Please, let this go, Scott.
“Marissa, I meant the nosebleed and then almost passing out.” His gray eyes felt calm and safe.
He ignored my scars. He wasn’t going to push and prod. The thought made my eyes prick with tears. Ugh. What was with me today?
“Here, I think you should sit a few more minutes.”
I took a deep breath as Scott led me back to the couch.
“What’s your good news?” He sat down next to me, not closeenough to smell his cinnamon scent, and I wanted to lean in closer. Would that be weird? Yes. I closed my eyes and leaned back.
Boundaries, woman. You are in no state to decide right now.
“I got Carol to agree to let you stay at her place.”
“What?” He leaned back. “No way! How?”
My eyes peeked open, and I looked at him. “I told her I would do the trunk-or-treat.” I pointed at him. “But you’d better help me.”
Scott sighed in relief. “Yes. A thousand times, yes.” He sank back into the couch, but this time he was close enough to surround me in a cinnamon scent. “Must be an early Christmas miracle. I don’t know how you do it, but you have a way with people in this town.”
His comment reminded me of what Carol said about my mom. But I didn’t want to think about Mom, or scars, or the past. I didn’t want to think about anything. Except maybe London.
“Have you ever planned a trip to London?” I raised an eyebrow. “Or a trunk-or-treat?”
“Nope.” Scott shrugged. “How hard can it be? We’re a great team, after all.”
I leaned toward him, not romantically, but a side-hug lean. I was saying thanks for being my friend and not pushing about the scars. Plus, after my morning, I was exhausted. He stiffened for a second, but then I felt him soften and lean into my side.
“We should come up with a good team name. All the greats have them.”
He chuckled. “Any ideas?” I felt him nudge me with his shoulder. “And don’t you dare say Smashing Pumpkins.”
I laughed and all the stress of the morning melted away. It left me with Scott, bloody tissues, and hope for the future.
Chapter Thirteen
SCOTT
Between the angryscars across Marissa’s stomach and the realization she had gotten me a place to stay at Carol’s, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to kiss her or ask her a million questions. It was obvious her scars were not new, and she didn’t want to talk about them. Did they hurt her still?
She leaned into my side. With her ponytail close to my nose, I was reminded of green apples and sunshine. She shifted and pulled her shirt down to cover her scars.
That's why she does that.
What had happened to her? Something stirred in my chest that made me want to protect her from further harm.
If I put my arm around her, would she like it? Would she run?
“Well, that was quite the morning.” Marissa put her hands on her knees and stood, walking to her desk.
I immediately missed her warmth.
“Carol said to come by after work. Meeting is tonight at six. Maybe we could both show up early. She can go over the trunk-or-treat stuff and get youa place to stay.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I stood and ran a hand through my hair.
She rolled her eyes at my word choice and went back to her computer.
