The Truth Within (Pelican Bay 3)

Sawyer had always been kind to me, and part of me had wondered if the occasional light pat on my shoulder and the wide smiles he sent my way had just been him being friendly or if he’d been flirting with me. Like everyone else at the sanctuary, he’d noticed my bruises, but he’d looked at me a little differently than Dallas, Maddox, and the others had. Those men always regarded me with a mix of what seemed like anger and pity, but Sawyer looked at me like he got it.

Like he understood there was something more beneath the black-and-blue marks and how they’d ended up on my skin. He’d never asked about the bruises, but he’d told me once that if I ever needed anything, just to tell him.

The way he’d said “anything,” it’d been clear that he hadn’t meant just physically escaping the source of the marks.

My answer had been the same for him as it had been with everyone else, but when I’d told him I was fine, he was one of the only ones who didn’t look at me with just the barest hint of disappointment.

“Feels strong,” Sawyer said when he finished taking my pulse. “How are you feeling?” he asked. I expected him to release my hand, but he ended up examining my fingers instead. His touch was soft and light.

And thankfully, it did nothing for me.

Not like Cam’s.

No sparks, no heat, no fire burning in my belly, no hardening of body parts further south.

Thank God for small favors.

“Good,” I said. “Really good,” I added, but unfortunately, I chose that exact moment to look at Cam. His expression had me stumbling over the words when I tried to repeat them. If he’d looked pissed before, he seemed positively glacial now.

“Any tingling or numbness here?” Sawyer asked as he ran his fingernail over the pad of each of my fingers.

I shook my head.

I only half-heard the other questions Sawyer asked me as he worked my glove back onto my hand and then removed the other to check that hand as well.

“Just watch him for any excess fatigue, trouble breathing, light-headedness, tingling in his extremities, confusion, that sort of thing,” Sawyer said. “Might not hurt to take his blood pressure throughout the night. You can grab a blood pressure monitor from pretty much any drug store.”

I looked at Cam just in time to see him nod.

“Wait, what are you talking about?” I asked in confusion.

“Cam told me you’ll be spending the night at his house so he can keep an eye on you. I know it seems like your doctor at the ER was being overly cautious by having you stay for observation, but it really is a good idea that you don’t spend the night alone, Ford. Even the psychological trauma of the day’s events could catch up to you, and shit like that’s better if you have someone to talk to about it.” Sawyer paused, then looked around us. “Damn, that would have cost me a manicure for sure,” the man said with a grin.

If I hadn’t been so caught up in what he’d said about spending the night at Cam’s house, I would have laughed because I knew the manicure he was talking about was one of little Newt’s infamous nail polish sessions. All the men at the sanctuary had been trying to curb their use of swear words around the little boy and if he did catch them cursing, it usually meant the loss of a coveted session with Newt of Newt’s Nifty Nails. The way the adult men all worked so hard to keep Newt happy with things like letting him polish their nails with crazy colors made my heart go all gooey.

But at the moment, my heart felt like a dead weight in my chest.

“Cam, thanks for your help today,” Sawyer said as he shook Cam’s hand. “Tell Walter Puddles is doing great and she’s found herself a new protector in this guy here.” Sawyer patted Loki’s head as he spoke. “I can hang onto her for a couple more days if that works for you. I’m staying here to keep an eye on things until the guys get back from their trip.”

Cam nodded. “That would be great. And I’ll tell Walter his little girl is in good hands with you and Loki.”

Sawyer once again stepped into my space, but this time he put his arms around me in a surprise hug that had me standing stock-still. “Call me if you need anything, okay?” I was so shocked I only managed a nod. “He’s a good man, Ford,” Sawyer whispered so only I could hear him. “You can trust him.”

I sucked in a breath but wasn’t able to respond. Sawyer didn’t seem to be expecting me to say anything because he quickly stepped back and released me, then said, “I need to go check on Bubbles to see how she’s doing with shedding her skin. You two have a good night.”