Page 104 of Fragile Sanctuary

Each syllable was a slice to my skin, flaying me open and pouring acid in the wound. “I told you more than I’ve toldanyone.”

Rho just shook her head, but as she did, more pain flared in her eyes. “I can’t do this right now.” She turned to Fallon and the tattooed behemoth near her. “Can you take me home?”

Fallon was at her side in a second, gently wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she held Biscuit’s leash in her other hand. “Of course. Come on.”

I didn’t move. Not as Rho walked away. Not as she climbed into the darkened SUV. Not as the vehicle pulled out and left. I just kept staring. Watching as the one thing that had made me happy for even the briefest moment disappeared right out of my life.

33

RHODES

I pulled the thick,fuzzy blanket over me as I looked up at the starry sky from the chaise lounge on my back deck. My head thrummed in a steady beat, but the dose of Tylenol had helped cut back the pain. It hadn’t done a damned thing for the ache in my heart, however.

“More ice cream?” Fallon asked hopefully.

She wanted to fix it and make everything better. But since I’d remained tight-lipped on the ride home and for the past hour or so, ice cream was the best she could offer.

“If I have another bite of double chocolate fudge brownie, I’ll explode.”

“We need to work on your ice cream-eating skills,” Fallon mumbled as she set her bowl on the table between us.

I chuckled, and it felt good to let the sound free. But it didn’t take root the way my laughter usually did.

We were both quiet for a moment before Fallon spokeagain. “Are you okay?”

I leaned my head back to look up at the sky. Thanks to my concussion, the stars were a little blurrier than normal, but I knew that wasn’t what Fallon meant. I teased the corner of the blanket, my fingers looking for any signs of a loose thread I could pick at.

“I knew he had secrets.”

Fallon made a humming noise in the back of her throat. “Mister king of the brood? Of course, he did. Those eyes scream secrets.”

I turned on my side to face her. “So, why did it kill so much to find out what one of them was? It’s not like I have a right to know everything about the man.”

She studied me for a minute. “What’s going on with you two? The way he stormed through people to get to you today…that’s not justfriends.”

I let out a huff of air. It wasn’t cold enough to see the expulsion around me, but I could feel it hanging there. “I don’t know how to explain it. We understand each other in a way I’ve never had with anyone else. He gets what I went through.”

I didn’t miss the tiniest flicker of hurt in Fallon’s eyes. She’d experienced her own loss. Her dad and brother. But it was different. While I knew she was always there for me, I hadn’t been able to show her the parts of myself that I was most ashamed of. The pieces I’d set out so easily for Anson.

Fallon pulled back the hurt, shoving it away so she could be there for me. “I’m glad you have that. That he gave you that.”

I licked my lips. “And there’s a pretty potent attraction.”

One corner of her mouth kicked up. “Is there, now?”

Heat rose to my cheeks. I was sure Fallon could see it, even in the dark. “He’s made me come harder than I ever have in my life.”

Fallon let out a hoot that made Biscuit howl in response from inside. “Why is this bad? Emotional connection. Physical connection. Sounds like a relationship to me.”

“It’s not. He’s not—” I didn’t know how to explain it.

“He’s not a relationship kind of guy?” Fallon asked.

“He said he doesn’t do them. And I’m not talking a he’s-sleeping-with-everything-that-moves-and-doesn’t-want-to-settle-downtype of thing. He doesn’t want to care aboutanyone. He even holds back from Shep, and that’s his best friend.”

She was quiet for a long moment. “He might notwantto care about anyone, but he does. He cares aboutyou. You were there tonight. Anson was out of his mind seeing you hurt. It scared the hell out of him.”

“I hate that,” I whispered. “I don’t want to be a source of pain for him.” Even hurting as much as I was right now, I never wanted to inflict that sort of agony.

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