Life was still happening. Even with fear crouched at the edges. Even with Thomas somewhere out there, watching and waiting.
I hugged the blanket tighter. “Thank you for telling me.”
“Of course.”
“For bringing me here,” I added. “For keeping me safe.”
He studied me for a long moment, like he was deciding something.
Then he said, simply, “You’re not a burden, Rylie.”
The words hit harder than any threat ever had.
I nodded, blinking fast. “I know.”
And for the first time in a long while…
I actually believed it.
15
Rylie
The cabin felt different after the call.
Not safer—danger still pressed at the edges—but warmer somehow. Like the news of a baby being born had slipped light into the cracks fear had carved. Proof that life didn’t stop just because something bad waited nearby.
Trigger busied himself at the small kitchenette, heating water on the stove. He moved with the same calm precision he always did—measured, controlled, like every motion had been thought through before it ever happened.
But I was watching him differently now.
Not as the man protecting me.
As the man I trusted.
And the realization settled slowly, heavily, like truth finally finding its place.
What I felt for him wasn’t confusion.
It wasn’t fear or gratitude tangled up with adrenaline.
It came from somewhere deeper than that—somewhere that had been awake long before I was stupid enough to date Thomas. Stupid enough to get caught up in his trap.
It came from the way Trigger had always watched me like my safety mattered more than his pride.
From the way he’d never crossed a line, even when it would have been easy.
From the way he’d brought me here instead of asking me to be brave in town.
I stood near the window, the mug he’d handed me warming my hands, and finally said the thing that had been sitting in my chest for over a year.
“Why didn’t you ever ask me out?”
Trigger froze.
Not visibly—not the way someone startled would—but the stillness was absolute. Like every muscle in his body had gone on pause at once.
The kettle hissed softly behind him.
