Page 125 of Scarred

I don’t know if he realizes what he just gave himself…what he just gave me, but I do.

He’s given himself permission to move forward, and from the way he is looking at me now…I’m the one he wants to reach for.

“What?” He asks, the corner of his mouth lifting.

“Nothing,” I smile, shaking my head.

“It’s never just nothing with you.”

I grin wider because he’s right. He knows me so well by now.

“You just look happy, is all.”

He pauses slightly, not because he’s hesitant, but because he knows it’s true.

“I am,” he smiles. “For the first time, in a long time…I truly am.”

Taking out the last of my pins, my hair tumbles down my back as I hear a knock at my front door.

I glance at the clock and see it’s just after ten.

Curious who could be here since I just left everyone a couple of hours ago, I walk barefoot across the wooden floor and look through the peephole.

I smile when I see Cayden on the other side.

After he gave me my flowers, it got hectic when my family and all of the Montgomerys came rushing in with praises and congratulations seconds later. Their kids were bouncing with excitement as they started talking all at once about their performances.

We both decided earlier that the recital wasn’t the place to tell everyone we are together, so Cayden ended up staying for a bit and talking with everyone before he left, saying he had to get Scarlett to bed.

Besides, I know this is all new to him, and the last thing I want to do is overwhelm him by throwing him into the chaos of my big family before he’s ready.

Opening the door, my heart immediately skips a beat when his green eyes find mine.

He’s changed out of his casual slacks and t-shirt from earlier and into grey sweats and a black hoodie. His hands are stuffed into his sweatshirt pocket as he shifts his stance slightly. He seems unsettled as his restless energy washes over me.

“Is everything okay?” I ask, noticing the slight vulnerability in his eyes as he steps inside.

Closing the door, I turn to face him, concerned that something has happened.

“Scar fell asleep.”

“Okay…”

“And then the house got quiet.”

My heart squeezes in my chest as I wait for him to explain.

“I used to hate the quiet. Especially at night,” he adds. “I couldn’t control my thoughts like I could during the day. Even in my sleep, I was reminded of everything I had lost.”

He rakes his hand through his hair as he begins to pace my living room.

“But the quiet hits me differently now,” he finally says. “It’s not filled anymore with turmoil and loss,” he says, shaking his head as if he’s trying to make sense of it all.

“I was lying there in the bed tonight, and I was at peace,” he says quietly, lifting his eyes to mine. “It was the same peace I felt the night you slept beside me.”

Walking over to him, I wrap my arms around his waist and feel his body relax into mine as his arms come around me.

“I realized tonight just how much I wanted you there next to me, so here I am, feeling like a goddamn puppy dog running over here just to be near you,” he chuckles softly into my hair.