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Since the moment we’d met.
I thought I didn’t need him anymore. That I wanted to be the one to stand and rescue myself. But I was starting to realize there would be times where I would need him to be that person—my knight—to help me when I felt like I couldn’t stand on my own, or to pull me back when I was getting too close to the light.
I’d always need him, no matter how independent or how strong I felt.
Because there were times when he’d need me too.
Doctor Theo scrawled messily on the form before handing it off to his nurse and giving me a piece of paper. “Look after yourself, Meyah, someone will be in touch for a checkup in a couple of weeks.”
Romeo was out of his chair and grabbing my bag from its place beside the door before I’d even taken the piece of paper from Dr. Theo’s hand, and Ham already had his hand on my back, pressing me toward the exit gently. “Time to go. Thanks, doc,” he called over his shoulder.
I was confused, so I didn’t mention anything as we left the building and Ham helped me into an SUV outside with Romeo driving and Ham climbing in the backseat with me.
“So I’m an Uber now?” Romeo asked, looking in the rearview mirror and rolling his eyes.
“Just drive, asshole,” Ham urged, narrowing his back at his little brother.
I sat back, happy to be leaving that place and starting to feel normal again. Well, as normal as I could get. I was still sore and healing, my body having taken a beating. I knew I looked like shit. My cheek still multiple colors of the rainbow and hobbling because of the surgery they’d had to do to repair my leg. But it was getting better every day.
“Where are we going?” I finally asked when Romeo passed by the exit to the airport.
“Arizona,” he responded simply.
I looked at Ham. “We’re going back to Arizona?”
I don’t know why part of me felt disappointed not to be heading home to Athens. I loved Arizona. I loved school. I missed Dakota like hell. But she’d already missed too many classes to stay in Las Vegas with me. Arizona was close to Huntsman, and Ripley, both who’d visited me every single day and bought me girly magazines and clothes and anything else I asked for. But it was miles away from Ham. And Ham was home for me.
“I want to go back to Athens.”
Romeo’s eyes instantly widened, and he gazed back at me before looking back at the road.
Ham reached out and grabbed my hand. “Why? You love it down here.” I could see the sincerity in his gaze. He wanted me to be happy, but the truth was, nowhere was ever going to be good enough without him.
“I don’t want to go back to visits on the weekends,” I told him, shaking my head. “I want to come home and talk to you about my day. I want to ask your opinion on what I should wear to job interviews. I want to argue about what we’re having for dinner.”
Romeo snorted, but the smart boy kept his mouth closed.
Ham just grinned back at me. “You’re exhausted and emotional. Let Uber man drive us to Tucson, and we can talk about it when we get there. Meyah, just trust me on this okay?”
I considered arguing and demanding Romeo pull the car over and head to the airport, but I didn’t. “I trust you.”
I could see how those words affected him, how important they were. He leaned across the back seat and pressed his lips to mine. I kissed him back, searching for more, wanting to touch him and just fall to pieces in his arms. He pulled back, and I leaned forward, not ready to let him go just yet.
“Damn it, can you two not do that where I can see,” Romeo complained.
“You shouldn’t be looking, you should be watching the road,” Ham argued. He pulled my lip in between his teeth and the both of us started to laugh.
I’d learned my lesson about trusting Ham. As far as I was concerned, home was where he was. Everything else was a bonus.
“Meyah.”
I blinked, reaching up to wipe the sleep from my eyes, and bring everything back into focus. I’d ended up moving into the middle seat halfway back to Arizona and curling into Ham’s side, not caring I was probably going to drool all over his club cut and T-shirt because he was mine anyway.
I would just call it my way of claiming him. Noticing that the car had stopped and Romeo was already climbing out, I frowned. But when I looked out the window, we weren’t at my dorms. “Where are we?” I didn’t recognize the neighborhood, all I could see were large buildings, places like machine parts or repairs, building supplies, and then finally, a mechanic.
But it wasn’t that which caught my attention. It was the people standing outside.
“What the hell?” I asked in confusion, before looking at a smug Ham. “What’s going on here?”
