“Are you doing this so Aiden won’t find anything out?” he asks. “I don’t want you running away from something.”
“It didn’t cross my mind, but it does sound appealing. I don’t want to be with him all the time,” I mumble toward the end. “But it’s not the reason I chose to stay with you.”
Heat rises to my cheeks and I look out the window, not wanting him to get any sight of me blushing.
“What is your reason then? I’m just curious.”
I open and close my mouth several times. “I feel comfortable with you. Well, I feel comfortable with Aiden too, but I’ve never felt this comfortable to be able to fall asleep in the car. I don’t know what it is about you. You just make me comfortable and I feel safe. But you also see right through me without doing anything. I can’t hide a single thing. It’s really frustrating, but at the same time…”
I take a deep breath. “At the same time it’s also refreshing knowing that someone can. I didn’t think it was possible, and now I don’t know what I’m saying. Maybe you could just tell me to be quiet so that I’ll stop sharing things that I really don’t want to and embarrass myself even more.”
“Breathe,” he reminds me. “Just several deep breaths and slowly let them out.”
I do as he says and feel my whole body relaxing.
“Good girl,” he purrs. “I want you to know several things. I’m glad that you feel comfortable and safe with me. It brings me so much joy that I can be that for you. I’m also glad that I can see right through you because it means you don’t have to pretend to be okay. You can be how you want to be and express whatever feelings you want to express.”
Tears pool in my eyes, and I fan them quickly, trying to stop myself. When that doesn’t work, I sit forward and stick my eyes right in front of the air vent, drying my eyes out.
“Mila, what are you doing?” Tobias asks. “Sit back before something happens.”
“I was just trying to stop myself from crying,” I say as I sit back down.
Panic flies across his face. “Why are you crying?”
“Just… you said. No one has said those words to me in a while,” I whisper.
“No one?”
I shrug. “I mean, Aiden has a couple of times, but it’s over the phone and I can never see him. It’s different because it isn’t in person and I see him as a brother. But with you—” I stop myself.
Everything with him is different.
Every.
Single.
Thing.
“Oh, Little One.” He reaches over with his free hand and grabs mine. “Everything is going to change now.”
CHAPTER 9
TOBIAS
Istep out of the car, right in front of my cabin. Mila is out cold once again. How much sleep has she missed to be this exhausted and sleep so much?
If what she told me is true, it’s been three years of her overworking herself and not giving herself the proper time to grieve, heal, and take care of herself.
“Mila!” Aiden yells.
“Shhh,” I tell him. “She’s asleep.”
“I’ll wake her up then,” he says and walks to her side.
“Don’t you dare,” I growl.
He turns to me, eyes wide.
