Listen to Me (Fusion 1)

“You know everything.”

She buries her face in my chest again, hiding.

“Does he have a key to your apartment?”

“I’ll have the locks changed tomorrow.”

“Why didn’t you do that already?”

“I didn’t think he’d do anything. He was gone.”

I’m not leaving here tonight.

“Have the gate code changed too.”

“I will.” She’s quiet for a long moment. “He was going to hit me.”

My gut clenches all over again and I wish he were here so I could beat the fuck out of him. “No, he wasn’t. I wouldn’t have let him.”

“If you hadn’t been there, he would have. I wasn’t the one who cheated on him. I didn’t do anything wrong, but he was going to hit me.”

“He doesn’t matter,” I whisper, and kiss her head as I lift her into my arms and walk to her bedroom. I toe off my shoes, pull the covers back, and lay her on the bed, then with all of my clothes still on, I climb in after her.

“What are you doing?” Excellent question, sweetheart. I believe this is called comforting without the expectation of sex afterward.

And it’s a completely new experience for me.

“Curing cancer.” I tug her to me, tangle our legs, and wrap my arms around her as she rests her head on my chest. “We could both use some comforting, I think.”

“Why do you need comforting?”

Oh, sweetness, for so many reasons that if I laid them all out for you, you’d run from this room screaming.

“Because I hit a guy tonight and bruised my hand.”

“Oh!” She grabs my fist in her hands and kisses my knuckles, making the breath hiss out between my teeth. “I’m sorry.”

“You should kiss it again.”

She does, gently pressing her sexy, full lips against my skin, and then to my utter surprise, she uncurls my fingers and tucks her cheek in my palm, holding my hand to her face. “Thank you.”

“For what?” I whisper.

“For saving me from that douche bag. For being so nice to me even though I’ve been an utter bitch to you.”

“You’re not a bitch. You just like me.”

“Do not.”

I smile and hold her close, staring at the shadows from her window on the ceiling. The room is dark and cool. Perfect sleeping conditions.

“You like me. It’s okay, I have that effect on women.”

She stiffens for a moment, then relaxes again. “I’m sure you do.”

I tip her face up, so I can see her eyes in the moonlight. “It was a joke, Addie.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, I think with you, it does.”

Her eyes drop to my lips as she licks her own and it takes all of my willpower not to roll her under me and take her right here and now. But then she looks back up at me and presses her lips to my chin. “Thank you.”

“You already thanked me.”

“It was worth saying twice.” And with that she settles in against me, and mere minutes later, she’s breathing the long, deep breaths of slumber.

I’ve fought insomnia for years, so I settle in for a long night of staring at Addie’s ceiling, but as she breathes long and slow against me, her arms wrapped around my waist and legs tangled with mine, I find myself drifting with her.

She just fits.

Chapter Five

Addison

He’s not gone.

I haven’t opened my eyes yet, but I can feel the heat from his body next to me. I can hear his even breathing. Of course Jake Knox doesn’t snore.

I do. Which is only the most mortifying thing in the world.

I open one eye, and sure enough, there he is, still in his clothes from last night, looking all rumpled and sexy as hell. He’s on his back, and I’m on my side next to him, and we aren’t touching.

But with the heat and sexy vibes rolling off of him, we may as well be. God, he’s hot. Like, if you look up hot in the dictionary, there’s Jake’s picture. And when he smiles, all bets are off. He’s been melting my panties off for a month with that cocky smile.

It was nice of him to make excuses for me last night, but I know the truth. I have been horrible to him. Because I’m so damn attracted to him, and my man picker isn’t just broken: I’m pretty sure it doesn’t exist.

My heart just can’t take any more bruises.

Last night, my face almost gained a few bruises, and my stomach clenches again at the thought. What the ever loving fuck was that all about? I’d just reached my car when Jeremy scared the fuck out of me, coming up behind me and spinning me around, pinning me in place and yelling about how he has nowhere to go, and it’s all my fault.

I’m no shrinking violet, so I gave it right back to him, calling him a loser who needs to get his shit together.

He didn’t take kindly to that.

But I never would have believed that he would have hurt me. Jeremy is a lot of things, but an abuser isn’t something that was on my radar.

And then Jake came to the rescue. I’ve never felt such relief as I did when he pulled Jeremy away from me. He was my savior.

And that’s just corny as hell.

Lying here in the early morning sunshine, I can’t help but admit that he’s sexy, and surprisingly has a sweet side.

And it’s not just the way he looks that has me attracted. Don’t get me wrong, my fingertips itch to trace the tattoos on his arm, to feel his hair in my hands. But I’ve also come to learn this past month that Jake is a nice guy.

And I’m mature enough to admit that he scares me more than a little.