Page 41 of The Hero I Can't Resist
He shakes his head firmly once. “I can do it.”
I nod. “Okay. Well, what I need is to lie down and for you to hold me. Nothing else, just hold me.”
He swallows hard. “I can do that.”
I should let it go, but I stay right where I’m at. “Can you hug me, Zach? I just need…”
I don’t know how to explain what I need, but after everything today, I feel like I’m losing touch with me, with him, with my whole damn life.
He hesitates, and my stomach sinks, but he finally brings his arms up and wraps them around me. He holds me so tightly I can barely take a breath, but I don’t complain. I practically melt into him, wondering if he can absorb some of what I’m feeling.
He kisses the top of my head. “Come on. You have to be exhausted. Let’s get you to bed.”
I nod but don’t move. I’m afraid if I let him go, this is it. He’s been acting strangely since this morning, and I’m so afraid he’s going to walk out that doorand I’ll never see him again. He picks me up, holding me to his chest.
I look up at him, but he’s staring straight ahead.
He carries me upstairs and sets me on the end of the bed. He pulls the covers down and then helps me get comfortable. He’s treating me like a child, but I happily go along with it. He starts to stand up, but I hold my hands out to him. “Lie down with me.”
His eyes are filled with pain. “Sky, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
I know he’s dealing with things. Hell, he shot someone today, and I know that can’t be easy on him. I don’t want to beg, but I’m not above it. “Please. I just want you to hold me.”
He lies down next to me, on top of the covers. I press my body against his, and after a brief moment, he wraps me in his arms.
My cheek is pressed against his chest, and the steady thump of his heart beating is soothing in a way I can’t explain. “Thank you.”
He tenses under me, but I continue. “Thank you for today, Zach. If you weren’t here… if you didn’t show up when you did…”
His voice is raw. “Please, don’t thank me. He should never have been able to touch you.”
I clench my eyes shut, trying to not let my mind go there. “But it could have been so much worse.”
His silence worries me. I want to ask him about it, but sleep starts to take me.
I’m not sure how long I’ve been asleep, but when I wake up, Zach is sitting on the chair in the corner of the room, just staring at me. I start to get up, and he’s by my side in an instant. “What’s wrong? What do you need?”
I laugh and throw the covers off. “I need to pee.”
He scoops me up in his arms and carries me to the bathroom.
“Zach, I can walk.”
He just grunts. He doesn’t say anything else until he sets my feet on the bathroom floor and then hovers next to me. “Are you hungry? You didn’t eat breakfast or lunch, and you should eat something.”
“Yeah, I could eat.”
He stands there, staring at me, and I give him a playful shove. “You, uh, going to go so I can take care of business?”
He doesn’t smile. Doesn’t laugh, nothing. He backs out of the bathroom and grabs the door, not closing it all the way. “I’ll be right here if you need me.”
I pull my pants down and sit, but even though I need to go, I can’t. “Zach.”
Instantly, he has the door open and is standing in front of me. I put a hand up. “Hey, uh, can you close the door? I can’t do this with you listening to me.”
He doesn’t want to, but he walks back out and shuts the door. Quickly, I take care of my business, wash my hands, throw some water on my face, and then brush my teeth. My hair is standing up all over the place, so I pull a brush through my wayward strands.
Only when I feel more put-together do I walk back out of the bathroom. Zach is waiting for me, and he doesn’t say anything, just scoops me up and carries me back to bed. “Lie down and I’ll get you something to eat.”
