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“Shh.” Conner brushes his knuckles down my cheek. “The only thing that matters now is that you’re safe. You’re here, K, and I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”
A knock at the door startles me and he cusses under his breath. “It’s okay,” he says. “It’s just Hadley.” Leaning down, he brushes his lips over my forehead before going to open the door. But he only opens it slightly, speaking to Hadley in hushed whispers.
When he closes it, I spot the pile of supplies in his hands. “Hadley thought you might need these.”
I nod, sitting up. “Can I take a shower?”
“Of course you can. Do you want a bath? I can—"
“A shower is fine.” Gingerly, I shuffle to the edge of the bed and begin trying to undress. But my muscles protest, pain radiating through me.
“Here, let me help.” Conner drops to his knees and begins to work my clothes off my body. His touch is so gentle and uncertain it cracks something inside me, and I lose my fight with the torrent of emotion rising inside me.
“Shit, K.” Conner cups my face, catching my tears with the pad of his thumb. “Tell me what to do... tell me how to fix this.”
“I-I don’t know.” My chest heaves. “I thought he was...” The words get stuck in my throat. “I thought he was going to—"
“Fuck, FUCK!” Conner roars, pulling me into his arms and holding me so tight I think he might crush me.
“I’m sorry,” he chants, “I’m so fucking sorry.”
We stay like that, him holding me and me crying into his shoulder, for what feels like hours. But in reality, it can’t be more than a few minutes before Conner gently eases me out of his neck and holds me at arm’s length. “I will spend every second of every day trying to fix this. I am—"
“Stop.” I press a single finger to his lips. “You came, Conner. You came for me.” Tears drip down my cheeks as I lean in, touching my head to his.
“I will always come for you, Kennedy Lowe. I love you more than anything else in the world. And I fucking hate myself for ever letting you go back to that piece of shit.”
“It wasn’t your choice to make, Con.”
“Yeah,” his teeth grind together, “well, it should have been.”
“I really want to get out of these clothes,” I whisper against the corner of his mouth. I want to kiss him, to let him carry me away and forget all about what happened... but I’m exhausted.
“Come on.” Conner stands, pulling me up with him. But he doesn’t stop there. He lifts me into his arms and carries me back out of his bedroom and across the hall to the bathroom. Sitting me on the counter, he turns on the shower and hangs a fluffy white towel on the back of the door.
“I’ll be right outside if you—"
“Stay.” The word tumbles from my lips. “I don’t think I can...” My eyes flick to the shower.
“You only had to ask.” He begins pulling off his t-shirt. His jeans go next, along with his boxers, until he’s standing naked before me. My mouth waters at the sight of him. Tanned, tatted, and ripped. Conner catches me ogling him and the corner of his mouth tips. “See something you like?”
A nervous chuckle escapes my lips. I don’t need to be nervous—it’s Conner, the boy who knows me better than anyone else on the planet. But something feels different between us. Or maybe it’s me. Maybe it’s the fact that I had a gun pressed to my temple less than an hour ago.
I guess being on the verge of death changes you.
“Babe?” Conner brushes my cheek, pulling me back to him.
“Will you wash me?” The words sound so stupid on my tongue, but it’s what I need. I need him to erase all the bad memories from my mind
. I need to feel safe and loved and cherished.
“Come on.” He grabs my hands, gently guiding me into the walk-in shower. Water cascades down on me as I move further under the spray. It feels good on my dirty skin.
Conner grabs the sponge and applies some soap to it before slowly gliding down my stomach. My breath hitches. It feels so good, but no matter how much I try to focus on Conner, all I can see is the cage and Warren’s hateful eyes as he stares at me.
Tremors rip through me, and I bury my hands in my face.
“K, it’s me, I’m right here.” He pries my hands away. “There she is, there’s my girl.”
