Page 85 of What He Never Knew

“Whatdoyou want?”

I almost laughed, like it was easy to say, to achieve. “I want you,” I answered simply. “I want…us. But, I’m scared. I don’t want you to get fired, and I don’t know how my uncle will react. Or what people will say, how they’ll see us. What about The Kinky Starfish? And the parents at Westchester, will they worry about their kids? And what about…” I sighed, biting my lower lip. “I don’t know if I… I don’t know if I’menoughfor you. I’m young, and inexperienced, and—”

“Hey,” Reese interrupted me, tilting my chin with his knuckles until my eyes met his once more. “Do you remember what I said to you that night we adopted Rojo?”

I loved the way he saidwe,like we were a unit, a team, athing.

I nodded.

“What did I say?” he probed.

“You said I was enough,” I whispered.

Reese’s eyes danced between mine. “I did. And I meant it. Then, and now. You are enough, Sarah. And I want you, too.”

My eyes widened. “You do?”

He chuckled at that, leaning in to press his lips tenderly to mine. “I love how you act so surprised, like you’re anything less than the most beautiful, most incredible,strongestwoman I’ve ever known.”

I beamed, pressing up to kiss him again before my head fell back into the pillows. I shook it, staring up at the most beautiful, most incredible, strongestmanI’d ever known — wondering how in the hell he saw the same in me.

But none of that mattered to anyone outside of these walls.

Alltheywould see is a teacher abusing his power, a student feeling like she was in love when she was just enamored by an older man. They’d see perversion, not beauty.

“What do we do, then?” I asked him. “How do we…”

“We’ll figure it out,” he said, kissing my fingertips. “Iwill figure it out. Okay? But we don’t have to have all the answers right now.” With that, he rolled, rubbing Rojo’s belly before popping up out of bed. His hair was a disheveled mess, but all I could stare at were the muscles that lined his rib cage, his abdomen, leading all the way down to the sharp V above his belt. “Right now,” he said, reaching a hand back for me. “We both need a shower. And then you need to figure out a story for why you stayed out all night.”

I laughed, letting him pull me up. “Yeah… that will be a fun conversation.”

“Was it worth it, though?” Reese asked, pulling me flush against him. His lips found mine, hands splaying the small of my back and pulling me into him as he stole my breath.

And I didn’t have to answer out loud for him to know my response.

It was worth it.

So,soworth it.

Reese

There was one day from my childhood that I had always remembered.

I wasn’t sure why this particular day stuck in my mind, especially since nothingtrulyremarkable happened, but I’d never forgotten it. It was just a weekday over the summer, right before I went into my sophomore year of high school. Mallory and I were in our backyard with Charlie and her older brother, Graham. This was before I saw Charlie as anything other than my best friend’s little sister, and before I lost my family, and before I realized that anything could ever come between me and my love for the piano. It was just a hot summer day in Pennsylvania, and we were in the back yard, flying down a homemade slip-n-slide we’d made.

It kept us entertained the entire day.

I remember listening to the new Pearl Jam album, spraying my little sister with the water and talking to Graham about the hot new freshmen we’d be fighting over when school started. Mom had been working on the house inside, but stopped to bring us lunch. She’d watched us play for a while, laughing every time I’d try to run all the way down the tarp without falling.

I never succeeded.

And when Dad got home, he came out back, still dressed in his suit and tie from the work day. Rather than just watching, he’d stripped down to his old man boxers and dove straight down the tarp on his stomach.

We’d all chased after him.

That memory was as brazen in my mind as it was the very day it all happened. Maybe it was because it was a time we were together as a family. Maybe it just reminded me of simpler days. Regardless, it had always stuck with me — and it wasn’t necessarily what happened on that day as much as it was how I felt. I was alive, young, with limitless opportunities ahead of me. It was a lazy summer day, one where I had nowhere to be and nothing to do, one where everyone I loved was right where they were supposed to be.

It was the same feeling I’d had since Saturday night.