Page 70 of Unraveling with You

“Rem? I’m checking in, baby.”

He chokes out a hard sob. “I— I don’t know, I’m freaking out. I’m—” He groans in vivid frustration. “Alligator.”

Throwing off the blankets, I sit up with wide eyes. Clicking on Remington’s bedside table lamp as fast as I can, I whip my focus back to Remington. His hand is placed on his heaving chest, but he’s clinging to my shirt like he’s desperate to keep me close.

“Look at me, Rem.” I pulse loving, quick squeezes down not only his arms, but also his whole chest. When he meets my eyes with a frantic stare, I do my best to smile. “I’m sitting beside you on your super cool bed, with all sorts of harnesses and toys on the walls - definitely your adult bedroom.” He gives me a soft, weary chuckle, and I smile even wider. “There you go, sweet boy. It’s done. You’re okay. You made it.”

He nods, loosening his grip on me as his forehead relaxes. But it warps just as quickly as his shaking hand stretches to brush my cheek. “Fuck, thank you, L.L.B.”

I bite back fresh tears as Remington shifts into softer, aching ones. “Thank you for letting me try to rescue you back.”

As he huffs, Remington attempts to give me a sweet smile. “Come here, baby girl.”

Diving into his open arms, I cuddle Remington as closely as possible. He shifts to meet me, melding our bodies as our legs wrap as tightly as our arms.

Placing a wet, shaky kiss on my lips, Remington smooths his hand down the back of my hair, deepening our kiss. My lungs swell in adoration, cherishing this moment; he made it here to be with me. He survived, just like I did.

We hold each other for minutes upon minutes, staring into each other's eyes. We’ve stopped crying, but the bewildered look in Remington’s eyes tells me we share a similar sense of awe.

Remington breaks the silence with his fingers brushing down my cheek. “I feel so close to you. I’ve never let anyone else rescue me. I trust you so much.”

I breathe out the heavy, grateful ache in my chest. “God, I feel so safe with you too. And I never used to let anyone else rescue me, either. I’d usually pacify things to smooth everything over, but being around you helped me realize I’m tired of that. I want to say ‘no.’ I want to let you say ‘no’ too. I want to be loved by you just as much as I want you to feel loved by me.”

A sense of peace washes over Remington like I’ve never seen before, erasing every minor evidence of stress from his features. Closing his swollen eyes, he breaks into a genuine, sweet smile - his body drooping into mine like I eased him back into a warm, safe bath. As he allows me to witness his pure comfort, I feel like his hero.

CHAPTER 14

THE MORE WE REPEATthe scene, the more Remington smiles with both cheeks. I’m so relieved that I laugh lighter alongside him, celebrating as his joyous, playful spirit shines.

But one morning, Remington stops in my entryway with a contemplative hum - just as I’m strapping on my boots to head out the door for work.

“Maybe you also have more dragons than you thought,” Remington mutters.

I peek at him with one foot still in the air, my eyes wide.

He chuckles, looping my scarf around my head. “Sorry, I just can’t stop thinking about how badass you looked cooking breakfast. I know it’s a rough industry, and I don’t know jack shit about cooking compared to you, but I don’t know - it’s in the way you hold yourself in front of that stove and have no second guesses about which spices you’re throwing in, or how much of each ingredient to add no matter what we’re cooking. Or when you knew the legitimate chemistry behind why I burned my fucking eggs again, and then just casually dropped the bomb that you learned all thisyourself. It’s just— I want you to feel acknowledged for how hard you’ve worked. You’ve worked beyond hard, baby girl. Harder than you should’ve as a sous chef. Maybe it’s not you, and they’re just dragons.”

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