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I should have known he’d bring me here. I should have known he wouldn’t let this slide. I should have known because Cade wasn’t one to forget things. He wasn’t an expert at it like me.
“Cade,” I huffed out when he turned the engine off in the driveway. “Please take me home.”
“No can do.” He took the bags from me. “I’m too hungry to wait.” He left me in the car while he carried the bags and drinks inside, but I didn’t make a move to get out. I’d stay here until he took me home because the thought of being alone with him and what he would inevitably ask wasn’t—
The door flung open, and then I was airborne, my head upside down and my stomach pushing into a shoulder. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Taking you inside.”
“Cade, stop! Let me down.”
He didn’t adhere to my demands. He kept on walking and entered his house. The light walls came into view, and no matter how much I tried to deny it, being back in his space calmed me.
Cade walked down the hallway and finally let me down in the kitchen. The tiles were a mixture of white and gray—glossy and sparkling—and the smell of the food drifted from the counter we’d sat at last week. The same counter he’d placed me on and kissed me.
“I need to go home,” I said, but didn’t look at him. I kept my gaze focused on the drinks. “I need to take a shower.”
“You can take one here,” he told me, moving across the kitchen and then pulling the food out of the bags. “After you eat.”
“No.” I shook my head, and every thought in my brain screamed at me to turn around and head right back out of his door, but something kept me in place. Something overruled my brain and glued my feet to the floor.
I felt rather than saw him move closer, and when his feet came into view, I still ignored him, up until the point his thumb and finger grasped my chin, and he turned my face. “Stop hiding.”
“What?” I rolled my eyes. “I’m not hiding. I’m standing right here.”
“You won’t even look at me.”
He had a point.
I looked at him. I finally stared into his eyes and braced myself for what I’d see. But…it wasn’t there. The disgust I was sure I’d find shining in his dark-blue eyes was absent, and instead, I found…understanding?
The air swirled around us as I waited. Waited for him to ask about the scars littering my inner thighs. Waited for him to ask why I did it. Waited…
“Eat,” he said, his voice deeper now, but he didn’t let go of my chin. “Eat and then shower.”
I opened my mouth, not sure what I was going to say. If I stayed, he’d want answers, and I didn’t want him to confront me. I didn’t want him to ask any questions. But maybe it was time? Maybe it was time for me to confess my sins and rid myself of the burden on my shoulders? And maybe…
Maybe Cade was meant to be the person I did that with.
His gaze didn’t move off mine, his hand stretching to cover the side of my neck as he dipped down and pressed his forehead to mine. “I?
??ve got you, Aria.” He pulled in a breath and lowered his voice to repeat, “I’ve got you.”
My shoulders slumped.
He was determined to eradicate the wall I’d erected to keep everyone out, and I hated to admit he was getting through it. He was taking it down piece by piece, and there was nothing I could do to stop him.
* * *
CADE
I didn’t know what to do with myself. I paced the length of the kitchen and into the hallway more times than I could count and stopped at the bottom of the stairs several times. My body itched to move up the steps, but I tried my hardest to keep my feet planted on the floor.
She needed space and a little time.
I understood that more than anyone, but it didn’t make it any easier. I craved to hold her tight and ask her why. Why was she doing this to herself? Why didn’t she think she could talk to anyone? Just…why?
Her footsteps echoed above me, and I wanted nothing more than to help her down the stairs, but she’d refused to let me assist her up them, preferring to hobble slowly, so I waited patiently in the kitchen, listening as her feet met each step. Finally, she appeared and the sad smile on her face had me moving forward.
