Page 161 of Shadows of You

I shifted, my brow furrowing. “Is your shoulder hurting?” I asked, my voice barely audible above the laughter and chatter in the room.

“No,” he grumbled. “It’s fine.”

“Don’t glare at me. You were shot.”

A muscle in Roan’s jaw flexed. “Grazed.”

“You needed twenty stitches,” I snapped back.

Thankfully, that was all he’d required. My life had stopped the moment the gunshot sounded. It wasn’t until I saw Roan still moving and pulling the weapon from Elsie’s grasp that I’d started to breathe again.

“I’m fine,” he muttered. But he sounded anything but as he scowled at the rest of the people in the room.

Everyone was here: Nathan and Kerry. Holt and Wren. Nash and Maddie. Grae and Caden. Lawson and his boys. Cady was in heaven, and so was I.

“They’ve been here forever,” he mumbled.

I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. “That’s why you’re glaring?”

“I’m not glaring.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. As much as Roan smiled and laughed more, big groups for long periods of time would never be his thing.

I leaned in. “Roan. I was kidnapped. You were shot. Cut them some slack. They want to make sure we’re okay.”

We were all piled into my tiny house, and Kerry had made so much food we’d never eat it all. Thankfully, Roan’s and my injuries were mild, but the hospital had wanted us to stay overnight just to be safe. Luckily, Cady just thought she was getting a fun sleepover with Nathan, Kerry, and Charlie.

But now we were home. Iris was in jail. Steven had made it through surgery. Oren had been charged with assault. And John had lost all visitor and communication privileges. Lawson’s source at the prison told him that John was already losing his mind at not having contact with the outside world.

It wasn’t justice, not truly, because it wouldn’t bring Autumn back. But Cady and I were safe now. And that was the only thing Autumn would truly care about. I had to hope our safety meant she was finally at peace.

It would take time to heal, but we would be okay—better than okay.

Roan pulled me tighter against him. He hadn’t stopped touching me since the moment he found me. Not even in the hospital. The nurses had finally given up and just let us share a bed.

I pressed a hand to his chest. “I’m okay.”

He nuzzled my neck. “I know. It’s just going to take a little while for the rest of me to believe it.”

My heart ached at that. The whole ordeal had impacted Roan more than me. I was sure I’d have nightmares for a while, but I had always known Roan would come. No one made me feel safer or more loved. I didn’t need the damn words.

Roan stood, hauling me up with him.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Need to show you something,” he said.

“Now?”

“Is this your way of telling us you want us to leave?” Holt called, his arms around Wren’s pregnant belly.

“No, I know I’m stuck with the lot of you for the foreseeable future,” Roan grumbled.

Grae laughed. “Good thing you’re aware. I was thinking we could have a pretty epic slumber party tonight.”

“Yes!” Cady cheered. “I want all the slumber parties.”

I laughed, and Roan groaned. He started tugging me toward the door. “Let’s go before they all move in.”

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