Page 118 of Lethal Weakness

He nods again, tightening his arms around me. I don’t know if he’s going to burst into tears, or laughter, or combust altogether.

“Get some sleep. We can talk about all of the heavy stuff tomorrow.” Nothing about our situation is going to change in a few hours. All the gory details about what happens next with the Scotts will still be the same.

None of that bad needs to shadow the good that just transpired.

“Night, night, Mr. Jack,” Avery says, yawning.

“Goodnight, princess,” he forces out through gravel in his throat. It makes me smile.

“Have sweet dreams, Jack.” I kiss him softly. “I love you.”

“Ah, fuck,” he utters under his breath, rolling over until his face is buried in my neck. Our limbs are so entangled, I don’t know where he ends and I begin. His hand is buried in my hair, cradling me closer, and I’m not sure if I’m the koala or he is, the way we’re clinging to each other.

It’s perfect.

I rub his back until my big scary man’s breaths deepen, and he finally lets himself be as safe in my arms as I am in his.

I’ll protect him, too. In all the ways that I can.

* * *

“Well, this is the silliest thing I’ve ever seen,” Kay’s voice startles me awake from the doorway.

I raise my head, squinting at her in the morning light. “Good morning,” I mumble. My neck and back are stiff as I glance to the side.

Jack’s on his back, waking up slowly and taking in his surroundings. Avery is curled up beside him with her head on his chest, opposite me. All three of us are in a big pile on the floor.

His arms tighten around us easily. “Morning,” he mumbles.

“There is a perfectly good king-size bed in the other room,” Kay chuckles as I sit up like a stiff board.

“Yeah, definitely going to skip the floor tonight.”

“I’ve had worse,” Jack says, sitting up after Avery does. “I slept on an air mattress a few nights in a row once, and that was terrible.”

I cut him a hard glance, and he scrunches his face, holding back a laugh, and looks anywhere but at me.

“I wike my sailboat bed,” Avery says, jumping back up onto the mattress.

“Then why did you end up on the floor?”

She shrugs. “I watch cartoons now?”

“Only if Ms. Kay isn’t watching anything.”

“Come on down, sweetheart. I’ll turn on PBS and let your mommy get going for the day.”

“Thank you,” I sigh in relief. I’m not used to having any minutes to myself.

“I also need to talk to Linden about some… serious things,” Jack says, glancing towards Avery so Kay knows what he means. Adult things. Heavy things. “If you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. I love having a little one in the house again.” Her hands squeeze together in excitement. “I’ll make her breakfast. What does she like?”

“Probably something plain. Muffins, pancakes, or maybe cereal,” Jack answers before I can, glancing to me for confirmation, and I feel my throat tighten.

He’s so attentive to Avery’s needs already, and it’s overwhelming. Loving me is one thing, but seeing how he loves Avery is everything.

“Yeah, anything like that would be perfect,” I squeak.