By the time we pulled into the driveway, I was barely upright. Anthony cut the engine and just sat there for a second.
“You’re going to hate me for this tomorrow,” he said.
“For what?”
“For not letting you fall apart alone.”
The words settled somewhere deep in my chest. Notwanted. Notused. Just… stayed with. No one had ever framed care like that before. Like it was something you did because you could, not because you expected anything back.
He got out and came around to my side. I tried to stand as he stood there holding the door open. My legs buckled as soon as I put my feet down. He caught me before I hit the path.
“Easy,” he murmured against my ear.
He didn’t ask. Just lifted me into his arms. I made a sound—half protest, half relief—and let my head fall against his shoulder. I could feel the heat of his skin beneath his shirt, every curve and muscle strong and alive against me. I could have fought him. I knew that. But for once, I didn’t want to prove I could stand on my own. I wanted to be held up. The difference mattered.
His henley smelled like him and rain and something solid. The world drifted. I vaguely remembered him carrying me up the stairs. Felt him adjust his hold so he could open my door. Felt my bed dip beneath me as he put me down.
He tugged my shoes off. Pulled my blanket around me. I was already sinking when I felt the mattress shift again. He was going to leave. Panic gripped me before the thought finished. If he left now, something in me would go quiet and not come back. I’d already lost too much to survive another almost.
My hand shot out. “Dont,” I slurred. My fingers curled around his wrist. Anthony stilled. “Don’t go.”
He hesitated. I felt it. The shift in the air. The uncertainty.
“I won’t—I won’t do anything,” I rushed out. “I just—I can’t sleep like this. I feel like I’m still falling.”
His face softened into something that hurt to look at “Elliot…”
“I don't want sex,” I said thickly. “I just want your safety." The words came out crooked but true. I didn’t want to be wanted. I wanted to be held like I wasn’t about to disappear.
He exhaled heavily and sat down on the edge of the bed. Kicked his shoes off then lay down on the bed beside me. Not touching. Just there. I felt the space he left between us like a conscious decision. Like something he was holding back on purpose. The restraint felt heavier than a hand ever could.
I scooted closer without asking permission. Curled into his side like a question. After a second, his arm came around me and pulled me closer until my head was on his chest.
His touch was light. Careful. As if he were afraid I might change my mind. I didn't. I tucked my face into his neck and breathed him in.
“Don't let go,” I whispered.
“I won’t,” he breathed.
For the first time all night, my body believed him. “Thank you for coming for me, Daddy.”
“Anything for you, baby boy.” His lips gently brushed my head like the ghost of a kiss. A small smile flickered at the corner of my lips before sleep took me. The fire in my chest finally burned down to embers. I hadn’t disappeared. I hadn’t been left. Someone came for me, and for now, that was enough.
CHAPTER 14
ANTHONY
Ididn’t sleep. I lay awake counting the things about Elliot that felt too permanent for something this fragile.
The freckles across his shoulders—I counted them like stars, not because I needed the number, but because I needed something to hold my mind still. One, two, three… a faint constellation across skin that hadn’t been touched gently enough in its life.
His breathing was shallow at first. Then slower. Then deeper as he drifted into a deep sleep.
Every shift of his body registered like a warning bell inside me. His knee rested against my thigh. His hair brushed my collarbone when he exhaled.
His hand was still curled into my shirt like he hadn’t quite trusted the world to keep me here.
My body was a locked door. Every instinct leaned toward him. Every principle braced against myself.
