Page 27

To be fair, I only have one brother. Usually, when I promise him something, he nods and lets it go. These guys? Not a chance. Not only did the other two show up, but I’m getting grilled like I’m the prime suspect in the world's most high-profile heist.

Abby, however, has her head buried inside the sweatshirt she stole from me on the way here.

I don’t know what it says about me that I like, no, love how small she looks in it.

If I’m being honest, I wouldn’t be mad if she never wore anything other than my clothes for the rest of her life. She looks good. She looks like mine.

She runs her thumb over my injured knuckles, soft and tentative, before she gets up and quietly makes her way to the bathroom.

I watch her as she goes, partly to make sure she’s okay, partly because I can’t keep my damn eyes off of her.

I notice her shoulders are a little less rigid than they were when we got here; that’s a good sign.

As soon as she’s out of earshot, I lean into the phone and drop my voice a notch or two so they know how serious I am.

“I’ll protect her, but I need you to figure out if these guys are a real threat.

” They nod, and I continue. “In the two years I’ve known your sister, I’ve never seen her like this.

” They wear matching looks, somber and concerned.

“I need to be able to tell her everything is going to be okay and mean it.”

Dex steps toward the phone, his face hardening by the second.

His jaw clenches and unclenches in the same way I’ve seen Abby do dozens of times.

“Consider it done.” He thinks for a second before his eyes lock on mine, “She trusts you, you wouldn ’t be the one she called if she didn’t.

” His smile falls as he continues, “We’ll look into everything they have.

But don’t hurt her, her trust doesn’t come easily. ” If that ain’t the damn truth.

A soft hand lands on my shoulder as she smiles down at me, and I wonder how I never realized how angelic she is.

Her blonde hair is no longer in double braids, but down and wavy.

Her eyes shine a little brighter than they did when I found her a few hours ago.

But it’s the way she carries herself that pulls me in deeper.

She’s been hurt, and even in the midst of that, she spends her days taking care of other people.

Helping them heal from their injuries, or helping prevent one.

Even here, she’s cooked three meals a day for nine people, except for last night.

We stopped for coffee for us after our runs, yet she couldn’t leave Hannah or Greyson out.

She’s a freaking angel. One sent to free me from the bullshit Nikki and River put me through.

One, I’ll protect with everything I’ve got.

“Do you have what you need?” She asks her brothers as she returns her attention to the phone.

“I’d like to get on with my day now.” They mumble something about being safe, watching your surroundings, and not going anywhere alone before she finally hangs up on them while they’re still talking.

Setting the phone down, she turns to me and squats down in front of me like I did with her earlier.

She stares at the floor for a minute before she brings her eyes up to meet mine.

They slowly fill with tears, and my jacked-up heart can’t handle it.

Cupping her cheeks, I swipe under her eyes to brush them away.

“Thank you for coming,” she whispers as she closes her eyes, leaning further into my palm.

Her words are my undoing. She could’ve called anyone, there are seven other people in that house. But she chose me.

I continue to brush my thumb over her cheek, “If you call, I’ll come running.

” Her eyes open slowly, almost like she’s dreaming.

“Always.” The conviction in my voice surprises me, but it feels right.

If there’s anything I need her to know, it’s this.

I protect what’s mine, and she is undoubtedly mine.

I lean in, and when our lips meet, I know there’s no going back to pretending we hate each other.

That’s all we were doing this whole time, pretending. This? This is real.

––––––––

We sit in the car on the side of the road that leads to the cabin.

I watch as she repeatedly pulls her hair up, takes it out, and does it again.

I think we’re on try number six. “Abby,” She stops mid pull through, one hand wrapped around her hair, the other holding the hair tie.

She looks at me out of the corner of her eye, but doesn’t turn fully.

“It’s okay if you aren’t ready, we can find something else to do.

” She drops both her hands and sighs, her feet drumming on the floor as the silence stretches.

“No, I need to get back to my routine. I have dinner to make.” The scoff that leaves me is loud, she just found out someone is stalking her, and she’s worried about dinner?

Her arms c ross over her chest as she leans against the window, angling her body toward me. “I don’t want to cook, but I need to.”

I get it, but all I want is for her to take a break. Just to sit and let someone else take care of her for a while. The more out of control she feels, the more control she tries to gain over her life, her actions, and the people around her.

I take a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before I let it go. I pick up one of her hands and watch as a blush creeps up her neck. “Okay, so what’s the game plan? We go in there and pretend everything is hunky dory?”

She bites her bottom lip, trying to hide her growing smile, but fails epically as her teeth come into view.

“I actually had to pick something up last night.” She crawls over the center console leaving her legging-clad ass right in my face.

I don’t know when I’m going to get this opportunity again, so I lean in and bite.

Hard. Her squeal is loud, followed by uncontrollable laughter.

My chest fills with pride that it was me who caused her to laugh like that.

Once she finally catches her breath, she levels me with a glare that I’m sure I should be scared of. Instead, it makes me smile like a lunatic. “That’s going to leave a mark.” The groan that leaves me is primal. Why is that so hot?

“Good.” Is all I say before I lean in to kiss her. Before I can make contact with her mouth, my lips meet her palm. My eyes shoot open, meeting her amused ones. Huffing, I sit back in my seat and absolutely pout.

She pulls something out of a bag, and my head tilts in confusion as I take in whatever it is. “It’s a trophy.”

“Abby, that's a dick.” Her head falls back against the headrest as she shakes with laughter. I don’t even care; hearing her laugh after the morning she’s had is a miracle in and of itself.

She turns it around, and I see that it is in fact, not a dick, but a mushroom with a face on it.

“What the hell is that?” She smiles as she pushes the trippy little mushroom into my hands.

I read the plaque and roll my lips between my teeth to keep myself from laughing. It says, “A failure so epic, it deserves an award. To the Sasquatch expedition!” I have so many questions, but I don’t have time to answer them before my phone rings.

We look at each other for a second before she nods, letting me know she’s okay. Well, as okay as she can be right now. “Hey,” I say into the phone. I should know to expect the unexpected when Greyson calls, but I didn’t expect Hannah to immediately start yelling when I answered.

Abby snatches the phone from my hand, puts it on speaker, and places it on the dashboard.

“Hannah, that’s enough,” she says calmly, “You don’t get to talk to him like that.

He did nothing wrong. And if the next words out of your mouth are not ‘Thank you for taking care of my best friend,’ then you can go ahead and hang up now. ”

My jaw drops over the fact that she defended me.

I’ve never had a woman stand up for me. Not that I’ve ever needed one to, but I can’t deny that I like it.

I like it a lot. The silence over the phone lets me know she’s caught Hannah off guard, which I guess isn’t too hard to imagine considering the two of us could barely stand to be in the same room as each other before we got here.

Finally, Hannah finds her voice. “Right. I’m sorry, thank you for taking care of my best friend.

” Humming in response, Abby places her hand on my knee and begins running her nails along the inside of my thigh.

The movement sends all my blood rushin g to my lower half, and I am no longer able to form a single word.

From the smirk on her face, she knows it, too.

Abby’s eyes focus on the trees outside when she says, “Listen, Han. We’ll be back in a bit. Everything is fine. Okay?” Hannah reluctantly says okay, and Abby hits the red button before anything else can be said.

Her hand is still moving in long, smooth movements, but her gaze stays locked on the gently swaying trees out the window.

“Let’s keep this to ourselves for a bit.

I don’t want anyone getting their hopes up.

” Her hand stops to give my thigh a squeeze.

“I’m still trying to figure out if I actually like you, or if I just think you’re hot. ”

A laugh barrels out of me, her head swivels slightly so she can look at me out of the corner of her eye, her hand resuming its earlier movement. “You want me to be your dirty little secret, Tink?”

A small smile plays on her lips as she asks, “If you weren’t a soccer player, what would you be?” before turning back fully to the window.

What a left-field question, but I recognize it for what it is.

A distraction tactic. I’ll bite. “I always wanted to be an artist.” Her hand stills for a moment before it continues its path.

“I like to draw, but painting has always been my favorite.” Her lips fall slightly apart as her head turns in my direction.

Her eyes search for any indication that I’m making that up, but she won’t find it.

My room is filled with paintings, sketchbooks, and random canvases I’ve decorated over the years.

When you spend as much time alone as I do, you find solace in what you can.

I just let all my feelings out in the art I make. Maybe one day, I’ll show her .

“What about you?” I ask as I grab her hand and hold it in mine.

Her smile is small, taking on a reminiscent note.

“I think I was always destined to be in the medical field. If I weren’t a physical therapist, I’d want to be a pediatric nurse.

” I can see that. Her endless sunshine would be perfect for kids, lending them her warmth when they feel down.

I saw it at the carnival when she was wrapping my shoulder for the kids.

I mean, before the she-devil showed up and put her hands on Hannah.

But that’s a different story. She protected those kids when she realized what was happening, all the same.

She’s going to make a great mom one day.