Page 26 of Savage in the Streets

“Do you need me to get you anything?” he asks.

“No…”

“Okay. For what it’s worth, if there were a monster under your bed, I’m pretty sure he’s more afraid of you than you are of it. And I wouldn’t say that to many people.”

I smile. It’s real. It’s not the fake smirks I serve up so easily.

He turns to leave. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Oh, God…I can’t be alone…not like this…

The undershirt I sleep in is soaked, clinging to my body. I’m trembling, partially from fear, but also because I’m freezing. If Ashton leaves me like this, there’s little chance I’ll get back to bed.

Just as the door is about to close, I yell out, “Stay!”

He pauses but makes no move to turn back around.

I can’t blame him for wanting to get away. He must think I’m batshit crazy for screaming like I did.

“I’d offer you a glass of wine to relax, but you don’t drink, do you?”

“No, but anything with white sugar might get the job done.”

“Follow me.”

We walk to the kitchen, and I take a seat at the island.

“I have coffee-flavored ice cream, those cookies they giveaway on airplanes, and some stuff left over from last Halloween.”

“I’ll try the airplane cookies. I’ve never flown before, so I want to see what they’re like.”

He throws a small package at me. “They kind of taste like shit, but here ya go.”

He takes a seat adjacent to me, and I see that his white undershirt forms to his taut muscles.

Most women would ogle him, wanting him for sinfully scandalous reasons I can’t say I’m above. In fact, his body of steel has been doing laps in my head ever since I began staying here.

But right now, all I want is for him to hold me. To protect me.

“What happened in there?” he asks.

“Nothing,” I say too quickly.

“Bullshit. Cut the tough girl act.”

I take a bite of the cookie, buying myself a moment to think through what I’m about to say.

“It was Petunia, wasn’t it?” he says in a dire tone. “I knew that animal was no good.”

“My mom died when I was young. I still think about her a lot.”

He nods his head but says nothing.

“She’s the only person in this world that ever protected me. She was a shit mother, but certainly better than my father. After she died…everything just…broke.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What’s funny is that it happened so long ago that it shouldn’t really matter.”