Page 40 of The Fates We Tame

He lowers his lips to mine, and my whole body vibrates in reaction to it. I’ve seen kisses in movies, but I don’t rememberactually having any before today. The kisses in his room were too quick, but this one… I sigh as I sink into him, gripping the ties of his hoodie. His arms tighten around me as he pulls me close. Nothing is rushed nor hurried.

Simply two people making out.

“Fuck, you taste good,” he says. “Makes me wonder what the rest of you tastes like.”

I can’t wait for him to do that either. I swear my panties are now a soggy mess. “If you’re waiting for an invitation…”

“As amazing an invitation as that is, you still have to pack. Then we have to go get married.”

I run my fingers along his jaw. His scruff is long enough to be soft. “Are you sure you want to take me on, Theo? There’s stuff I still need. Physio. I can try to find a work-from-home job. Maybe something administrational. I don’t know how long that will?—”

His lips cut me off. This time, he groans. I can feel his cock getting hard beneath me. “Need to stop kissing you, or we aren’t going anywhere.”

“I was trying to tell you something serious.”

He looks at me earnestly. “I know, and that was my answer. We’ll get a physio to come to the house every day. They can see us both, one after the other, or together.”

“How will we pay for that?”

He tucks my hair behind my ear. “I have money. My club has even more. We’re good.”

“This is truly wild. But okay.”

Theo smiles. “Good. Though I think we should carry out all important conversations in the future in a chair that we can both get up from.”

It takes a moment and significant wobbling for us both to get up. It’s reassuring that he has his own limitations too. Not that I want him to be hurt, but so that we can be ourselves. I’m fed up with fully able-bodied people telling me I’m doing great.

What I really want is occasionally someone to say,That looks fucking painful, are you okay, babe?Or,You know what, don’t give me three more reps because I can tell you just did your best and that’s enough for now.

Theo touches my cheek gently. “I’ll keep you safe until you’re ready to go it alone, Sparrow. I promise.”

11

SWITCH

“Why are we doing this?” Niro asks when he meets me at the back of the center’s parking lot and I tell him our plan.

I glance over to where Catalina is settling Sophia into the truck bed. I picked this spot because there is no camera coverage in this part of the parking lot. It’s quite possibly overkill. But I didn’t feel like testing out the other ways we could have done this, like attempting to walk straight out the front door.

My worry was the reach of her family and how quick the center’s security might have been to attempt to restrain us. I didn’t like the idea of being forced to hurt Irv.

I was concerned that they would call her family and tell them she was leaving with me.

We need a head start to make this work.

So, we left letters in our respective rooms saying we were leaving, just so they don’t think I kidnapped her. They’re brief. That we needed out of here, it’s voluntary, and we’ll contact the center soon. And Sophia will message her family once we’re married.

“It’s not up for debate. I just need to get out of here,” I say, glancing up at the building to make sure nobody is paying us any mind.

“You can’t remember the past ten years, but this isnotlike you. On a scale of one to me on the impulsive spectrum, you were a hardcore two.”

I turn to face him. “Like you said, I don’t know who that man was, but I can only be the man I am now. And the man I am now needs to do this.”

The loud roar of a sports car’s engine alerts us of its entry into the parking lot, and I immediately recognize it. It’s followed by a black Bentley. They’re held up at the barrier at the entrance.

“Soph, stay down.” I turn to Cat and Niro. “That’s her brothers. We need to cover her quickly.”

“I’m scared,” Sophia whispers.