After he locks the door, he walks past me and into his room. He doesn’t shut the door. He hasn’t at all since I’ve been here, and for that? Especially tonight? I’m thankful.
I try to get comfortable, try to relax, but some part of me is still worried. Still concerned that Damien is out there. The black front door mocks me from a few feet away from me. It’s not far at all from the couch. Close enough that if Damiendidcome in, he’d be able to take me without a fight. He’d be able to grab me right off the couch and drag me out.
My heart slams against my rib cage as I stare at the door. It’s close and getting closer by the second, distorting and stretching out as my mind plays tricks on me. I nearly fall off the couch as I try to get away from it.
I climb to my feet and rush to Austin. When I stumble into his bedroom, he sits straight up in bed. “Are you okay?”
“Can I sleep in here?” I blurt out, heart beating an unsteady rhythm.
“Of course.” He climbs out of bed, then pats the spot where he was just lying. That’s a little strange, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers. I dive into his bed, not even caring about my aching body, and burrow my way under his blankets. It’s still warm from his body, and it’s far more comfortable than the couch.
His soft chuckle pulls my attention, and I flip the blankets off my head so I can look at him. “I’ll be right in here if you need me, okay?” he says, taking a step away from the bed.
“Wait.” I sit up, confused. “Where are you going?”
His brows furrow. “To the couch.”
What? “Why would you do that? I didn’t want to take your bed. I wanted to be with youin it.”
Austin stops midstep. “You—what?”
“I—” I swallow hard, feeling very small and very clingy, and suddenly very fucking annoying. “I just don’t want to be alone. I want to be with you,” I whisper, breaking eye contact and looking down at the bed.
Seconds tick by. I probably made it weird. We used to share a bed all the time, but then we grew up, and that stopped being allowed. It started being weird. It’s one thing for two kids to sleep together in a bed. It’s something else entirely for two grown adults to do it. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. “You don’t—” I start.
“Okay,” Austin says, cutting me off, and then the blankets are being lifted and he’s slipping into the bed beside me.
I roll to my side, and he does the same. We’re close, but not too close. Not touching.
I kind of wish we were. I just feel like this would be so much easier if I were being held. Hugged. The physical comfort from someone I trust would be everything, but this is fine. It’s okay. It’s perfect. I don’t need to be greedy. “Thank you.”
Austin’s lips curve into a smile. “Anytime.”
I close my eyes. Austin’s here. He won’t let anything hurt me. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Damien’s not here. I’m safe.
He won’t find me.
He can’t.
Chapter 11
Austin
Luca’sstillasleepbesideme. It’s a miracle I slept at all. I’ve seen Luca in many stages of his life. I’ve seen him smiling and laughing. I’ve seen him hiding behind his hands while watching a scary movie. Crying because he got hurt. Sobbing at his parents’ funeral. Singing loudly in the car. Free and alive, running through the fields.
I’ve never, not one time in our entire lives, seen him that afraid.
He was doing so well too. His bruises had almost healed, and he was moving with less pain. I could see it improving every single day that passed. He was getting better.
I was a bit surprised that he got out of the house and went to the diner, but I could tell it was good for him. I heard the spark on thephone. The old him coming to the surface. The parts of him that Damien couldn’t touch.
Damien ruins everything. And it doesn’t even have to behim.Just the memory of him. Thethoughtof him. It makes me fucking sick.
Luca shifts in his sleep, rolling away from me and facing the wall. His asking to sleep in here was another surprise to me. He’d been so adamant that he didn’t want to take my room that it surprised me.
It wasn’t a hard choice to stay with him when he asked. It’s not like we haven’t done this before a hundred times over the years. And sure, we’re older now, but it’s really not any different.
And the truth is, I didn’t want to leave him alone either. First off, it scares the shit out of me that he was gone—outside in the damn woods, apparently—and I didn’t even know. Anything could have happened to him. Hell, somethingdidhappen to him.
