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“I thought you were my mom,” I breathe the excuse against his chest.

“Shh.” He strokes my hair and holds me closer. “You know she can’t hurt you anymore.”

I do. I know that. I know I can choose how to respond to this situation. I burrow into Aden’s chest and breathe. He smells warm and clean, and I need every bit of comfort he can offer. I cling to him and I love how he holds me back. I needed this.

As he rubs soothing circles on my back he seems to realize how shaken I really am. “She can’t do anything to you anymore,” he reassures me.

“I know,” I finally manage to say. “I know she can’t.” Repeating the words out loud always helps. “But she called.”

Aden’s hand stops on the back of my head, his fingers in my hair. “What? What did she say?”

“Oh, God. It was nothing new. She said the same things as always. She wants to be there for me. She thinks she should be able to support me. As if she could ever understand how to do that.”

My chest aches in a tightening way.

He makes a soft sound, and his hand starts moving on my hair again. “You okay?”

“Not really.” I let out a final deep breath, wanting to release all that’s come over me.

“Yeah. I could tell something was going on.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. None of that is your fault. I could tell, is all. I was worried about you, so I came here to check on you. Should’ve told you beforehand. I won’t scare you again.” He smiles down at me before kissing the tip of my nose. “Promise,” he adds and with his handsome smile I have to smile back up at him.

“It’s okay.” I curl my fingers into the back of his T-shirt. “It’s okay. I’m glad you’re here. I need you.”

Heat flares up everywhere inside me. It melts through my fear and my anxiety, and then my body realizes that Aden is here. He’s here with me, and nobody can take him away.

Knowing I can have him—that I do have him—sends a heavier wave of heat between my legs. He’s been my cure to all I went through. The balm to everything broken inside of me.

That simple comfort is my therapy. My drug. My everything.

Aden puts his hand under my chin and tips my face to his.

I kiss him harder than I meant to, but I can’t stop. I’m hungry for him. I’ve wanted him all day. All of last night, too, and I can’t wait anymore.

He walks me backward until I’m against the wall and keeps kissing me, deeper and deeper until I’ve fully melted against the wall and into him.

“Haley,” he says, voice rough. “Yeah, that’s it. You don’t have to worry anymore. I’ve got you. I’m here.”

I part my lips for another kiss, and he gives it to me.

By the time he pulls away to catch his breath, all the stress of the day has melted off me. All I want is Aden. I want him to touch me everywhere, and I never want him to leave.

Our eyes meet for a few long seconds. I know he’s thinking the same thing I am.

Nobody can stop us.

Nobody can make us look away, or punish us for looking.

He puts his hand to my chin again, softer this time, and holds my face still.

And then he just stares, his cheeks flushed from how he kissed me and his lips wet. His eyes roam over my face, drinking me in, and my heart twists with a warm ache. I wish this didn’t mean so much to me. I wish I’d never gone to that school.

But it means everything to me, just like Aden. I can accept that it happened to me because I have to accept it. I’ll never appreciate it. I’ll never be grateful to anyone at that school.

The one thing I’m grateful for is Aden.