Page 45 of Worth Risking It

Sniffling, she sat up, clearing her throat. She nodded stiffly, swatting at her cheeks. “Fine,” she croaked, coughing.

“What happened? What were you dreaming of?”

She rubbed the tip of her nose, refusing to look at me. Clicking her nails together in her lap, her lips twisted around her teeth before she muttered, “My stepdad.”

My breaths paused. I had heard a little about him here and there, but she never really went into details. “You want to talk?” I tucked her hair behind her ear, curling my fingers under her jaw to force her to look at me.

Her brows arched and she pouted, tears welling again. “He used to hit me so hard.”

My stomach knotted, my blood boiling. “Why?”

She untucked her hair to conceal her face, turning away. “Because he was embarrassed at how fat and ugly I was. So, when he’d get drunk, he would hit me. He…he had this thick, orange extension cord that he kept hanging on a hook in the kitchen. Every time I disgusted him, he would hit me with it. If he caught me trying to eat a snack that wasn’t preapproved by them, he would hit me.”

My lids closed, my heart aching for this woman. For a moment, I even felt shame, because I had looked at her the same way when I first met her.

“Mom never did anything. She said it was my fault for not being pretty. Said I should try harder.”

My arm across the back of the sofa, I leaned forward, cupping her cheek, tugging gently. There was so much sorrow in her eyes, and it killed me.

“They were so wrong, kitten. I have never known someone more beautiful than you.”

Her bottom lip puckered as she blinked rapidly. “You even thought I was hideous at first.”

“Because I was blind. Now, all I see is you, Chazzy. Every time I look at another woman, I’m comparing her to you, and they always fall flat. You are gorgeous.”

A tear slid down her cheek. Heaving a sigh, she laid across my chest, hugging tightly. I immediately engulfed her with my arms, pressing my lips to the top of her head.

“I love you, kitten. I wish you could see yourself how I see you. You would never doubt your beauty again.”

“Why can’t we pause the world and stay right here, like this, forever?”

My pulse quickening, I rotated my chin so my cheek was in her hair, staring at the television. “Kitten? If I had met you first, would you have married me?”

Her muscles locked in my embrace. For a few seconds that felt like hours, my breath held in anticipation for her answer.

“Absolutely,” she whispered, snuggling closer.

My lids closed, relief flooding me. Sinking into the cushions, I comforted her while she wound down from her nightmare.

“Wyatt?”

“Yeah, kitten?”

She trembled, her nails digging into my side. My lids snatched open, my brows furrowing.

“If I could, I’d marry you now.”

My heart lurched, my stomach turning over. Forcing her to sit up, I peered at her through squinted lids. “You would choose me over Milo?”

Her cheeks burned red, her sight lowering. Ever so slightly, she nodded. “I love him,” she whispered, bringing her focus back to mine. “I really, really love him. And…and if you…if it weren’t for…”

She gulped and took a jagged breath. In a tone I barely heard, for she spoke it so softly, she said, “You need me more.”

An invisible fist punched me in the gut, and I grunted, wincing from the pain. My mouth ran dry, my brain spinning.

“There’s a hundred different women out there who could replace me with him—”

“That’s not true. I’ve known him since he was three days old, that man cannot live without you.”