“Noah—”
“I’m starting now.” He lifted plates and took them to the kitchen.
Addie sighed as she headed toward the freezer and pulled out a tub of Huckleberry Chocolate Swirl ice cream.
He’d nailed it.
She perched on the edge of the counter and dug a spoon in. He was about to glance away when her gaze went to the window, a flicker of fear crossing her face.
He followed her look, but nothing was there. Nothing that he could see, anyway.
“When I got here, you thought you saw someone,” he said slowly, turning back to the dishes. “Do you know who it might have been?”
“No.”
The answer came quickly. Too quickly?
“Has something like that happened before? Or has anything happened to make you scared?”
There was a pause, and even though he was rinsing the plates, he could almost hear her thinking.
When the silence stretched, he turned back to look at her. “Addie?”
“Okay. I’ve had this feeling like someone’s been…watching me.”
Thefuck?
She shook her head. “But I haven’t actually seen anyone.”
“But you’vefeltthem?”
“I’m just freaking myself out because I’ve never lived away from home before.”
“Addie—”
“I shouldn’t have said anything. Don’t worry about me.”
Hedidworry about her. Even though he’d barely known her for a couple of months, there was this strange need for her to be safe.
“What about you?” she asked quietly, concern in her eyes. “How are you doing with everything?”
The muscles in his forearms tensed. He didn’t want to talk about him or the demons that plagued him. The ones she’d gotten a small glimpse of the day he’d thrown her to the floor beneath him.
Did she want the truth? That he couldn’t close his eyes without returning to the day from hell? That he barely slept? That since the incident in the office, he walked around in fear that he’d have another flashback and do it again to someone else?
He cleared his throat. “I’m fine.” Two words strung together to make a lie.
He went to step around her to put some of the Chinese into the fridge, but she grabbed his arm and tugged him close, the ice cream forgotten on the counter beside her. “Hey. You don’t have to do that.”
“Do what?”
“Pretend to be okay. I know we haven’t known each other for long, but you can talk to me. Or if you want to talk to a professional, my dad has an amazing therapist who specializes in veterans suffering from PTSD.”
Her words wove inside him. She wanted to help. But he’d done therapy. He’d had to after that last mission. It hadn’t helped. Not at all. What ithaddone was get him a one-way ticket home. “You don’t need to worry about me either, Addie.”
“I know. But I do anyway.” Her thumb brushed over his arm, making his skin fucking tingle.
His gaze shifted between her eyes. They were the deepest blue he’d ever seen, like the ocean when the water was really deep.
