Always There

Chapter Ninety-One

Chapter Ninety-One:

Bryce's POV

Kennedy beat Blossom and I to the door, and so by the time Blossom and I make our way through the living room and into the apartment's little foyer, Knox and Nathan are already inside. Nathan is holding Kennedy's hand as she gushes to him about the apartment, pointing in every direction as she talks to him about some of the things in the room. Knox, on the other hand, is kicking off his shoes and lining them up against the wall, but as soon as he straightens up and looks around the room, his eyes immediately find Blossom and he grins obnoxiously widely.

Blossom lets out a squeal of delight, and when I glance down at her, she's somehow smiling just as wide as Knox is. She gives my hand a gentle squeeze when she notices my gaze on her, and I squeeze back just as she turns towards Knox again, now practically bouncing up and down on her heels.

I notice the twinkle in her eyes, how damn wide her smile is as she looks at him, and I can tell that there's nothing else she wants more right now then to run into his arms for a long hug.

And so, as much as it pains me to do so, I gently release my grip on Blossom's hand.

She looks back up at me briefly to give me another one of those beautiful smiles of hers before hurrying across the room and right into Knox's open arms.

She quite literally throws herself into Knox's arms, wrapping her own arms firmly around his waist and squeezing him tightly. I watch as he pulls her close to his chest and holds her tight in return, burying his face into her hair just as I do whenever I want to inhale Blossom's sweet scent of vanilla and sugar.

And even though I know that Knox and Blossom haven't seen each other in months, watching the way that his fingers dig into the bare skin of her back as though he's clinging onto her for dear life still makes my heart fucking ache.

I get it, though. I really do. Him and Blossom have grown so incredibly close since Blossom and I's breakup back in March, and there's no way in hell that I'm going to hold that against them.

Blossom needed a friend, a friend whose arms felt safe to her and a friend who she could run to whenever she needed to cry or talk or lay in bed with until she fell asleep at night.

And that was Knox for her.

So truly, I suppose that I should be thankful for Knox, because he was there for my girl when I couldn't be.

I also know that there's really no need to be envious of him, despite the fact that watching him hug her like this makes me envious as fuck. Blossom has assured me many times that there's no longer anything romantic between her and Knox and that he's simply just one of her very best friends, and of course I believe her. She would never lie to me, especially not about something like her relationship with Knox.

And yet I lied to her. Over and over and over again.

I'm such a fucking asshole, aren't I? I need to do so much better in the future if I ever want to be worthy of Blossom.

I really do want to be worthy of Blossom. So fucking badly. More than anything else in the whole entire world.

These past months have been so fucking confusing. Her and I have been practically acting like a couple all damn summer, from going out for brunch together in the morning to having dinner with each other's families to making out before bed every night, but we still aren't really together.

It would just feel so morally wrong to me. Although I've tried very hard over the past few months to just enjoy my summer with Blossom and to not think too hard about what it'll be like when we get back to our real lives in New York, I know deep down inside of me that I still haven't grown enough as a human being to deserve the privilege of calling Lexi Brooks my girlfriend again.