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Since when were my brothers “the guys”? Seriously, what the hell was up with tonight? But more than that, I was caught up in the idea of staying in Knox’s cozy little house for a bit. Sleeping in his bed with him? Sign. Me. The fuck. Up.
I’m gonna die, I thought to myself as pain coursed through my body. I’m gonna die like this, alone.
I crawled across the living room floor, every muscle in my body aching from being thrown around like a rag doll. He was behind me, watching me pathetically try to stand with a knife gleaming in one hand.
“Please,” I said, hauling myself up on my knees and gripping the corner of the table. The pain in my ribs was excruciating and I couldn’t help but cry out. “Please don’t kill me.”
The man was big and broad as he loomed over me. He was threatening. Invasive. Violating. All I could hear was his harsh breath as he panted with his head cocked to the side, staring at me.
It was every horror film I ever watched. It was every bump in the night and every jump scare. It was every fear I ever had all rolled into one and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop it.
So I did the only thing I could do; I screamed. Loud. I screamed until I thought my throat would bleed and my lungs were burning.
Then, the door opened, light filtered into the apartment and everything went black.
I sat up straight, drenched in sweat and shaking. I fought to get my bearings as I looked around, clutching a soft black sheet to my naked chest and remembering where I was.
Packing a bag,
The drive to Knox’s.
Knox giving me orgasm after orgasm until I was too tired to think.
“That damn nightmare,” I said to myself and pulled the sheet off. I was literally soaked in sweat couldn’t stop shaking. Peeking over my shoulder I saw that Knox was still asleep, one arm thrown over his eyes and the other draped across his flat stomach. Sound asleep and nightmare free.
Bastard.
Careful as not to wake him, I gently got out of bed and slipped into the bathroom. The glass enclosed shower beckoned me and I spent a few minutes trying to figure out how to use all the different nozzles, feeling like an idiot all the while. I finally figured out how to control the temperature without feeling like my skin was being burned off and let the water cascade over my body, washing away the sweat and that awful nightmare. I ran my fingers through my hair and replayed the events of last night, wondering what it was I had done to allow my stalker to find me.
I wanted to believe it was the article in the PJT. But it just didn’t make sense. It didn’t make sense that someone who was stalking me in New York would read an article based in a small town a state away. Could Caleb really have just asked me to do the interview because he wanted to get closer to me? It was possible, yes. But if he was my stalker, then why change his MO from what he did in New York?
None of it made sense and all of it left my head spinning as I soaped up, holding the bottle to my nose and inhaling. It all smelled like Knox. Spicy and clean and mine. He’d been a rock last night, rubbing my back and holding my hand, not letting me out of his sight. Oddly enough, he didn’t make me feel suffocated or stifled. I felt safe with him. Protected. Believing him when he told me he would let anything or anyone hurt me.
The shower door opened and I jumped, dropping the bottle to the ground as Knox reached out, immediately shaking his head. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you, beautiful.”
My chin quivered and I shook my head, feeling like I was losing my mind. “I know. I’m sorry… I…” shook my head not knowing what to say.
He pulled me against him and held me close, rubbing a hand up and down my back as he blocked the spray with his wide shoulders. We stood like that, leaning against each other, my arms wrapped around his waist while he tangled his fingers in my wet hair.
“Do you think I’m gonna go crazy?” I finally asked.
“Absolutely not,” he said and reached around me, grabbing a bottle of shampoo and squeezing a generous amount into his palm. He rubbed both hands together and then lathered up my hair, massaging my scalp.
“I think I love you.”
“Didn’t we already establish this? I love you, Abbs. So much.”
I shook my head and then began shampooing his hair, laughing as he had to bend down in order for me to get the top of his head. I spoke as I pushed his hair into a soapy mohawk. “No, I mean really love you. Like the kind of love your mom talks about.”
“Ah, yes, I really love talking about my mother while I’m naked in a shower with a beautiful woman.”
I arched a brow. “And just how many beautiful women have been in this shower, hm?”
He laughed and stepped under the spray, running his hands through his dark hair and slicking it back. I watched as his biceps flexed, water trailing down his washboard stomach and lower. “Only one that matters,” he finally said.
Good answer. “I mean,” I finally said as we switched spots with me now standing under the spray and rinsing my hair. “I really love you. Your mom told me she thinks everyone has a person and you’re mine. I love you, yeah. I’ve always loved you. But you’re my person, Knox, and it took me a long time to realize it. I… I won’t lose you again and that’s why I’m not going back to New York.”
His eyes froze on my face. “You’re not going back? Your whole life is in New York, Abby, I’d never ask you to-”
