“Nothing,” she says quickly as she rips her hand from mine and holds it behind her back. She’s shutting down, I can see it.
If I keep pushing her, she’s going to completely cut me off and that… That’s not something I ever want. I just want to support her, to keep her safe, to keep herhappy and free. I sigh heavily, dropping my hands to my sides and letting her retreat.
“Roxie, why are you lying to me?”
Her face scrunches up in pain–pain that I immediately want to take from her–and she shakes her head softly.
“I don’t want to. Please, just…” She looks away, swallowing down whatever she was going to say and I ache to know what it was. “Please, trust me when I say, I’m doing what I need to do for us. Okay? Forus.”
My immediate gut reaction is to beg her to tell me what she’s doing, planning, hiding behind her eyes. But, I trust her. I trust her and I trust her intentions.
“Are you safe?” I ask softly, needing to know before I can think normally again.
“As safe as I can be.”
My fingers curl into my palms at that and I can feel the muscle in my jaw pop as I clench my teeth.
“And you won’t let me help you?”
“I have to do this on my own. But I promise you, I’m… I promise you that I’m not jeopardizing our future.”
My heart stutters a little at her mentioning our future. Not because she doesn’t talk like that normally, but because shewantsone. With me.
“Can I help, please, Roxie?” I’m not above dropping to my knees and asking her with every weapon at my disposal. But she just shakes her head no. Roxie reaches up with her reddened, hurt hand and brushes her fingers against my cheek. I grab her forearm, holding her in place so she stays holding me, and she smiles sadly.
“Trust me. This will…” She drops eye contact for a moment before forcing a smile to her face. It’s as fake as those hollow words she tried to spew earlier. “It’ll be over soon and for good.” Before I can ask her exactly what that means, Roxie steps closer and jumps into my arms. I catch her easily, both hands gripping and holding her thighs as they wrap around me.
“I’m so tired of us having to fight to survive. I want us to thrive. To be free. To be together,” I whisper against her temple. I want it so badly I ache.
Rox is quiet, so silent it makes everything inside me stand at attention.Something is up. Before I can open my mouth to ask, she starts talking.
“Kiss me. I’ve missed you and we only have another hour or so before we need to be at the shop. I can think ofso manythings we can do in an hour and none of them involve clothes.”
She doesn’t need to tell me twice. I lean in, kissing her deeply and walking her towards the bed. Laying her back onto the bed, while my hands rip those flimsy sleep shorts off and find her bare underneath.
“Oh god,” I moan before leaning down to take her.
But in the back of my mind, I know something big is coming and I need to be ready.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Asher asks me as I watch Harriet’s diner from around the corner. “Isn’t she going to get mad if she sees you spying on her?”
Jesus fucking Christ, could he be any louder?
“Lower your voice,hermano,” I hiss, swatting at the air by his head. “Yes, I’m very aware that if Roxie sees me spying on her, she’s going to probably challenge me to a fight I will gladly lose for her.”
“Then why are we doing this? You think she’s cheating?”
“No, no, nothing like that. I trust her, I do, but right now, I can’t help but feel like she’s in danger again. She’s hiding something from me.”
“She is allowed privacy, you know,” Asher rolls his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest as he stares at me in disapproval.
“That’s not…Fuck,” I swear under my breath.Fuck it.“I’m not trying to encroach on her privacy. I’m trying to keep her safe.”
“Maybe you should’ve just chipped her.” Asher shrugs and I turn to face him, eyebrows risen because you know, that’s not a bad idea. “No! No, Ty, you cannot chip Roxie.”
“It would save me a lot of fucking hassle,” I grumble, turning back just as I see Rox leaving the diner, waving behind her. “What are you up to, baby?”
“She’s not scheduled to work today at the shop, and shedidsay she had school stuff to do,” Asher reminds me, peaking around the corner as well.
