Page 115 of Make Me Trust Again
Rose.
Even from a distance, I can easily recognize her. She turns around, a smile curling her mouth at the sight of Shadow. The dog nuzzles into her neck, and that smile grows wider as she rubs Shadow between her ears, murmuring something softly to the dog, who’s enjoying her attention.
Although I know I should keep my distance, I can’t stop myself from going toward her. That invisible tether that binds us pulls me to her.
Rose slowly tilts her head, those crystal blue eyes meeting mine. “So this is where you go when you’re wandering off.”
“Shadow likes to go to the lake.”
Rose nods slowly, her gaze darting to the shore where Shadow is running through the water. “I can see why. It’s so peaceful out here.”
It is.
There is just nature and me. This place grounds me, unlike anything else—the scent of the flowers, the woods, the lake, and the soft sounds of the animals running around me. No matter how hard or how dark things get, I know that being out here will make it easier to breathe again. It was like that even when I was young. This is my safe haven.
Rose tilts her head to the side and glances at me. “I can leave if you want.”
That’s what I should want, isn’t it? I should ask her to leave. Or be the one to leave. There’s a reason why I haven’t shared this place with anybody in the past, haven’t brought another person here, not ever. This is mine. And yet, I can’t bring myself to say those words, not to her. Not when I can see there’s something simmering inside her.
“Stay.”
There is no missing the flicker of surprise on her face. But there’s something else. Relief.
A twinge of pain goes through my spine and down my leg as I sit down on the ground next to her.
“Are you okay?”
I glance at her and find her watching me. Usually, when people look at me, there is either repugnance or pity, but not with Rose. When she’s watching me, I don’t have this itch to getthe hell away. She’s not afraid of my scars. More than that, she doesn’t look at me like I’m broken.
“Just getting older.”
Her brows raise, the corner of her mouth twitching up. “Chase Williams, was that your attempt at a joke?”
“I don’t joke.”
“Mm-hmm… sure sounded like one. You’re hardly old.”
“I feel old.”
Her smile falls, that distant expression coming back to her eyes. “I know that feeling.”
Rose wraps her arms around her knees and rests her head against them as she watches Shadow run around the lake, all the while I watch her. The way the dusk makes her hair seem darker—the faint layer of freckles covering her arms. The pale pink polish shines on her toes. She turns her head toward me, those sky-blue eyes zeroing in on me. Sitting this close to her, I can see the ring of dark blue surrounding her irises. She nibbles at her lower lip, and I want to lean down and stop her from doing it.
More like, you want to be the one doing it.
I swallow my annoyance and push back the voice inside my mind, changing the subject before I do something stupid.
“Where is Kyle?” I ask, my voice coming out rough.
“My parents’. They offered to take him to the zoo and said they’ll bring him over tomorrow.”
“And you’ve decided to come here?”
“I—” She presses her lips into a small line, something dark crossing her face for a second before she shakes it off. “I needed time to think, to breathe, so I’ve decided to go for a walk and found this place.”
My place.
Out of all the directions in which she could have gone, she came here to my place.
