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“Same, beautiful. Same.” Holding my hand like a lifeline, he pressed it to his forehead, closing his eyes. “I’ll do better from here on out,” he vowed. “I’ll never let what happened yesterday happen again.”
“Wasn’t your fault,” I tried to reassure him. Cross-contaminations happened all the time at restaurants. People got distracted and things happened. I’d already learned that the hard way, but I knew the risks of eating takeout.
“Yes, it was. I should have checked the food before I even left Aggie’s. But all I could think about—” He broke off, his jaw clenching as he glared at the wall in front of him.
“All you could think about?” I urged him to finish.
“I’d just left you sound asleep. All I wanted to do was get home and surprise you with dinner in bed and spend the rest of the night making love to you.” With his free hand, he scratched at the scruff on his jaw. I loved that scruff. “I put your life in danger because I couldn’t think about anything but my damn cock.”
“I really like your cock, though,” I tried to tease, but the dark expression on his face told me I wasn’t helping. “Ben, honestly, this wasn’t your fault. I remember you saying you didn’t even order pie.”
“Yeah. Your mom called your aunt Quinn and got Tabby fired.” He grimaced. “Tabby said it was a mistake, but I don’t think your aunt believed her. Maybe she thought there was a chance you would come into contact with it and it would make you sick. I honestly don’t know, but I should have checked the damn bag to make sure—”
“Look at me,” I ordered when he started condemning himself again. After a tiny hesitation, his gaze met mine, and my heart broke when I saw the sheen of tears in his eyes. “The first time I had a reaction in front of my mom, she’d just gotten back from the grocery store. She’d taken a sample from the little table, and it had been fried in peanut oil. When she picked me up from school, she kissed me on the cheek, not realizing what she’d just eaten. It took fifteen minutes before the reaction set in, but it was bad when it did. She freaked out, and it was my dad who had to inject the epi because she couldn’t stop screaming. She blamed herself for weeks. It broke my heart every time I saw the guilt and tears in her eyes.”
“Lexa—”
I held up my free hand, stopping him. “I’m going to come into contact with nuts again, Ben. It’s inevitable. You just have to be prepared when it does happen. Okay?”
He was quiet for a long moment before finally blowing out a heavy sigh and nodding. “Yeah, baby. Okay.”
My teeth sank into my bottom lip for a second before I forced myself to ask the question screaming in my head. “You still want to be with me?”
“You think I wouldn’t want to be with you because of this?” he demanded, sounding pissed.
I shrugged weakly. “Some people can’t handle being with someone who has serious health issues. If you can’t deal with this, tell me now.”
“You’ve said a lot of hurtful things to me in the past, Lexa, but this is beyond belief. I fucking love you. Nothing will ever make me not want to be with you. Without you, I’m an empty shell.” Releasing my hand, he cupped my face, his eyes angry but still full of love. “Yesterday scared the hell out of me. I thought I was going to lose you. But I’m not going to walk away from what I feel for you because of it.”
“P-Promise?” I whispered, blinking back tears.
When he saw how close I was to breaking, his anger disappeared. “I promise. You’re stuck with me, beautiful. Even if your mom killed me, I’d still stick around and haunt you just so I could be with you.”
“Don’t joke about that,” I begged, fighting a grin even as the tears spilled from my eyes.
“She wouldn’t off me,” he said with a wink. “Raven knows I’d give my life for yours. She seems to like me pretty well. I was sure she would at least threaten me when she got here yesterday, but she was my rock while we waited for you to wake up. Tabby, on the other hand… I’m a little worried for her well-being.”
“Good,” I muttered half under my breath, but he still heard me and smirked.
“Jealous?”
“Of that cow?” I growled, then sighed. “Yeah. A little. She probably gave you the pie to flirt with you. No doubt she thought if she gave you free pie, you’d want something…more.”
“You have nothing to be jealous of. I only want you.” His smirk dropped, his eyes turning seri
ous. “I love you and will only ever love you.”
My heart melted at his vow, but I still needed to be honest. “I love you too. But I’m going to be jealous of any woman who looks twice at you. Sorry, but when it comes to you, I don’t share well.”
He winked again and retook my hand so he could kiss my palm. “Same, baby. Same.”
Epilogue
Lexa
Six Months Later
Holding my breath, I waited for Dr. Weller to give us the results of Mom’s latest blood work. Mom sat between Dad and me, holding both our hands. More like the two of us clung to her hands. We were practically shaking with nerves and anticipation, waiting for these results.
