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She stopped at the foot of the stairs leading up to the entrance to the small structure. It looked more like a house than an apartment complex with the four windows flanking the entrance and the small patch of grass on each side of the stairs up to the entrance.
“You might notwantsomeone else, but—”
“Not your call.”
“It is my call if I don’t want to be with you.”
“Then why are you? Right now? And hanging out at the store. Waiting for me after my baby-holding gig. Which I still want to know why you won’t join me.”
“First of all, I won’t join you because I’m not about all the paperwork involved in that process.”Interesting.“And second. I…I’ve been bored. That’s why I’ve been hanging around. And you obviously don’t have any other friends either, so…”
I laughed. “You’re so full of shit it’s borderline comical. You realize that, don’t you?”
Her eyes narrowed as if she were trying to read my mind. It felt like I’d need mind reading super powers to ever learn anything about her. I thought I’d been breaking through her walls, but—
“You keep pushing.” She threaded her fingers through mine, and I nearly crumbled at the contact, but I stood still, reveling in the connection. “But…you don’t force it. Why?”
“Doesn’t work that way. You’ll come to me when you’re ready.”
“And if I don’t?”
“That’d suck rocks. But I’ve gotten to hang with you in the meantime.”
“That’s never enough. Guys need more. They need…” She gulped, and I bit my cheek to keep quiet. Felt like she was on the verge of saying something that might rock my world.
Or send it into a tailspin. Yes. She held that much control over me.
“They always need more.” She squeezed my hand more and focused on our twined fingers. “Need to…hurt you. Force you. Are you…really different?”
“You’ll have to try me and find out.”
She huffed. “Sounds like trying on a shirt or something to see if it fits.”
“Not too far off.” I stepped closer. “I wouldn’t mind being your shirt.”
A flash of fear dimmed her eyes. Even through the darkness I caught it. But as quickly as it surfaced, a coldness took over. An edge. Her back stiffened, and she stepped away.
“Don’t,” I whispered. “Sarah…I won’t hurt you. I would never hurt you.”
Her nostrils flared. “All men hurt. It’s in their nature.”
“You’re wrong.” God. Someone had really hurt her. Broken her.Shit. She and Angelina had been hanging out. Joking around even when I’d seen them at the bar. And survivors…shit. Shit.
Hunter had told me about how Angelina and his mom had bonded because of surviving a brutal attack. And Bill had said Sarah’s past was bad. As inreallybad.
As much as I wanted to yank her into my arms and promise her I would never hurt her, I didn’t. Hell. I’d kill anyone whotriedto hurt her.
“I want to…believe you…” Her eyes widened. “I can’t even tell you how much I want to believe you, Drey.”
I opened to her, and she stepped in to me. It felt amazing. And exactly right. I was born to take care of her. Protect her. She just didn’t realize it yet. Hell, I only just realized it, but I accepted it immediately. Made my world seem a little less…tilted.
She didn’t believe me, but she needed to be close to me, that was obvious. And I wanted her close. So it was a good fit.
Nuzzling her forehead to my neck, she hugged me tight. I wasn’t sure how long we stood there, but I didn’t care. At that moment, nothing else mattered other than taking care of her. I had a sense not many people in her life had.
I was definitely up for the job. All the shit in my life didn’t matter anymore either. Yeah, I had issues with Damon, had a few ghosts in my closet that maybe needed to come out for me to move forward with her.
But they would. And if my feeling was right, none of it would shock her too much. No. She’d probably be more pissed that I hadn’t told her. Trust ruled her life. Yes, that made sense. She didn’t trust anyone.
