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He handed over her iced coffee and frowned at her phone. “I don’t need to see that. I trust you. I just didn’t like that you looked upset.”
“I know I don’t have to show you, but I want you to read it. I want you to understand me.”
“I do,” he said softly.
“I want you to see all of me.”
He huffed a sigh and sat on the edge of the bed. He read the two text messages—the one from Brandon, and the response from her.
He chuckled and rubbed the two-day scruff on his jaw. “If I got a text like this from a woman, I would take it to my grave. He’ll be thinking about this all day. You’re awesome.”
“I’m irritated,” she muttered.
Wreck gripped the back of her neck and shook her gently, slowly, eyes boring into hers. “You’re a therapist. You know how it’ll be. You’ll have big feelings about it in the first stages of healing, and then it’ll be less over time until you don’t get triggered at all. The bigger you allow your life to become, the faster the healing.”
She snorted, and sucked down a sip of coffee. It was delicious. “Do you want to take some of my clients, Mr. Emotionally-Educated?”
He kissed her on the forehead and stood, made to leave the room.
“Where are you going?”
“To give you some space with your thoughts.”
But he had an empty look on his face, like he was covering up something.
“Mmkay, and what are you really doing?”
A slow smile took his lips. “I memorized the phone number, and I’m going to go remind your ex who you belong to now.”
She laughed and nodded. “Well, that’s about right.”
“Do you mind?” he asked.
“Go get him.”
“Don’t tell me that,” he muttered. “I’ll burn his whole life to the ground and leave him in ashes.”
“Possessive,” she said low.
“Protective,” he corrected her.
She liked it. As he walked out of the room, she felt this awed sensation creeping through her chest. Brandon couldn’t ever bring himself to stick up for her, but Wreck? He was all protective instincts. She couldn’t imagine him ever taking anyone’s side against her. In fact, she thought he would back her, even if she was wrong, and gently correct her in private lateron. To her, that was the epitome of a high-value man. Loyal, protective, steady, knew what he wanted, unselfish.
She knew she could naturally offer him the same, because that’s how she loved. It’s how she was built.
He had swung her by her house last night after the bar to grab a duffel bag of clothes for another overnight with him, so she had extra clothes here now.
She pulled on some leggings, and a pair of black hiking boots with gray wool socks hugging her legs up to mid-calf. She dressed in a slouchy navy-blue sweater, and pulled a black, wool-lined Carhartt jacket on over top. She quickly fingered through her hair, and then brushed her teeth in the bathroom.
When she came out into the living room, she was again stunned by the blue tarp that covered a big part of the home. She kept forgetting that he’d set his life on fire a couple days ago. So much had happened since then. She felt like herself, but a completely new woman all at once.
Wreck stood in the kitchen, leaning against the counter and facing her, with a faraway look in his eyes. He wore dark gray work pants that hung low on his waist, work boots, and a T-shirt that fit him just right, clinging to his muscular shoulders and tapering down.
His gaze met hers, and his features relaxed instantly. “You’re so damn cute. Ready?”
“Sure!” She toted her iced coffee, and he brought two forest-green thermoses. She followed him out the front door and down the stairs. Perhaps he was one of those men who needed a gallon of coffee to get going in the morning. Or maybe his shifter metabolism burned it off faster, and he needed more volume. Either way, she already planned on getting a matching thermos to his in a color she liked next time she was at the store. Secretly, she liked the idea of having matching stuff. And that right there was how she knew she had it bad for this man.
It was still dark out, but there were gray streaks across the horizon that promised dawn was approaching. “I can’t see very well,” she uttered, scared to wake the shifters camping in the woods near where they walked.
