Page 66 of Cash

Neither option appealed to me.

“Did someone widen the path?” I asked, quickly diverting his attention away from my body.

“Yea, I sent the prospects up here to cut them back. I don’t want anything to cause you pain.”

He was too fucking sweet. He would never understand that I needed the pain. The pain was a way for me to feel. To let the monsters scream.

“Come on. I want to talk to you about something.”

He pulled me over to the rock and sat down, pulling me down with him. He fit me against his chest and wrapped his arms around me like a cocoon. I felt safe here. Just him and me. No one else to break the spell around us.

“I spoke to Ryder this morning.”

I gasped and tried to sit up, but he held me tight. “Stay with me,” he whispered, and my mind answered,‘forever.’

“How did it go?”

“Better than I expected. He knew about you.”

I stiffened in his grasp.

“It’s ok,” Cash insisted. But it wasn’t ok. Someone knew about us. Had someone followed us up here? Was someone watching me? Or Him?

“He wants to meet you.”

“Why?”

“Because Rachel was his best friend.”

“And he wants to know if I’m good enough for you,” I reasoned, despair filling my chest. But the monsters stayed sleeping.

“No, Rosie. He wants to make sure I’m good enough for you.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. He knows nothing about me.” This time when I turned, he let me. “Why wouldn’t you be good enough for me?”

“Because I’m an asshole.”

I snorted. “No, you aren’t,” I said, settling back against his chest. “Believe me, I’ve met assholes.”

His arms tightened around me, and he hissed, “What assholes?”

“Cash, you know what the Nyght Nymphs do. You know who we help. Every person we help has an asshole in their life that we rescue them from.”

“Like Amber?” he asked quietly.

“I wasn’t involved in Amber’s rescue. I told you; I’ve never met her.” Amber wasn’t a topic I was ready to discuss. I squirmed against him and he took the hint and changed the subject.

“How did you get your road name?” he asked, and I smiled.

I took a deep breath. I knew this was coming. Knew he would eventually ask about my past.

“Val found me screaming behind a dumpster when I was eleven years old. She said I reminded her of a lost kitten.” I shrugged as if it didn’t really mean anything. But it meant everything to me.

“Where was your family?” he rasped. I heard the anger in his voice, so I placed my hands on his thighs and rubbed up and down. It didn’t take long before he relaxed.

“I can’t have you getting angry about my past. Nothing can be done about it now.” I looked over my shoulder. “Ok?”

He gazed into my eyes, ping ponging back and forth, looking for something. It felt like he was always searching. But I didn’t know what he was searching for.