Chapter 25. Shut Up and Let Me Hold You (3)

Pain registered in his eyes. CC wasn’t interested in Aria. She wanted to know about Ethan.

“I didn’t know him very long, but Ethan was like a brother to me and she’s hurting, Caroline. I just couldn’t turn my back on her, on Ethan’s kid sister.”

His hands went up her shirt as he pulled her back to him. She felt so, so good, so warm, so right. So unlike the pain and sadness of the day he’d just had.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “We should’ve talked about it sooner. I should have asked sooner. Even Bartholomew Arden needs someone to hold him, to comfort him. You don’t always have to fix everything for everyone you know. Let me be your fixer, let me help you.”

She watched his eyes waver, like he was having trouble believing her and she could understand why. She hadn’t been herself the last few months. She’d let him down, relied on him too much, left no room for him to lean on her.

“I know I checked out for a while there. Shit got rough and you had to pick up the