He snorted.
“Exactly.”
Horror dawned in his eyes when he realized I was entirely serious.
“Just think of all the slumber parties we can have!” I exclaimed.
The look on his face said he was pretty much reliving and regretting every decision he ever made that had led him here.
“Right this way, Mr. …” the relator called from inside.
“Ghost.” I supplied.
“Mr. Ghost.”
I made sure to wink at Kieran before disappearing inside.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE
Rett
I ran away from home in eleventh grade, so I never finished high school.
Being underage and having no high school diploma, no money, a serious mistrust of people, and an autoimmune disorder wreaking havoc on my body meant I was basically a walking disaster. Actually, alimpingone. I was consumed a lot by hopelessness, and I wondered why I even bothered if my life was only ever going to be reduced to survival.
For so long, it seemed the entire world was against me, even my own body. I was nothing but an insignificant speck in a world where it was me against everyone,includingmyself.
Truthfully, these were things I still battled with today. It did get better after Hiro started stalking me and left me the bag of money. Without that money, I wouldn’t have been able to walk off the street and into an apartment. And yes, I knew my apartment was tiny, in the absolute worst part of town, and the building should probably be condemned, but it still represented a fresh start for me—a chance to break out of the life I felt locked in.
Are you wondering why I rented such a rundown place and not something better? Sure, I could have afforded it—but for how long? Trust issues, remember? What if I couldn’t find a job? What if I found a job and couldn’t keep it? What if I ended up sick and not able to work or make rent? Having a super nice place only to lose it seemed like a direct route back to where I started.
No thanks.
So I stretched the money Hiro had left me until the bills were practically see-through, and I kept my lifestyle simple because it seemed easier to hold on to. If I lost it all like I had before? Well, there wouldn’t be a lot to lose.
But while the money was instrumental in helping me create a life that was a little easier to survive, it wasn’t the thing I was most grateful for.
What was better than a bag full of money?
The way he treated me. How he cared.
I didn’t have a ton of memories from that first encounter when I didn’t even see his face, but it turns out you don’t have to see something for it to leave a mark. Those whisps of whispers, his gentle hands, and the way my body unclenched for a little while still echoed inside me like a second heartbeat. And even though I woke up alone that day, for once, I hadn’t felt lonely.
And then I got to see his face, hear his voice. Feel his touch. I learned that safety wasn’t the absence of fear. It was his presence. So of course I fell fast and hard. After all, my defenses were built for cruelty, not kindness.
Even in his gruff, mysterious way, Hiro was all kindness. That was until he left.
Funny how one man could be both salvation and damnation. How strong must he be to wield both?
I tried to hate him even as I coveted the brief moments we shared. But it turned out my heart was far better at love than hate, and now I understood that he thought his cruelty had been a kindness, his own warped way of protecting me.
Oddly, it only made me love him more.
“Excuse me! Are you even listening to me?” The aggravated yell of the customer on the other end of the call made me gasp.
Shit. I’m supposed to be working.“I-I’m sorry, could you please repeat that, ma’am?”
