Page 24 of The Stolen Dagger
I knew he took my rejection hard. I did, too, but the only thing keeping me together was knowing he’d be far, far away from Adrian. And that he wouldn’t be weighed down by the the threat of my past.
Drew came back into the room then. He rounded the bed, turned off the bedside lamp, and pulled back the covers. The mattress dipped as he settled in beside me.
We both lay on our backs as silence stretched between us.
Still feeling the weight of my contrition, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“I’m sorry,” I said to the darkness.
Drew was silent for a beat before he responded.
“Sorry?” Drew asked, like it was comical. He rolled onto his side, propped his head up with his hand, and gave me a lazy smile. “Don’t worry about it, baby. That little strip tease earlier was free of charge.”
Strip tease? What?—?
It finally clicked what he was talking about.The strip tease.
I laughed out loud.
“Oh, my God.” I turned over and lightly slapped his hard, naked chest. “I’m not talking about you changing in the closet.”
“Hey, you were the one lookin’,” Drew teased. “Although, I can’t blame you.” He flexed his biceps, and I laughed harder.
How did he do that? How did he find the energy to make jokes so easily? Make me feel like a normal person?
“No,” I said after I caught my breath, turning serious. “No, I mean, I’m sorry for … everything. For tonight. For having to stay here with you. For pushing you away and ignoring you. For Adrian?—”
“Don’t,” Drew said sharply. “Don’t apologize for that asshole. You did nothing wrong.”
“But it’s my fault you’re in this mess.”
“I willingly put myself in this mess, as you want to call it. Just like you said, you pushed me away. Even though I didn’t know it, you were doing what you thought was best. You were trying to protect me, weren’t you?”
He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “I understand why you did it, but you should know, that will never happen again. I won’t let it because this,” he gestured between us, “is too important to turn my back on because some asshole is trying to hurt you.”
I turned on my side then, shifting closer to him.
“I don’t deserve you,” I whispered, scared to admit it.
Drew just smiled. “The fact that you even think that tells me I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you.”
As if everything from tonight hit me at once, tears filled my eyes, blurring my vision of Drew in the low light. I wasn’t used to someone else looking out for me.
“Katherine, you deserve the world,” he whispered. “You care more about the people around you than you do yourself. You’d put yourself in danger before letting it happen to anyone else. That’s just who you are.” He swiped a tear that rolled down my cheek. “But know that I’m here with you now. So you don’t have to carry everything on your shoulders. I want to help you, not because it’s the right thing to do, but because I want to. Whether you like it or not, I’m notgoing anywhere. Now that I have you here, I’m never letting you go.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to formulate any words without crying more.
“Now, come here.” Drew opened his arms to me. “I can’t stand you being so far away from me in my own bed.”
Done resisting him, I hesitantly laid my head onto his chest. After finding a comfortable spot, his warm arms encircled me, and I felt more safe than I had in months.
“That’s better,” Drew whispered against my hair.
I relaxed into his arms, listening to the steady beat of his heart, and pondered how I got here.
I’d been content just a few hours ago with the life I’d made for myself. I was going to school like I had always talked about with Mom. I had friends I’d do anything for.
And then …
