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“Dad won’t be happy.”
“Oh, well. Dad can suck it. I might not even graduate if I don’t finish the rest of my assignments.”
Graduation is six—no, four if I’ve been here for two—weeks away, and after all my hard work, I might not walk across the stage and get my diploma.
“Apparently, I’ve missed two weeks of school.”
Kenna’s smile brightens. “I took care of that. I went to campus and explained that you were violently attacked. Sorry, but it had to be done. You have extensions on all assignments. Just get them turned in by the time you show up for final exams.”
Tears drip from my eyes, and I shake my head in disbelief.
“Kenna, I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Just get better so we can bitch at each other again.”
“I’m working on it,” I tell her and sniff back more tears, but they don’t stop. “How do women come back from this Kenna? What if I can’t?”
“A healthy dose of stubbornness, which, by the way, you have in spades. And love. Lots and lots of love.”
She sighs, a sympathetic smile on her face. “Seems like between me and Coop, you’ve got that covered too. Oh, and therapy. Hours upon hours of therapy.”
We share a laugh and another hug. “I can do that. I think.” I hope.
“I’ll help you through this, Kels. I promise.”
“Thanks.” I’m overcome with too many emotions to get out much more, but that seems to be enough for McKenna.
Chapter Thirty
Coop
Sitting on the back porch with a beer in my hand and my woman at my side seems so mundane for what I know is coming, but right now, it’s the only thing I want. Hell, it’s the first time in weeks shit feels semi-normal.
Kelsey is getting better, and I’m happy about that, but she’s still a shell of the woman I met in the bar on her twenty-first birthday. This woman is torn apart, fragile as hell, but healing. She sits beside me, staring out at the ocean and sighing every few seconds as if she’s waiting for something bad to happen.
A trauma response, she calls is, whatever the hell that means. I just want her to get better, to get to a point where she’s not reliving those hellish hours every day.
“Kelsey.” I turn to her sad, pale face, and when her big blue eyes settle on me, I just want to wrap her in my arms and keep her there forever.
“I’m sorry, Coop. I’m trying.” She shakes her head, sighing, and turns her whole body toward me. “I meant what I said. I love you, and I’m so grateful that you came for me. That you saved me.”
“I will always save you, Kelsey. Any and every time you need me, I’ll be there. I promise.”
Nothing like that will ever happen to her again. Not on my watch.
She smiles, and for the first time in weeks, she reaches out to me and takes my hand. “I know, and I’m here for you too. Always. I’m yours.”
The damn woman still doesn’t get it. “You don’t owe me anything.”
She frowns and rears back like I hit her. “You don’t want me. You changed your mind.”
“No, I haven’t changed my mind. But I do know that you have plans for your future. Medical school, for example. The envelopes are on the coffee table, and I know what they mean. You’re leaving.”
The idea of letting her out of my sight leaves me feeling gutted, but I can’t stop her. Hell, I may go back to being a nomad for all I care. If she’s leaving, there’s nothing here for me. Once we get rid of those fucking Kings, I’ll be on my way.
And even if I could stop her from leaving, I won’t. I’ll never keep her from going out in the world and achieving her dreams. “Where are you going?”
“Nowhere,” she sighs. “At least not for a year or so. I need to make sure I’m healed completely before I start the rigorous schedule of med school. For now I need to focus on me. And I would love nothing more than to do that here. With you.”
Her smile is gentle, but it’s a smile I recognize. It’s sweet and a little bit sexy with just a hint of mischief.
“Are you sure about this? This life with me? Being my old lady? Because once you’re mine, I’m never letting you go, babe.”
She smiles and turns back toward the ocean to lay her head on my shoulder. “I’m going to hold you to that, Coop.”
“You’re the bossiest woman I know, I have no doubt about that.”
She lets out another laugh and wraps a hand around my bicep. “Are you sure, Coop? Sure you can handle the nightmares and crying fits? The way I still flinch when you touch me and jump at every noise?”
