Page 65 of Savagely Scarred

Ava turns to him. "You guys are ridiculously jealous over nothing."

"It's not nothing. And it's not jealousy," he replies.

"Then what is it?"

Enzo leans into her, and she cowers away slightly at his proximity. He lowers his voice.

"No one touches what's ours."

Ava swallows and Enzo goes back to his task on his laptop. She shifts nervously in her seat and drinks the rest of her beer. The table falls silent and the air fills with tension. She may say she doesn't want anything to do with Enzo, but her body clearly disagrees.

Once he’s done with his tech stuff, we pay for our tabs and part ways. All of us can now track each other at the click of a button. I know it may seem like a giant invasion of privacy, but if we would have done this last year maybe I wouldn’t have—

“Where’d you go?” Sage interrupts my thoughts, squeezing my thigh.

He takes his eyes off the road to glance at me. The lights of the city cast his face in an orange glow, illuminating the worry that carves itself into his features.

“You already know.”

“He’s not going to touch you again. I promise.”

Sage runs his hand up and down my thigh. I turn away from him and stare out the car window.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I whisper.

The warm breeze flows through my hair as it pushes itself through the gap in the passenger window. The morning light bounces off the windshield of his Charger, shining directly into my eyes. I flip the sun visor down and chew on my bottom lip.

“Do you think Dorian will be okay?” I glance towards Sage.

“Are you kidding? He gets to play with the animals and ride his bike all weekend. He will be having the best time of his life.” He gives me a playful smirk.

“I meant because he will be there alone.”

His smile drops and he reaches over to lace his fingers through mine to stop me from fidgeting. “Dorian can handle himself. And Lorenzo will be monitoring everything remotely.” He lifts my hand and kisses my knuckles. “He will be fine, love.”

“I’m sorry. I want this to be a nice weekend away. And I’m sure you’re already stressed enough about your dad. And visiting your parents is going to bring all of that to the forefront again. I don’t need to be adding to it.”

The car jerks to the right and I grab onto the handle above my head. Horns blare around us. Gravel flies when Sage slams on the brakes and skids to a stop on the shoulder of the road. I hear the click of his seatbelt as I fight to calm my racing heart.

He twists in his seat to face me. “Look at me,” he demands.

I apparently don’t move fast enough. He leans into me and turns my chin until our eyes lock.

“You are both the most selfless and aggravating person I know.”

“Thank—you?”

He shakes his head. “You have the audacity to worry about me, when you are the one being hunted. Again. My father’s death doesn’t even compare to the suffering I endured those two days. I thought I was going to lose you forever. I couldn’t fucking breathe until I held you again. Until I felt your heart beat against my skin. So don’t you dare apologize for simply communicating your feelings. They are valid.”

His words cut through me with ferocity. He doesn’t usually talk about what he went through, and it’s always a punch to the gut to hear his perspective.

My lip trembles and a tear rolls down my cheek. Followed by another. He pulls me closer and follows the movement of his thumb as he wipes them away.

“I’m—,”

“I swear to God if you’re about to say sorry, I’m going to make you walk the rest of the way,” he mutters against my cheek.

I laugh through a sob. “You wouldn’t dare.”