Page 204 of True Blue

“You’re everything,” I tell her, my voice breaking. “Do you hear me? You are everything, Indie. I know what becoming a doctor cost you, but you were never nothing. Never. You’re everything to me, baby…”

I wrap my arms around her and hold her steady, but she pushes away and stands from the bed.

“All that work,” she says, pacing back and forth. “All that money and time. All the nights I didn’t sleep. All the meals I skipped. All the times I told myself it would be worth it—one day no one could take it from me. And now…”

I’m grasping at straws now, shaking my head.

“Lorraine said⁠—”

“I know what she said,” Indie says, her voice softening. She presses the heels of her palms to her eyes, her shoulders shaking. “But it’s not going to matter, Teddy. I’m done. I can’t… I can’t fight this anymore. I’m so fucking tired of fighting to prove something to people who have already decided who I am… a greedy succubus.”

Rage moves through me so fast I almost can’t see.

“Then let me fight for you,” I say, standing from the bed and stopping her pacing in her tracks. I cradle her precious face in my hands, gently lifting her face to meet my eyes once more. My eyes trail all over the features I adore—over her tired blue eyes, her soft mouth, the little scar running through her brow now, only adding to how beautiful she is to me. “I’m going to go talk to my mother.”

Indie blinks, looking scared now. Her hands grasp my shoulders, nails digging into my muscle. Desperate, not biting. “No, Teddy—don’t, please⁠—”

I gently shush her and give her a small smile. “I think I do, baby. But I’m asking you first.”

Indie shakes her head stubbornly, her brow furrowed. “You don’t! She won’t take it back because you ask her to. She’ll just twist it. She’ll use it. She’ll make it worse. And what if she—” Indie cuts herself off, looking unsure.

I nod, encouraging her because she has every right to question me. I’ve talked a lot in the last two years, with nothing to show for it. “Say it, Indie.”

“What if she threatens to harm herself again? What if she does what she always does…” Indie says, and she looks like she’s in pain with even asking, no matter how valid it is. “And you…”

“And I fall back under her thumb,” I finish. Indie closes her eyes and nods. I wait until she opens them again before I whisper. “I need you to do something very brave right now. Something I know is asking a lot from you, but I hope that maybe I’ve earned it.”

Indie’s chin wobbles as a tear slips from her eyes. I lean in and kiss it away, before pulling back once more.

“Teddy…”

“I’m asking you to trust me.”

Indie’s expression shifts too quickly to get a read, before she inhales a shuddering breath and lets it out.

And then, after a moment, she dips her chin.

Once.

Instead of feeling relieved, I feel everything—rage, determination, and fierce protectiveness for Indie.

“Thank you,” I rasp, leaning my forehead against hers. “Thank you, baby.”

“I trust you, Teddy,” she whispers. “I trust you.”

And I’ll fucking earn that trust.

Pressing a kiss to Indie’s soft lips, I guide her back to the bed and tuck her in. Grabbing my iPad, I put on Grey's Anatomy for her, which makes her smile softly. Wrapping myself around her from behind, I gently kiss her neck, her shoulder, any skin I can reach until I feel her breathing even out.

When I’m sure she’s asleep, I carefully ease myself out from behind her. She shifts, and I freeze, but she only sighs softly and curls into the pillow where I had been, affection hitting me at the sight of her cuddling my pillow to her chest and burying her face in it.

“I’ll be right back, baby,” and with one last kiss to Indie’s forehead, I walk out the hotel room to head to my childhood home.

A fire burning inside of me.

39

TEDDY