Page 45 of Falling Madly
I raised my hand, and she high fived me, her eyes like storm warnings. “Once more with feeling,” I said.
She hit my hand so hard the pain rang all the way to my shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I think I have anger issues.”
Tears sprang to her eyes, and I quickly drew her into a hug. “Hey! Hey… you were just betrayed by someone you trusted. Hit me as many times as you need.”
The irony wasn’t lost on me. She was being comforted by someone else who’d betrayed her. Teresa deserved better, but I couldn’t let her go. What if nobody else could see how amazing she was? Richard the Dick certainly couldn’t. For all my failings, I saw it. I saw her brilliance, her beauty and her bravery. She was fiercely independent, yet guileless and honest in her battles. My dragonfly.
Chapter Fifteen
Teresa
Trevor held me tight as I sobbed against his chest, cursing the injustice of my life. Maybe I hadn’t loved Richard, but I’d trusted him. I’d trusted him to never hurt me because he was so dependable and boring and logical. He was supposed to be the good guy, nothing like the two-faced Trevor. And yet here I was, crying in Trevor’s arms.
I allowed myself one more deep breath, inhaling the scent I was developing an addiction for. My body’s reaction was so visceral it scared me. And what happened if I fell for a man I couldn’t trust? Where would it lead?
I finally peeled myself away from him. “Thank you. I wish I was with my sister, or Bess. I don’t want to burden you with this.”
“It’s a privilege.”
Despite feeling overwhelmed, I forced myself to look him in the eye. To really look. “You look at me like I hung the moon.Please stop. I’m not that amazing. You don’t even know me. If you did… you’d spit me out like this town did.”
He smiled like he knew something I didn’t. “I won’t ask you, but one day you’ll tell me, and it won’t be that bad.”
“You don’t know.”
“I know yer heart.”
“You have a lot of trust, Trevor.”
He shrugged, and we sat there for a moment, staring at each other in wonder. Finally, I felt my eyelids getting heavy.
“Sleep. I’ll keep watch,” he said, scooting off the bed, making room for me.
“You can’t stay up all night! There are no wild animals or anything to make you produce enough adrenaline. You’ll just fall asleep awkwardly on the floor and be sore tomorrow.”
“That’s fine.”
I didn’t protest. I was too exhausted. Too grateful for the way he was looking after me. I crawled into the sleeping bag, feeling like a little elf slipping into my warm cocoon under a mossy rock or a grassy hill or wherever elves huddled at night.
“Thank you, Trevor.”
“My pleasure.” He sat so close my hair brushed against the light blanket he’d pulled over his knees, leaning on the wall. Having him here made me feel safe, but I felt awful about him sitting up with no bed around.
“You can go to your cabin now,” I said. “I’m okay.”
“I won’t. I need you around so I can keep guessing sex positions and locations.”
“But I’ll fall asleep,” I mumbled, already half gone.
“That’s what I’m counting on. Preferably, you’ll have that one recurring dream and I get to watch you as it happens.”
“I have a feeling it’s less entertaining to watch than you think.”
“You have no idea how entertaining you are to watch. Awake or asleep.”
A warm glow in my chest, I fell asleep. I might have had a naughty dream or two, but when I woke up, it was the least of my worries.
Chapter Sixteen
