Page 5 of Surviving Slater

I shrugged, not wanting to divulge what was on my mind. He knew I was still struggling with the end of what could have been with Slater. He had bought Taylor and me ice cream and watched chick flicks with us to help us get over our bad boys who had been playing havoc with our emotions.

Sin had left town, crushing the little hope Taylor had that they would sort out their issues. Slater had told me that he couldn't give me what I wanted. Boys sucked.

"Did you get some sleep?" he asked as he opened the cupboard to get a mug.

"A little," I admitted. I breathed in the rich aroma of my coffee and let it tingle through me. I sipped it carefully.

I could definitely have done with more sleep but I wanted to see Taylor. Later, after my visit to the hospital, I could catch up on the sleep I had missed. I had college classes but I wasn't up for it. Tomorrow I would try and ease back into my usual schedule.

"Connor spent the night at the hospital," Matthew told me. He wouldn't have wanted Taylor to wake up without someone there.

"Is she awake yet?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"Can we go to the hospital early?" I asked, cradling my coffee in my hands.

"Yes. As soon as you're ready we can go."

I liked having Matthew around. He was like a brother I'd never had, but if Taylor didn't need a bodyguard anymore, it meant Matthew would move on to another job. It made me sad to think he would be going soon.

"When are you leaving?" I asked, watching him over the rim on my mug.

He shrugged.

"I'll still be here for a while. Connor wants me to stay until Eric is convicted."

I was glad Connor wasn't taking any chances. Taylor had never confided in me about her past that she had kept hidden. It had been Connor, one late emotional night after Taylor had been taken, who had finally told me about the murder of their parents when Taylor had only been nine years old. She had been with her parents in the house but Connor, who at the time had been eighteen, had been at a friend's house.

I couldn't imagine what it would have been like for such a small child to be forced to go through the horror of seeing her parents murdered.

It had explained a lot, like the reason why Taylor was so naive and unworldly. When we had first met, I had been surprised she had never been to a party or even been drunk. It also explained why Connor had taken such drastic measures to keep her safe.

"Good. I'm glad you'll be sticking around," I said to him. It was hard to just think of him as a person doing a job he was paid to do. I felt some real affection for him.

"You're going to miss my great cooking," he teased with a wink, and I shook my head and smiled.

He could cook, but there was a lot more to him that I would miss. When he had first moved in with us, he had done all the cooking, which had been great because both Taylor and I were pretty useless in the kitchen.

"It's been good to have you around," I said. I didn't like to get emotional but he had been a rock to lean on over the past few trying weeks.

"You getting soppy on me?" he asked as he cocked his head to the side with a teasing smile. I rolled my eyes at him.

"No. I just wanted you to know it has been nice to have you around, with everything that's been going on."

"You're welcome," he said. "You need ice cream and soppy movies, I'm your man."

He made me laugh. It had been awhile.

"It's nice to see you smile. You should do it more often."

I wished I had more to smile about.

"Hopefully with Taylor back and on the mend we can get back to normal," I said.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked suddenly.

"Sure." He looked so serious.