Page 83 of Until You Found Me

“I heard it clear enough, so go on, talk to me the way you’re talking to my girl.”

He has such a gentle way about him when he’s with her that it’s often simple to forget how imposing he is. Broad shoulders and thick biceps stretch the black shirt he wears, and a scowl says he’s willing to follow through on any threat. Instead of being put off that he would throw down with a stranger, she likes it. That same flutter of safety she felt when he stood up for her outside the grocery store clusters in her gut again. She only sees this side of him when he wants to protect her and feeling safe is a coveted thing.

The other man backtracks and flees with his tail tucked.

“Better watch your mouth next time,” Logan calls out.

Yeah, she likes this version a little more than she should. There’s no mistaking the rush of heat between her legs or theprickling flush across her skin.

“What the hell is in the water lately? Everyone’s so damn rude.” He shakes his head, his voice gentle again now that he’s speaking to her. “You okay?”

“I’m fine. That was…” She gives him a shy half-grin, looping her arm through his again, remembering his reaction at the ice rink when she told Lydia off. “Kinda hot.”

“Lemme go pick some more fights then.”

She laughs with a roll of her eyes. “Only one fight per day. Plus, we have a tree to decorate.”

“Right, right. Have to fancy this thing up. Hey um, the girl and the doll, you sure you’re okay? What was that?”

“You saw her?”

He squints. “Of course.”

She lets out a hard exhale and that hint of worry that she might be losing more than her memory lessens. “It was odd for a moment. I saw her and it almost felt like something was jiggling loose but then it was gone again. I’m trying to lean into it when that happens, but I still don’t know how.”

“You’ll figure it out. The leaning part.”

“I hope so. Sometimes I think my own mind is sabotaging me. I need to see Victor more than twice a week. He’s wrong about the break.”

“I was thinking less, not more.”

“Why? That’s only wasting time.” She’d go every day if Victor would let her. Force herself to crack open the egg until all the right information spilled out like a yolk. It isn’t an option now, though. He won’t see her more than twice a week and so she makes do, knowing it’s not enough.

“It’s not why you think. You just seem more stressed when you’re there. Maybe therapy isn’t the way.”

“What is the way, then?”

“I dunno. Could be wrong. Not a doctor, don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. Think about taking a real break is all I’m asking. A reset. Go back fresh later. Maybe give it a couple of weeks.”

Her first instinct is to protest that they can’t throw away a couple of weeks so easily. She won’t deny that she’s grown increasingly stressed with each therapy visit, though. It starts on the drive there and progresses until she’s squeezing the life from Logan’s hand on that scratchy sofa. Anticipation activates her fight-or-flight instincts and they war with each other, expecting the hammer to drop at any moment and a flood of memories to assault her. It’s all worth it. If she can find her daughter and help Logan, she’ll suffer the stress of it a hundred times over.

She doesn’t want any more breaks, butshe is tiredand her agreement comes easier than it should. “Okay. Only until after New Year’s.”

He leans down to drop a peck against her lips. “Good. Now don’t think about it again until then.”

Easier said than done, but she nods, promising herself that she’ll try to forget this for the next couple of weeks.

* * *

Tessa’s half a glass of cheap wine in, the last of the cranberries and twinkle lights strung on the tree, and an unfamiliar warmth in her blood.

“I don’t know if I’m a lightweight,” she tells Logan, admiring their work as he flicks the lights on.

“We’re about to find out. Feel free to get as sloshed as you want. I won’t tell.”

She rolls her eyes, her tone saucy. “I’ve never been sloshed. What if I’m the type whose pants fall off at the hint of a buzz?”

“Then I guess you’d get your present early, but you’re not shooting tequila, so don’t get too excited.”

---