“No.I don’t know.”
“Bullshit,” he replies. I shake my head, but he slaps me on the back. “Get some rest. The team is deploying soon.”
CHAPTER 5
She whispers in her sleep.
It’s a fuckingmiracleI haven’t climbed in that bed to hold her, to tell her it’s okay.
But I can’t move. If I do, the rusty metal frame inside of me will shatter.
It’s not nightmares. It’s something much worse. A nightmare would be something I can fix.
"I always wanted a pony when I was a kid,” she says, her expression turning sad. “Silly, but I thought it would be my friend."
Jade sighs and says the same thing she did moments ago. “Wanted to name her Ruby, even if it was a he.”
A sad smile ghosts over her face and I almost leap out of the chair.
Fuck. Fuck!
No. Don’t touch her. I scrub my hand over my face, forcing myself to stare at the wall as another knife blade drags through my chest.
Goddamn her father. Goddamn the world for scaring the shit out of this gentle woman.
The shift in the bed sounds different this time and I’m aware Jade is awake before turning to look at her.
I fight the need to see her pretty eyes until I can’t any longer. The space seems to shrink as we look at each other.
"You’re here," she says, voice soft in the hush of the bedroom.
"I didn’t want you to wake up alone in a strange place."
She hesitates a beat, shifting her gaze from mine as she draws in a quick breath. "Thank you."
Her attention bounces to the other twin bed and snags there for a few seconds. I imagine her realizing I was close. Probably too close while she was vulnerable.
"Did you rest?"
"No," I reply, caught off guard by her concern. "I stretched out."
"How do you feel?"
She snaps her gaze back to me, ignoring my question. "Aren’t you tired?"
"Only thing that matters is whether you’re still tired."
Jade looks down, her hand slipping into her hair to gather it at the nape of her neck. For a second I worry she’s fighting tears.
"I’m sorry..."
"You’ve got nothing to apologize for, Jade."
Tension lifts her shoulders as if she struggles with her emotions for a second.
"I guess I’m used to having to say that."
"It’s not necessary here. With me, with my team, you say what you feel, and you don’t apologize unless you’ve done something that really needs apologizing for. Wrecking someone’s car. Shooting them in the foot. Busting up their favorite motorcycle."
