Page 24 of Scars Run Deep

“Is that what you want?”

I stared back at him.

He wasn’t teasing this time or being a sarcastic shit. He was genuinely asking, wanting to know.

“What I want is for you to take care of yourself. Down these pills and get some sleep so you can heal.”

“Given the way I feel right now, they’ll knock me out.”

“Exactly the point. The doctor said it’s fine for you to sleep. Despite you hitting your head and losing consciousness, he said it was the brutal jolt of the impact to your body, not the mark of a severe head injury. You don’t have a concussion. If you did, I don’t doubt that Jonah would be here with you watching you like a hawk.”

“I don’t do well with a lot of sleep.”

“I’ll be able to sleep longer with you here.”

His words from the night I’d managed to get him to rest last time rolled over me.

I watched him fiddling with his black beaded bracelet.

“Is it nightmares?” I asked.

He stared at me, his jaw working.

A struggle was taking place.

I waited with bated breath for him to tell me, to let me in, even just a little.

But then he released his bracelet and shifted his weight in bed, wincing as he inadvertently put pressure on his injured shoulder. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I did.”

“No, you deflected. It wasn’t a direct answer.”

“Fine. Humor me with the meds and I’ll give you your answer.”

When I saw him moving to protest, I laid my hand on his good left one. It had his gaze snapping right to mine. “I’ll stay with you tonight.”

His mesmerizing silver eyes burned into mine, delving deep.

And I let him do it this time.

I let him see into me.

The next thing I knew, he was reaching out and waving his hand over the nightstand.

With a bunch of fancy finger movements, they were gone.

Him and his magic.

“Where are they? Did you seriously—”

He tapped my bralette. “If you will.”

“What—” I peered inside the cup he’d touched and there, down the side were the two pills. “How the hell?”

“I’m that good, sweetheart.”

He grinned as I handed them to him, and then he popped them into his mouth. He swallowed them down without the need for water, then rested his head back against his pillows.

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