Page 68 of Heal For Me

My skin burns as she trails her finger over the words you’re beautiful.

“That’s my handwriting.” Her eyes are wet when they lift to mine. “How did you do that?”

“It wasn’t easy. We had to piece together several of your letters to spell out those words specifically, but it was worth it.”

She falls against me but doesn’t let me lower my arm so she can admire it. “We are matching. But why did you add this?”

She points to the you’re.

“As a reminder for you. If I happen to forget to tell you that day, you can look to my arm and know it’s true.”

There’s a long pause, then she giggles. “That is the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard. But I love it, thank you.”

I’ve gotten soft, even the tattoo artist looked at me like I was off my rocker. I don’t care, I’d do anything for Payson.

She curls into me, and I wrap my arms around her. “And I love you.”

30

Ash

If I thought my brother was annoying when Payson was asleep, it’s nothing compared to how he is when she’s awake.

Maybe it’s because anytime he says anything idiotic, she laughs. I tell myself it’s out of pity because Henry is not funny, so that’s the only explanation, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting to bend her over my knee and spank her right here at the dining table with everyone around.

The only thing saving her ass from a red mark in the shape of my hand, is the fact her hand has not left my thigh the length of dinner for more than the time it takes her to move her napkin to her lap.

Also, the fact her skin is still flushed from sex even though it’s been over an hour since our second round.

She’s mentioned a few things during dinner I hadn’t heard before. Like the fact the owner she had mentioned in one of the letters is only twenty-something. When she talked about him, I assumed he was an old fat bastard with a balding head, but according to Janelle, he was a smokeshow. Payson didn’t agree, but she refused to look at me after Janelle said that.

Her looks have changed slightly, not only is she carrying herself different, but she looks older as well. More grown and matured. Most importantly, she looks happy.

There is nothing I wanted more than to see Payson happy, truly happy. And watching her interact with my family so causally and carefree—besides Henry—is maybe my favorite thing yet.

But it doesn’t stop the nagging in the back of my mind that I might not know everything about her anymore.

Then I see the fresh torn skin on her thumb and it calms me, mostly. She is still my Payson, but she’s also the Payson she should have always been. Her skin might even be tanner than mine now, and her hair is lighter, so she must have spent an exceptional amount of time by the pool. Judging by the definite tan lines I saw, I’m not sure how thrilled I am about the small percentage of her body they cover, but I’m trying to reel that side of me in.

It’s difficult, and my therapist will get an earful during my next appointment.

Payson

Ash’s family is . . . fantastic. They are everything I ever wanted in a family, everything anyone has probably ever wanted. Two parents very obviously deep in love. Well-rounded kids, each with a different attitude and personality—that get along, for the most part. I notice Ash’s daggers toward his brother anytime I laugh at his “jokes,” which aren’t even that funny, but I’m trying to make a good impression. It seems to work on everyone except his sister. I get the feeling she is less than thrilled about my presence since I’ve caught her glaring at me a time or two. I’ve gone over the options in my head on what her issue could be, she’s upset because her mom likes me. She’s mad because she’s weirdly in love with her brother like those horror stories you read online. Janelle, Ronni, and I went through a stage where we would get on Reddit and pick out the wildest stories we could find and read them out loud, and after, we would vote on whose was the craziest. Or she’s mad because of the age gap., if I could I’d chose the latter over either of the others.

I help Ash’s mom clean up dinner, even though she told me several times not to worry about it. They all keep mentioning jet lag, but I feel fine. Janelle, however, was passed out on the couch the last I checked. I slept on the plane, though, and that probably helped keep me mostly on schedule. I wonder if she didn’t.

Walking from the massive kitchen, I bump into Ash’s nephew in the hallway. Ash chases after him with his hands up like claws. He winks at me.

“I’m going to eat you,” he tells his nephew in a goofy voice.

The little boy, who is cute as a button with little glasses and a blond comb-over, runs right into my legs. “Save me! Save me!” he begs while tugging on my dress. I’m not a dress girl, but glad I wore one for dinner since all the other girls are.

I scoop the little boy up, surprised at how heavy he is, and he clings to my body like his life depends on it. Ash trucks forward, still in dinosaur form, and I back away. A dark expression passes over his face. He throws his head back and lets out what I think is meant to be a roar.

“Hurry! Run, run!” Nelson cries, so I do.

I run through the hallway and into the kitchen since I don’t know where anything else is on this side of the house. Ash still hasn’t given me a proper tour.

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