He hissed and knelt in front of me, gently turning my arm to get a closer look. “You really did a number on yourself.”
I shrugged, glancing down at the healing scabbed skin. Most of it was minor and already healed with fresh skin. But there was a deeper section from my elbow to my wrist on my right arm that was still covered in thick scabs. If he thought this was bad, he definitely didn’t want to see my knee and calf, or the purple and green bruising down my hip.
“Does it hurt?”
“Nah. It did the first couple of days, but I don’t even notice it now unless a scab gets caught on something.”
Enoch reached out, brushing the inked skin that thankfully didn’t appear to be impacted by the freshly healed scrapes. I shivered under his touch and pulled my sleeves down.
Enoch cleared his throat and moved to stand. “So, you going to join your friends?”
I blew out a long sigh, flopping my body back onto my mattress.
“I should. I’ve been ignoring them, and I don’t want them to be upset.”
I looked up at where Enoch was standing over me and watched him study me. “What?”
“Nothing. Just…can’t believe I’m here. In your apartment.” Enoch stepped between my legs and leaned his body over mine until his hands landed on either side of my head. “Meeting your friends. Learning that you ride a motorcycle. That you’ve got a bunch of tattoos.”
My breath caught in my chest as his eyes landed on my lips.
“I want to kiss you,” he murmured, brow eyes studying my own for my reaction.
“Then what are you waiting for?”
He chuckled softly, “For a sign that you won’t knee me in the balls if I do. I told you last night that I wasn’t going to, kiss you again, I mean. But…you’re pretty irresistible.”
“I won’t." I licked my lips. "Knee you in the balls.”
My stomach flipped as he waited another long moment before leaning forward and pressing his lips to mine. I wanted to cry tears of joy, frustration, shame, fear.
What did it mean that I was kissing him?
Why was I leading him on when I was planning to leave him again?
Why was I thinking about staying?
Why was I allowing him to force himself into my life again?
I placed my hands on his hips only for him to pull away. I frowned, opening my eyes to find him staring down at me with a worried expression. He closed his eyes, resting his forehead against mine.
“If I leave, are you still going to be here tomorrow?”
I swallowed, closing my eyes too. I could feel the tension in his body growing the longer I took to respond.
“Yes.”
Enoch pushed his body up and off the bed, making me open my eyes once again.
“Go get ready to see your friends, then. Go havefun. I’m sure you don’t get to do that often.” He chuckled, smoothing out the crease between my brows. “I’m not going anywhere. I promise. You can see me anytime.”
“You sure about that?” I asked with uncertainty, shoving past him to walk to my closet.
I looked over my shoulder to find Enoch had positioned himself across my bed to watch me. I tried to ignore his attention as I sorted through my clothes for a suitable boating outfit. Even if it was hot enough to want to go swimming in the lake, I sure as hell wasn’t going to. My body was never going to be able to be exposed in a swimsuit, let alone shorts and a tank top.
My stomach knotted as my question remained unanswered.
“Shy,” he called after a minute. “I forgive you. For lying. For leaving the way you did. And for anything they might have forced you to do while you worked for them. Do you understand why?”
