My stomach flips.
“You’re strong. You survived something meant to kill you.” His thumb coasts over my cheekbone. “Not only once…”
Swallowing hard, I nod.
“Your scar is proof of that. Proof of survival. And it’s just as fucking beautiful as the rest of you.”
He gently touches the skin beside my eye and drags his thumb to my temple, still searching my face.
This time, I don’t look away. I can’t. I’m too struck by the intensity of his gaze and his words. I’m not sure I believe them, but something inside me recedes at them anyway; the biting humiliation of letting myself be marked like that. If only for now.
“Okay,” I finally say.
“Okay,” he echoes, his lips curving into a slight smile. “Percentage?”
“Maybe ten.”
His grin grows, which is wild. I’m sitting with an empty tank, and instead of thinking of all the ways I’m sure I’ll be a burden, he’s smiling.
“How about breakfast?” he asks. “Are you hungry?”
“Very.” I feel like I’ve barely eaten in days, and the small amount of food he gave me last night didn’t do much to help the biting hunger. Though it does seem as if it triggered my appetite a bit. “I’m not sure I really have the energy for it, though. I’d rather use what I’ve got to go see Lila.”
Hunter laughs. “Okay. We can definitely see Lila. I won’t even make you walk.”
I scoff. “You can’t just carry me across the field to the goats.”
He boops my nose. “First off, Icould.But no, we’ll take the four-wheeler now that it’s warm. But first”—he untangles himself from me, then climbs out of bed—“we need to get some food into you. Bathroom?”
Idoneed to pee, so I nod and force the blanket off myself, hoping that getting out of bed and going to the bathroom isn’t all I’ve got in me today.
“I’ll go use one of the others and meet you in the hall,” Hunter says, and then he slips out of the bedroom door.
After I’m done peeing and have washed my hands, I glance around the bathroom looking for an extra toothbrush. When I don’t find one, I squeeze some toothpaste onto my finger and use it to clean my teeth and tongue as best as I can.
Hunter’s already in the hallway when I get out there, and when I take a deep breath and start walking to the stairs, he steps in front of me, then turns around and kneels down.
“What are you doing?”
“Hop on,” he says, glancing back to look at me.
“Hop on?”
He nods. “Yeah, my back. I’ll carry you down.”
I’m shaking my head before he’s even done talking. “No, I can’t do that.”
Standing up, he turns around to face me again. “Why not?”
“Because…” I wave my hand through the air. “I don’t want to… I don’t know—bother you or something.”
“If it was a bother, do you think I would have offered? I want you to be able to see Lila. Which means that you need to save your energy. Let me carry you, Theo. I want to.”
Biting my lip, I stare at him. At his earnest eyes, full of honesty and not a hint of pity. He doesn’t feel sorry for me. He really does just want to help.
“Okay,” I finally say.
If I had even five percent more in me, I’d smile at the raucous whoop he lets out as he turns around again.
