“Not until you tell me what you and Alex said to each other. I don’t want to know all your secrets. I just—it was such an awful few days for all of us.” Her thumb glides along the edge of my jaw, and I fight like hell to resist the urge to rub against her like a dog. “I want to know that you’re okay. That we’reallokay.”
“We’re okay,” I promise, dropping a brief kiss against her lips. “It’s just hard for me to say again because… it was mean. I was mean.”
Owning my words is hard. Telling the woman I love that I was a fucking dumbass is even harder.
She waits, ever patient.
Sighing, I pivot to her side and lean against the tabletop. Maybe if I don’t look directly at her, I can focus. Sucking in a deep breath, I embrace the discomfort and let the truth out: the guilt that was rubbing me raw, Alex’s little jab about having a handle on my demons, and then our verbal sparring session.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see her nod softly. No judgment. No gasping. No fury. Just quiet acceptance. And then, when I’m done, she puts a hand on my right thigh. My pulse leaps.
“Thank you for telling me.”
“Sure.” I press a hand over hers. “While I’m airing all my secrets…”
Thank goodness she laughs. After everything, she’s still capable of joy and finding the humor. It gives me the strength to tell her about Dr. Morales.
“I started therapy.”
Her head whips left. “What?”
“King encouraged me to talk to someone. So I am.”
Her grip on my thigh tightens. “Really?”
“Really.” I trace a circle on the back of her hand. Then another. And before I know it, the circlemorphs into a heart. “I’ve got some things to sort out in my head. Things I should have handled years ago. King was right. It’s hard. Just the idea of reliving everything?—”
She leans into me, a quiet strength I should have leaned on that day instead of doubting her.
“Anyway. My therapist came highly recommended. I’ve seen her once so far. Yesterday. And we’re doing two appointments a week until I graduate.”
Her grin is wide. “Of course, you would look at it as graduating therapy. You’re such a geek.”
I shrug, because at this point, I have my geek card framed and on display.
“I’m proud of you. I hope you get everything you need out of therapy. In fact, I think it’s already working.”
“She’s given me some new ways to look at life,” I admit, more confident in my decision.
“Yeah?” She sounds pleased. Relieved even.
“Yeah. Speaking of, I have a proposal.”
7
ALEX/KING/KATHERINE
King: knew I should have gone with her.
Alex: to the board meeting?
King: yeah.
King: it should be over by now but she’s not answering my texts.
Alex: Breathe, King. Her team says she’s meeting with Gabe.
King: uh oh. maybe we should check on them.
