Page 31 of Pretty Thing

“God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it was going to take that long. I shouldn’t have made you go in alone.”

The need to be here for her is so strong that it pisses me off when she keeps apologizing when I help her.

“I told you that I want to and stop apologizing. I mean it,” I tell her firmly. Far firmer than necessary.

I know exactly what grief does to people when it guts them from the inside out. I toss the folder into the backseat. I don’t tell her the arrangements are made. I don’t want her to feel obligated to look over what I chose.

“We’re not going home yet,” I say instead, starting the car.

She slowly looks over. “What?”

“You need food.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Tough. You need to eat, and so do I.”

A tiny laugh slips out of her, and the sound is like morphine straight to the bloodstream. My body warms and relaxes except for my heart. It insists on racing at full speed.

“There’s the bossiness again.”

“If you like, you can call me Boss Felix.”

Eden chuckles, her cheeks reddening as she bites her lower lip. It is sexy as hell. I crave that look. I crave all her looks, but especially that one.

Twenty minutes later, I hand her a burger, fries, and a chocolate milkshake from the drive-thru window, before parking at Walmart to people-watch. Normal people probably don’t eat ice cream in minus twenty weather, but Eden takes a huge sip through the straw like it’s coffee.

“Ow, brain freeze.”

Fuck she is pretty.

“Thank you,” Eden says suddenly.

I glance over, chewing a mouthful of the triple-decker burger I can hardly get in my mouth.

“For what?” The words come out mumbled.

“For the food.” Her voice turns softer. “For today. For being with me.”

Something warm and truly addictive spreads through my chest. The praise, the soft and innocent look in Eden’s eyes that says I’m now her whole world, feeds a craving in me. A part of me that I didn’t even know existed until her.

“Of course,” I say quietly. “I’ll always be here for you. Being with you…makes everything a little easier. Whatever normal is, I feel it when I’m with you.”

She blushes and looks away, but there is a hint of a smile ghosting her lips. I understand something terrifying all at once. At some point, between her crying against my chest last night and milkshakes today, taking care of Eden feels less like a choice and more like my purpose.

I know now why I was there when she needed me the most. I was meant to find her and keep her safe.

Eden is mine.

My pretty thing.

And I’ll protect her at all costs.

nine

​. . .​

Eden