Page 10 of Fragile Hearts

Sloane shakes her head, walking to the fridge to grab the cream. “It’s okay. It’s your place, Owen. You’re allowed to…you know, be comfortable,” she says, waving a hand at me, her cheeks darkening again.

I walk over to the coffee pot, grabbing two mugs. “It’s your place, too, Sloane,” I say, my eyes on the hot liquid as I pour us both coffee. “I want you to feel comfortable here too, so if there’s anything?—”

“It’s okay,” she says, the warmth of her hand on my arm shocking me so much I nearly drop the pot of coffee.

I lift my gaze to hers, and she offers me a small smile that I can’t help but return as I repeat my earlier question. “Did you sleep okay?”

She nods. “I did, really good actually.”

“Good,” I reply, handing her a mug. “Wanna go sit on the deck?”

“Sure,” she says, and we both walk over to the French doors that lead off the kitchen and out onto the huge back deck that overlooks the ocean.

I open them without thinking, but when the alarm doesn’t sound, I glance over at Sloane. “You didn’t put the alarm on last night?”

She shrugs, offering me a small smile. “Nah, I felt pretty safe,” she says quietly.

I grin, my heart practically doing a barrel roll in my chest at how fucking good that makes me feel. I don’t know Sloane’s entire backstory, but I’ve heard some of it. I also know that after she agreed to move in with me, Alana sent me a text with all the things I needed to do to make her feel safe here.

It wasn’t a long list, and it wasn’t anything to do with me specifically, but it was enough that a heavy weight settled in my stomach when I read the two things:

Lock the doors at night.

Don’t let any guys she doesn’t know stay over.

A part of me did not want to think too much about why those were the two pieces of advice, but a bigger part of me wanted to make sure that I followed them. That I didn’t ever make Sloane feel uncomfortable here.

I wanted Sloane to feel safe, but more than that, I wanted to protect her from anything that could hurt her.

From everything that could hurt her.

“Should we?” she now asks, gesturing to the open doors with her coffee.

“Let’s do it,” I say, waving my arm outside to signal she should go first.

We sit side by side in two deck chairs facing the ocean, the sun warm, but the large umbrella providing enough shade that it isn’t too painful looking out at the water. It’s early enough that it’s quiet, the only sound that of the waves crashing against the shore.

“So you all set for your test today?” I ask, stretching my legs out.

“I think so,” Sloane replies, taking a sip of coffee as she pulls her legs up onto the chair.

“You in classes all day?” I ask, turning to her.

“Just this afternoon. I’m working this morning. You?”

Chuckling, I reply, “Same. What time do you finish?” I know she works the front desk at my family’s hotel. I’ve seen her around there a few times, but weirdly, I’ve never seen her on campus.

“Five,” she says, combing her fingers through her hair before pulling it into a messy knot on the top of her head. She pulls a band from her wrist, circling it around the knot so it stays there. When she’s done, she glances over, noticing me staring at her. “What?” she asks, a small smile on her face.

“Nothing,” I say with a laugh. “I guess I just…I don’t know. I’ve never lived with a girl before. I mean, apart from my sister.”

Now it’s Sloane laughing. “Does it scare you?” she asks, and I swear she might actually be teasing me.

“Scare me?” I repeat, a hand on my chest. “Hell no. I’m not scared of anything, Sloane Anderson!”

Sloane lets out a loud laugh, her head falling back. “Really?” she asks, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “What about Teahupoo? You scared of that?”

Chuckling, I shake my head, taking another sip of my coffee. “I’ve never surfed or even seen Teahupoo,” I say. “So I can’t comment on if I’m scared of it, but I’m gonna go with no.”

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