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People bump and grind against us, and I push a man away from me.
“There’s your lover-boy,” Dawn laughs, throwing her arms in the air and jumping up and down as she dances.
I search through the crowd, and when my eyes lock with Chance’s, my barely controlled emotions burst from me. My face crumbles, and I start to sob.
Concern instantly tightens his features until it looks like he could kill someone with his bare hands. He shoves people out of his way to get to where I’m standing next to the pool.
As I take a step toward him, someone bumps so hard into me I stagger to the side. The ground disappears beneath my feet, and a second later, water closes over my head.
The water is like a cold blanket. It swallows me whole and mutes the sounds, snatching the air from my lungs.
My arms flail, and I kick at nothing. The water keeps swallowing me, dragging me down. It presses on my chest, forcing the precious air I have left to leave my lungs.
Everything becomes eerily calm as I watch the bubbles float past my face.
She didn’t care.
She forgot me.
Instinct kicks in, forcing me to take a breath. Water burns down my windpipe and fills my lungs until they’re scorching infernos.
It’s better this way.
I was never meant for this world.
I convulse twice, my eyes drift closed, and darkness closes in around me.
Suddenly, an arm wraps around me, and I’m yanked up. My body keeps jerking upward, but before I can breach the surface, I lose consciousness.
When I come to, I see the stars twinkling high above me.
“Jasper!” Chance shouts, panic lacing his voice. “Don’t leave me.” His fists slam hard against my chest. “Come on, little one.” There’s another blow to my ribs. “Don’t fucking die.”
My head feels heavy.
“Breathe, Jasper!” Chance shouts at me. He shoves hard at my chest again, and a wave of nausea hits.
Suddenly, it feels like I’m drowning again, and I start to cough and vomit uncontrollably.
Chance rolls me onto my side as the water spurts from my nose and mouth.
“Up, so it can all come out,” he says, desperation in his voice as he forces me to sit up while hitting my back so hard, I’m sure he’s about to break my ribs.
Shivers wrack my body.
Chance grabs hold of my face and forces me to look at him. “Breathe.”
I suck in a strangled breath, the air burning down my windpipe, but then I start to cough again, vomiting more water.
I try to clear my throat a few times to get rid of the scratchiness. The shivering is only getting worse, but at least I manage to take a couple of breaths.
“Fuck,” Chance curses, holding me tightly to his chest. It’s only for a moment before he lets go of me and darts to his feet.
I’m still recovering, my mind hazy as I watch him storm Warrick.
“It was a joke,” Warrick tries to explain. He holds his hands up. “Wait. Chance!”
My head clears as Chance tackles Warrick to the grass and starts slamming his fist into his face.
“Don’t interfere,” Dawn says as she wraps her arms around me.
I have zero strength to care.
Warrick manages to get a couple of punches in, but Chance doesn’t seem to feel the blows. He wraps his hands around Warrick’s neck, then growls. “You could’ve fucking killed her!”
“I’m… sor-ry,” Warrick chokes.
“Too late for an apology,” Chance roars, then I hear the sickening sound of Warrick’s neck snapping like it’s nothing more than a twig.
Jesus.
My mind cuts out as I watch Chance kill Warrick, and I lean limply against Dawn.
“He had it coming,” Dawn whispers.
Chance just killed a man for me.
Chance rises to his feet, and the crown scurries out of his way as he stalks back to me. Crouching, he pushes his arms beneath my back and knees, lifting my body to his chest.
He presses his mouth to my forehead, and I feel how badly he’s trembling as he carries me away.
It all hits at once.
Morgan all over Chance.
The horrible fight with Warrick.
My mother.
Almost drowning.
Chance killing Warrick.
My lips part, and a strangled sob forces its way from me.
Chance keeps kissing my forehead as he carries me to the bathroom. He steps into a shower stall and opens the faucets. Once warm water is rushing over us, he sets me down on the tiles and jogs out of the bathroom.
Moments later, he returns with our bag and shuts the door behind him.
I’m still sobbing uncontrollably as he undresses me. Once we’re both naked, Chance sits down and pulls me onto his lap, cradling me against his bare chest while the water attempts to chase the chill from our bodies.
“It’s okay,” he says, his voice still hoarse. “I’ve got you.” He kisses my forehead. “You’re alive.” A kiss to my trembling lips. “You’re here.”
