Protecting Dallas

Killed. There. You said finally it.

It was a hard acknowledgment — something I’d been avoiding saying out loud, for fear of what it might mean. Killed meant someone had finally found my brother’s Achilles heel. That my older brother’s legacy of strength and invincibility had been finally stained by the shadow of something — or someone — who’d gotten the better of him.

Killed meant Connor needed to be avenged.

I cried some more, curling into a ball. Pulling my legs up against my chest, I threw the phone to the other side of the couch as if it were made of acid.

“Hey…”

My head snapped up, and there was Maddox. He was kneeling before the couch. Somehow he’d made it across the room without me even knowing it.

“You alright?”

He laid a hand on my shoulder, and once again I didn’t see it coming. I shrank back for a split-second, until I realized what it actually was.

“What are you a ninja?” I sniffed.

Maddox only shrugged in the darkness. “Maybe.”

His goofy grin was the perfect ice-breaker. It made me laugh. Made me eventually throw my arms around him and hug him, when I saw he’d already stretched his arms out to me.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go.”

He took my hand in his, interlacing his fingers between mine. The gesture was simple, but incredibly sweet. Meaningful in ways I didn’t immediately realize.

We walked the hall, in the direction of my bedroom. Before we got there however, he swept me into his.

“Shhh…” he whispered. “We’re supposed to be leaving you alone tonight.”

I followed him inside, practically tip-toeing as he closed the door. It felt like we were kids again, sneaking around the house during a midnight sleepover.

“Why?” I asked.

Maddox shrugged. “I guess because we didn’t want to overwhelm you.”

My heart softened. “Awww. That’s…”

“Stupid?”

“No, actually it’s kinda sweet.”

A minute later we were beneath the blankets, skin against skin. Maddox spooned me from behind, making me feel safe and warm and protected, all wrapped up in his two very strong arms.

“You’re not the only one who loved Connor,” he assured me with a sigh. My eyes grew heavier and heavier as I squirmed into him.

“We all did.”

Eighteen

DALLAS

“And I’m telling you, your brother loved sushi.”

Austin pressed the bar overhead three more times, his shoulders screaming with the exertion. I could tell the last few reps had been painful. It was all worth it though. His delts and trapezius muscles looked pumped and beautiful.

“Connor hated fish,” I reiterated. “He used to scrape it into a bag under the table, every time my mother made it.”

At that, Austin laughed. “You told on him, didn’t you?”