“I can get my stuff together pretty quickly.” I moved into the kitchen without waiting for him to respond. If I stopped tothink too hard about this, I’d cry, and I didn’t want to cry in front of Reid. Not now.
Before heading back to my room, I stopped at the sink and wet a paper towel. I turned to Reid. “For your cut.”
He took it from me and pressed it against the dried blood. “What are you talking about? You can’t leave right now. Callum knows where you live. I’m not letting that guy get near you.”
I shrugged. “I doubt he’ll come after me. I got him pretty good in the balls. With any luck, maybe I did permanent damage.”
His lip curved up at that, but it fell when he took in my downcast face.
“Can you slow down for a second and talk to me?” he asked, his tone softer than it had been in the car.
I sighed. “I don’t really want to talk about how careless and reckless I am right now, if that’s okay. I’m tired.”
He blew out a breath and shook his head before narrowing his eyes. “I’m sorry for going all scolding mode on you, but I was just scared.Youscared me. Something way worse could have happened. You could have gotten hurt.”
My heart lifted a little at his words, but I could still barely look at him for fear of what I’d find there.
“I get it. You’re upset. I’ll just get out of here.” I tried to turn away from him again but he grabbed my arm, holding on gently.
“You’re right. Iamupset. I’m allowed to be upset with you, Hazel. Especially when you do stupid shit. But that doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere, or that I wantyouto go anywhere.”
I blinked up at him, finally meeting his pleading eyes.
“Please, just talk to me,” he said.
“About what?” I asked, still struggling to believe him.
His eyes scanned mine before he let out a ragged sigh. “Look, I think I know why you went alone today. West said something to you last night that upset you?—”
“It’s fine,” I said quickly.
“It’snotfine. It’s the opposite of fine.”
I shrugged haplessly, letting my arm fall away from his loose grip. “He didn’t say anything I didn’t already know. It’s true. I’m a mess. I don’t have my life together.”
“Hazel—”
“No, it’s okay. Really. I get it.” I took a step back, but he mirrored my movements, not letting me get too far from him. “I just thought…I thought you saw me differently.”
“I do!”
“I thought my flaws weren’t as magnified when you were looking at me.”
He shook his head. “I don’t even see flaws, Hazel. I just seeyou.”
That was it. I couldn’t hold them back anymore. Tears were officially flowing now.
Reid’s face softened. “I’m sorry West said that to you. Especially when the only thoughts that have been running through my head lately have been about how incredible you are.”
“What?” I choked out, pointing at his destroyed glasses. “Incredible? You’re delusional! Look what I got you into today.”
He tilted his head. “Well, today wasn’t ideal,” he admitted. “But you love harder than you think, sometimes, and I wouldn’t change a thing about you. Other than maybe insist you come to me first before acting on any potentially dangerous impulses in the future.”
I shook my head and tried to move away but he held onto me, grounding me in place.
“Ilikeyour brand of mess. I’ve never felt so accepted by anyone until you, and I’m sorry if I made you feel like I didn’t accept you, for even a second.”
I stared up at him, my tears stopped dead in their tracks. His words weren’t quite computing. “I—Iacceptyou?” I asked, having a hard time believing that I’d had any positive influence over Reid’s life whatsoever.
