Page 984 of One More Kiss

Magnolia

The vicearound my heart is smothering as I lie on my side on my bed. For so long, I’ve managed to bury the grief over losing my family. I’d understand that I was the last of my line. However, if what that man said is true, and I do have any living family—I should be elated, but all I can think about is the fresh wave of pain.

And to give me the deed to the place my parents were murdered? A tear slips from my cheek as my door opens. Without looking, I know it’s Drex. His presence fills my bedroom as he crosses the room silently. The mattress dips with his weight as he lies down behind me, curling himself around my body like a shield.

Since we met that’s what he’s been for me: my protector. Which is another of the reasons I had to leave. My entire life, I depended on someone else. As a child, it was my parents. When I was kidnapped, it was the other woman in my cell.

And when I was rescued? It was Drex. I wanted to know what it was like to depend on myself for once, to be able to protect myself so that when I came back—I wasn’t a liability.

The time just never seemed right, and by the time I realized what I’d missed, Drex had already left Billings.

He wraps an arm around my waist, and I lean back into him. We’ve slept in the same bed more times than I can count. Being near him always soothed my nightmares, my pain. Just as being near him does now.

Hours tick by with nothing but the sound of our combined breathing. The light begins to fade with the time, a feature that shifts day to night down here. Though even as the day is near gone now, it feels like we’ve only had minutes together.

Minutes and decades all at the same time.

I feel safer than I have in years. And as we lie in silence, I manage to bury my pain once more. This too shall pass, I remind myself. My mantra for keeping on when everything felt like it was falling apart.

Through all of it, I’ve focused way too much on all the things I’ve lost. Instead, I should have paid attention to everything I gained. Friendship. Love.

While I wish like hell I could bring my family back, it’s an impossible feat. Something I realized a long time ago. So here in the quiet, Drex beside me, I take a deep breath and focus on what comes next.

I won’t be separated from him again, something I sure as hell hope he realizes.

I will face my uncle—if he truly is that—and deal with what comes of it.

And I will go back home. Step foot back in that house so I can get ready to sell it. I don’t need it to remind me of the happy times there. Now it will only serve as a reminder of one horrific night.

"You okay?" Drex asks. His breath fans over my neck, and I shiver, horrific thoughts disappearing beneath the weight of my feelings for him.

“Better, thank you.”

He grunts and starts to pull away, but I grip his hand. He stills. “Mags.” My name is little more than a gruff whisper.

“Please don’t go.”

“I can’t stay in here. Not anymore.”

Rolling over, I face him. Dark gaze trained on my face, he still doesn’t move. “I miss your smile.”

“Haven’t had much of a reason.”

“Because of me?”

He doesn’t respond, but his expression betrays the truth: I broke him by leaving. Maybe I can put him back together again. Reaching up, I press my hand to the side of his face. I caress gently, and he closes his eyes.

“I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

Eyes fluttering open, he stares back at me. “I’m sorry I wasn’t enough.”

His words are so damn heartbreaking. “You were always more than enough for me, Drex. But I needed—I don’t know what I needed. But I know what I want now. What I’ve wanted since we met.”

Drex’s nostrils flare, his eyes widening. “You’re hurting.”

“I’m actually okay now,” I tell him honestly. “It caught me off guard.”

He shakes his head and starts to get up. I sit up with him but grip his arm to keep him from leaving.

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