Page 103 of Shattered

“Everyone needs love, Ash. It’s so lonely without it,” she says, reaching across the table to take my hand.

“I can understand that now. Because now that I’ve met you, I can’t imagine losing you. There are no words for the freaking terrorI was in when you were taken while I watched you go through hell, and I only had to watch. You had to live it.”

Bringing up her attack brings pain to her eyes, but I won’t dwell on it.

“Fear like that is crippling. I don’t ever want you to feel fear like that again. So that’s what this very long-winded speech is. I’m telling you that I’ve fallen in love with you, and I’m not letting you go. I’m here, you’ve got me, and I’m not going anywhere. You’re not my first love, Lila; you’re my one and only.”

My one and only Sunshine.

The look on her face takes my breath away as her eyes fill with tears and her lips curl up into a wounded smile.

“Our love story may not be perfect, but it’s ours. You may not have been my first love, Ash. But you’ll be my last.”

If I wasn’t already on the edge of tears, I am now. Once again, this woman brings the tears out of me. She brings out my heart. She’s right, our love story isn’t perfect. But it is ours. And in a way, that does make it perfect. What started as a neighborly spat turned into an all out war, and ended up a dark, twisted love story. She was hurt beyond belief, and I lost my best friend.

But we’re getting through it together.

When tears spill down my cheeks, Lila abandons her meal, approaching me. I pull my chair out so she can sit on my good leg on my lap, careful not to touch my bad leg, and she wraps her arms around my neck. Her eyes flicker from my eyes to my lips, and our lips meet. And every bad fucking wall around me comes crashing down, leaving only love.

She breaks our kiss just long enough to say my name. “Asher?”

I need one more moment with her lips before I can form words. The moment I let hers go, I want them back. “Yes, Sunshine?”

“Promise me we won’t lose the us from before.”

My smile takes over my face. “You think we’re suddenly gonna be not at each other’s throats? No. We’re gonna squabble just as much as we did before.”

She smiles. “Not just that. I mean… the sex. I want that again. I need that.”

I cup her head, stroking her cheeks with my thumbs. If she needs this, I’ll give her a glimpse of it. “If you think I’ll ever let another man touch you now that you’re mine, you’d be sorely fucking mistaken. I won’t be whoring you out ever again, that’s for fucking sure.”

“I think that itch is scratched.”

“I don’t want to lose that part of us either. We’ll take things at your pace, day by day, and eventually, we’ll get there again. For now, we both need to heal.”

Her entire face brightens. “I’m so proud of you, Ash. You’ve come so far.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you, Sunshine.”

The smile that lights up her face brings me a sigh of relief.

“Do you think we could go to the shop after we eat?” she asks.

“Sure.” I’m not sure what she wants, but I’ll never say no to her.

I drive us to the shop after she helps me into the driver’s seat. Once we arrive, she jumps out first, bringing my chair around.

“Thanks, beautiful.”

After I unlock the door, she helps me over the doorway and follows me inside. The moment I flick the lights on, I freeze.

The grey walls are printed in white, all tattoo designs. It only takes me a moment to realize that most of them are Bane’s.

The carnations he tattooed on Neela are behind the check-in desk. One wall is nearly all floral and greenery. Another wall is animals. The dragon tattoo he designed for Jared is up there, too, right beside the one I modified. And within some of the other designs on the wall, I see Sunshine’s, the mountain currently on my ankle, a butterfly, and cherry blossoms.

The skull and apple belonging to Jared that I designed is etched across the front of the check-in desk. But the one I can’t stop staring at is over the desk, front and center on the wall. It’s my sketch of Bane, his smile lighting up the room.

“Who did this?” I ask, breathless, as my eyes blur with tears.

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