Thank God he held me tight.
Because I didn’t have the strength to stand on my own.
Something warm pressed against me and wrapped around my stomach. My heart beat normally, and I sent up a little prayer of thanks. It took a couple tries, but I lifted the steel curtains of my eyelids only to be met by more darkness. A clock on the unfamiliar bedside table read 3:43 a.m., and the wall I faced was bare but for the window. It was covered by thick drapes that opened only wide enough to let in a small stream of light. I had no idea where I was, but the scent that enveloped me was familiar.
“Jagger?”
He rolled to hover just above me. “You fell asleep on the way home, so I brought you here. Paisley, I’m sorry about tonight. I was so angry, and when your mom told me Carter was the one who ratted us out, I just lost it. It was inexcusable. I apologized to your father as soon as we got into his office. I won’t ever let you down like that again,” he promised. “What I did to Carter…”
“You destroyed his face,” I accused softly. “Not that you look much better.” I skimmed my fingers over the dark splotch of color on his cheek, and he flinched.
“I’ve always…had a temper, but I’ve never attacked anyone like that, I swear. It was the first time, and the last.” He looked into my eyes like they were the measure of truth.
I didn’t know how to respond to that. He’d been wild, and physical violence wasn’t anything I handled well. “It’s not okay, and I can’t pretend that it is. You…you can’t ever do anything like that again.”
“I won’t. I promise. Did it cost me you?” The light was dim in the room, but enough shone through to make out the fear shooting through his wide eyes.
A dozen heartbeats passed before I could answer him. If anything, tonight showed me how little time I had left to make my choice. But what time I had? I was going to give it to him. “No. I’m not going to walk away from you over this. Not when I promised you forgiveness.” The nickel. He’d actually kept it.
He sighed, his whole body sagging along my side. “You won’t be sorry. I swear, you won’t regret this. Any part of it.”
My eyelids felt ridiculously heavy. “I could never regret you.” I rested my hands over his heartbeat. His forehead dropped to touch mine, his breath sweet in my face like he hadn’t even been asleep. It felt so good to be in his bed, in his arms, safe and cherished, not stifled.
“I’ll fix it with your parents. I know they’re important to you, but I might need your help. Family isn’t something I know a lot about since mine is pretty nonexistent.” He kissed my cheek softly, pulling me into his side and draping his arm across my hip. “Sleep, Little Bird. I’ve got you.”
I threaded my fingers between his, leaving my hand on top as my eyes closed. “I’ve got you, too, and I’ll be your family.”
For the next 110 days.
Bacon. The smell woke me. I stretched, my hand smoothing over Jagger’s empty pillow, and opened my eyes.
I sent a quick text to Morgan, climbed out of bed, used Jagger’s bathroom, and checked my face. No makeup, but the bags weren’t as bad today. Lying in bed all yesterday, wrapped in Jagger’s arms for a movie marathon, had definitely done me some good. Now, if they hadn’t all been the Army of Darkness movies, it might have been just perfect.
It would have been exquisite if he’d not kept himself under complete control and only given me soft, quick kisses.
I put a bra on under my tank top. There was no way the girls were getting free range at breakfast. Voices carried from the kitchen, and I came around the corner from the hallway to see Grayson at the stove, turning bacon while Jagger beat eggs. Ember sat on Josh’s lap, sipping coffee.
“Morning,” I said, coming behind Jagger and slipping my hands around his waist. He tensed, and my fingers felt every ridge of his rock-hard abs as I hugged myself to him. A low pang of desire hummed through me, not entirely unwelcome.
He leaned into me and hummed a moan as I pulled him tighter. “Morning, Little Bird.”
I pressed a soft kiss to his back and then left him to the eggs, stealing the seat across from Josh and Ember. “You headed back today?”
A small, sad smile flashed across her face. “Yeah, a little later. I don’t have class until the day after tomorrow, so I’ll stay here as long as I can.”
Josh flexed his arms around her, putting his nose to her neck like he needed to remember how she smelled.
“I would, too,” I agreed quietly, sneaking a look at Jagger as he joked with Grayson.
The doorbell rang, and Jagger made it there before me, opening it for Morgan. “Good morning, folks!” She handed Jagger a basket full of bagels.
“Um. You shouldn’t have?”
“Darling, I’m southern. We don’t come over empty-handed.” She flashed him a smile and squeezed my hand, leading me down the hallway. “Here.” She handed me three bottles. “I didn’t want to keep coming over randomly, so I brought them all.”
I hugged her. “Thank you.”
“He still thinks it’s asthma?” She raised her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side, letting me know what she thought about that.
“I’ll tell him,” I promised.
“When?”
“Soon.” I led her to the bedroom, took my meds, and stashed the bottles in the duffel bag full of my clothes that she’d brought me yesterday.