Page 43 of Until You Found Me

“Nah, you see that side because he likes you. He’d protect you, don’t doubt that.”

It’s reassuring and frustrating to have protection from all angles. She wants to protect herself instead of relying on them, but that’s for another day, she supposes, yawning as sleep looms heavy.

It finds her far quicker than she expected and lands her right in the middle of a nightmare. She doesn’t dream of the daughter she can’t remember, or of the man who wants her dead, but of the one beside her who she’s terrified to lose. Her dreams take him away again and again in a variety ofdifferent scenarios until she’s left awake in the wee hours of the morning, listening to his steady breathing beneath her ear to convince herself he’s still here.

* * *

Tessa’s never shot a gun before. At least, she assumes she hasn’t. It’s heavy in her grip and she’s afraid that one wrong move might end in losing her own foot, or worse. Logan tells her it’s simple, but her body still shakes as she lifts the weapon to point at a tree just before the cliff.

“Breathe in through your mouth and out through your nose.” He steadies her aim with a hand at her elbow, straightening her shoulders with a slight tug.

She misses the tree by such a wide margin, it may as well be nonexistent.

“Shit,” she curses, dropping her hand to point the barrel at the ground. “If I was trying to shoot the ocean, I’d be a marksman already.”

“Again. Keep trying until you get it.”

“I’m wasting your bullets.”

“It’s not a waste if it saves your life.”

She’s missed a dozen times, and each effort sinks her deeper into a depression that she thought was fading. Everything was too good, she realizes. This place, her dome, the ocean, him. It was all a fairy tale, distracting her from the reality of her life. Now that it’s come crashing in like a tsunami, she isn’t prepared in the slightest.

“Keep trying.” He encourages her with a tilt of his head toward the tree that’s escaped her wrath. “He wouldn’t bethat far, anyway. If you can hit that, you can hit anything coming at you.”

“Can I throw the gun at the tree? Might have more success that way.”

He huffs but says nothing.

She’s so frustrated that she barely concentrates before squeezing the trigger, shocked when the bark splits.

“Yes! That’s what I’m talking about!” He raises his hand for a high five and she slaps it with her own. “What’d you do differently that time?”

“I was too upset to think about it. I didn’t try.”

“You’re a good shot. Just didn’t know it because you let your head get in the way.”

“Or it’s a fluke.”

“Okay, you’re a good shot and a pessimist.”

She rolls her eyes. “Busted. Is this glass too empty for you?”

“No. My glass is half empty too. You know what that means, right?”

She muffles a laugh under her breath. His amused expression says he’s holding in some cheesy comment that will make her fall for him all over again. “Please tell me.”

“It means that together we make a full glass.”

She shakes her head with a smile, stepping closer to rest her free palm against his chest. “Smooth.”

“I try.”

“So, now that I’m a sharpshooter, what’s next?”

“More shooting practice, but also self-defense. What to do if someone grabs you. How to escape. We can take a break, though, get some lunch.”

“No, I can’t wait. I have no idea when he might show up again. Show me now. Please?”

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