“Then why do you need to know what I would’ve done when I was eleven? What difference does it make?”
“It makes a difference because I want to know what I’m up against. If I didn’t care about you, I wouldn’t have agreed to go away with you or invite you into my apartment for the night. This caring might also develop into something deeper.” She let out a breath. “I see so much in you beyond the white supremacy and secrecy. If you tell me you couldn’t have gone through with hurting me, then I’ll know the hate isn’t as deep inside you as you think it is. However, if you say you could have,wouldhave hurt me that violently, then I’ll definitely know what I believe about you is true.”
“That I’m a dirty racist fucker?”
“No.” Larke flattened her hand against his chest. “That’s not what I meant at all. You told me I didn’t have any reason to be afraid of you and I believe you with all my heart. That’s why I have hope. Because it shows me how far you’ve come and how far I believe you want to go, even if you’re not ready to admit or accept it. I’ll always have hope, no matter what you say.”
“I would’ve tried,” he admitted slowly, covering her hand with his. “But I wouldn’t have gone through with it. A month before I saw you near the woods, I’d witnessed something. Shit, no kid should ever have to see. I’m not trying to use it as an excuse, but I need you to understand that my mind was more messed up than it usually was. Seeing you on our property triggered a lot of my anger. I fucked up a hundred percent. I’m sorry. Also for any names I called you. I’m really sorry.”
Larke nodded. Her eyes stung with tears. She blinked them back. “Do you want to talk about what you saw?”
He shook his head and his Adam’s apple bobbed. “I shouldn’t have mentioned it. What’s important is that you know you’re safe with me. Always.”
Her eyes stung some more. Chase was trying. He really was. She could already see a change in him from the crude person who’d had her fearing for her safety weeks ago. “I know I’m safe with you. And you’re safe with me too. I won’t ever hurt you.”
He eyed her up and down. For a second she worried he would point out the obvious difference in their size, blowing off the true meaning of her words. He didn’t. Chase closed his arm around her shoulder and drew her close. He slanted his lips above hers then said, “We’re good together, Larke.”
She smiled while trying to steady her erratic breathing. “We’ll be better when you tell me what to do about my sweaters. I can’t be cold.”
He groaned, nipping her ear. “Just one. But you won’t need it with me close by. That I can promise you.”
