“Yeah, it helps.”
She watched me for a second. The moment was silent, heavy. Theory had kept these scars because of her shame and guilt, because she’d convinced herself she deserved them. I wanted her mind changed. “Then okay,” she finally said.
Those two words were quiet, but they said a lot. I smoothed the cream over the scars on her thigh first, using light pressure. Her breath hitched, but she didn’t pull away. I moved slower.
“Tell me if it hurts.”
“It doesn’t.”
I nodded and kept going. The marks there were older now but still raised in places. I hated touching evidence of his hands on her, but I loved that mine were the ones soothing her after.
When I reached her abdomen, she stiffened. I stopped immediately.
“Too much?”
She swallowed and shook her head. “No. It’s just…”
“I can stop.”
“No.” Her hand covered mine. “Don’t stop.”
So, I didn’t. I spread the cream over her skin slowly, watching her face more than my hand. She stared at the ceiling for a moment, then her eyes came back to me.
“You use this on your face every night?”
“Most nights.”
“Does it still hurt?”
“Sometimes.”
“When?”
“When I’m cold or stressed. If I don’t sleep.”
“So pretty much always,” she popped.
I bit back a smile. “You got a smart mouth.”
“You like it.”
“Yeah. I do,” I admitted.
She touched the scars that ran along my cheek with the backs of her fingers. Her touch was soft, like she had to be careful with me. No one except Joia Jones had ever been careful with me.
“You don’t let me do this for you,” she said.
I held her gaze. “You want to?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“I’m naked in a towel while you touching me. I’d probably agree to do anything to you. Don’t pressure me.”
I laughed softly, shaking my head. She smiled like she liked hearing that. I finished with the cream, then helped her into one of my shirts because I liked her in my clothes. She didn’t argue when I chose it. That alone told me she must be still floating somewhere. When I finally got her into bed, she curled toward me as soon as I climbed in beside her. I pulled her into my chest and kissed the top of her head.
“Sleep,” I said.
