Page 40 of Broken

She doesn’t want to move to Denver. She wants to run away. I can’t say as I blame her. I’ve been doing the same thing. That’s why I’m not in Virginia. So, I definitely see the appeal. What Gabby can’t see that I can, however, is that she’s found a home here. She’s just too lost to accept it’s real. I don’t know how to help. I’ll have to wing it. The only thing I know for certain is that I’m not leaving her alone. I’m not backing away. Gabby needs me and I am going to be here for her. I’m not trying to play the hero for her. It is so far from that it wasn’t funny. I’m with her because she means something to me.I have a feeling she could eventually mean everything. I hold her close, letting her have her space. Eventually, I know it’s time to pull her away fromthe pigswill she’s swimming in. I hold her neck and apply gentle pressure, forcing her to look at me.

“How you doing, Sunshine?”

“I don’t …” She stops, her eyes darting down at first, before she forces her gaze back on me. “I don’t know.”

“You didn’t eat anything at the cookout. Are you hungry?”

“How do you know I didn’t eat?”

“I watched. Why don’t we go to the kitchen? I’ll find something to help you give jellybean some sustenance.”

Gabby stretches her lips out in what I figure is supposed to be a smile, but the ends don’t tip up, so she doesn’t quite pull it off. “I couldtryto eat,” she murmurs.

“Good. First, go to the bathroom and put on your pajamas. We’re going to snack. We’ll hook up the television and find a movie and breathe.”

“Hook up the television?”

“The place has internet. It’s included in your rent.”

“It is?”

“Yeah, sweetheart. Your rent agreement was on the table last night. Your garbage, water, and internet bill are covered. You pay for your electricity and the rent.”

“Oh. I kind of knew that, but I guess I didn’t pay attention to the internet. It wasn’t high on my needs list. Um …”

“Yeah?”

“You read my rental contract?”

“Yeah, I checked it all out before I went shopping. If you didn’t have internet, I was going to have to find one of those DVD players until I could talk you into letting me pay that bill,” I tell her. It’s not the complete truth. The club had a copy of her rental agreement and that included the things we were paying and what she was paying. I looked it over and then paid it up for three months. I was hoping by that time Gabby and I would be working together in a way that we both liked and furtherdecisions could be made. After tonight’s meltdown, I’m starting to think I was a little too optimistic.

“Oh.”

“Go get comfortable, Sunshine. I’ll see if I can find you something to eat.”

“King, you don’t have to. You can go. I’m okay, honest.”

“I’m not leaving, Gabby.”

“King. I know I was a mess earlier, but my reasons you need to run are more than valid.”

“Gabby?”

“Yeah?”

“This is how I know you’ve never been with a man before.”

“I believe you know how wrong that statement is.”

“No, you were playing with boys and a monster who left you scarred. Though it’s debatable if Dom trading your innocence for easy pussy didn’t leave bigger ones.”

“King …”

“And, baby, just saying your dad did you no favors in preparing you to deal with assholes.”

“I was a spoiled brat who made decisions on my own, King. Wretched, twisted decisions. No one is to blame for those but me—not my father, not Dom, and especially not T.”

“You did. You made truly fucked up choices that created epic shit storms.”

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