it eased Connor’s frustration. If anything, knowing he could do nothing made it worse. He pictured Sunny, chewing her bottom lip to hell, all alone in her house, pacing and talking to her dog because she had no one else. She’d think and think and worry and think some more until she had no idea what direction was up any longer. He hated her doing that on her own, without someone else at least keeping an eye on her, making sure she was sleeping and eating and taking care of herself.

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