Page 60 of Sweet Addiction
“You’re out of your mind,”I laugh, wondering who the hell he’s talking about because it sure as hell isn’t Dillan.“Dillan isn’t weak.”
“I didn’t call her weak, man. I called her soft. There’s a difference. Protect that because I’m not sure anyone ever has.”
Well, fuck.
Yeah... Pretty sure I’ve done the exact opposite of that.
“I’m not sure I’m buying whatever you’re selling, cousin. But whatever is going on between the two of you better not hurt her. Because I’ll be on the long list of people who will kick your ass if you do,”he warns.
“Why the hell would you choose her over me? I’m hurt, asshole,”I grin, joking but not really.
Ryker pushes his beer away and straightens.“Because when I lost my hearing, she was the first person to show up at my house with a book on sign language in her hands.”He smiles like he’s lost in a memory.“I was sitting in my bed, pissed at the world, and she marched her tiny ass into my room, threw the book at me, and sat next to me like I’d invited her in. I hadn’t. I wanted the whole fucking world to leave me alone. And everyone else did. They were all giving me space, you included. But not Dillan. When I didn’t pick the book up, she shoved it at me, then waited for me to look at her and signed at me. I didn’t have a fucking clue what she’d signed, but she signed. Mom and Dad were still trying to fix me. They refused to believe one accident could take away my hearing. But not her. Christ, man. She was like eight or something, but she spent the rest of the afternoon refusing to let me act like the asshole I was being. Turns out, she’d taken American Sign Language in school, and before she left that night, she’d started teaching it to me.”
I can picture little eight-year-old Dillan pissing off Ryker, and damn, if that doesn’t make me smile. Wait...“Did you ever figure out what she’d signed to you?”
A smile tugs at Ryker’s lips like he’s remembering it.“I love you, asshole.”
That sounds about right. My little smart-ass.
“Like I said. Protect her because she’s soft, not weak. Even if she doesn’t want anyone to know that.”
“Thanks, cousin.”
The lights are off in the house when I get home a little after midnight, and I lock up and quietly make my way upstairs, careful not to wake the sleeping smart-ass in my bed. Only she’s not in my bed.
Her jeans are on the floor where she leaves them every time she changes, and her Kindle is still on the nightstand on her side of the bed, so I know she’s still here. But the question is where?
She can’t really still be working, can she?
Back downstairs I go, this time unsurprised by the golden glow I originally overlooked, creeping under the office door. I wrap my knuckles against it gently, not wanting to scare her. Maybe not wanting to wake her.
This time, when she doesn’t answer, I crack it open and relax when I find her here,again.
This woman shines brighter than any star in the sky, even sleeping in the corner of a room. My chest hurts, she’s so damn beautiful.
I lift the MacBook, careful not to shut it in case she hasn’t saved whatever she was working on and rest it on my desk. Dillan doesn’t move. Not an inch. Not a blink.
She looks... soft.Fuck. Every protective instinct I’ve ever had roars to life as I carefully lift her in my arms, and this wisp of a woman instinctively wraps her arms around my neck and rests her head on my chest.
“Shhh... Sleep,principessa. I’ve got you,” I whisper.
“Nobody’s got me,” she mumbles back, never opening her eyes.
Pretty sure not even waking up.
Yeah. That’s gonna have to change.
Badass Book Club
Killian
So Cassia can harness the power of the stars?
Kaleigh
No.
Lexie
