Page 89 of Static

"What's going on?" I asked, looking over at Static.

He was frowning. "Fuck if I know."

"Why don't we get you back home?" Hush asked, doing the same as yesterday and wrapping a beefy arm around me, hugging me close to his body. Static shot him a glare, but the older man didn't relinquish me back to him.

The drive back, answering everyone's questions, it all passed by in a blur and before I knew it I was sitting on Static's lap in my apartment. I was safe inside the motorcycle club compound. "I wish I could be normal."

Static brushed a hand over my hair, soothing me. "You are normal, Gwen. Anyone would struggle with someone they used to love and trust trying to brutally murder them. You're handling it better than most."

I flinched at the words, but he was right. Trent hadn't been playing. He wasn't messing around. He'd tried to kill me. And, he was right again, I had loved him once. Or loved someone he used to be, before the drugs. I had two wonderful children because of him. Everything was coming back into focus as we sat there. Static gave me the time to realign and work out my feelings. His arms around me made me feel safe enough to shove away the numbness.

"There she is," he said with a smile.

Giving him a questioning look, I shifted so I could see his handsome face better.

"Your eyes were sort of...glassy."

I closed my eyes and shook my head. By the time I opened them again, I was smiling.

"What?" he asked, his own smile growing.

"Do you have any idea how amazing you are?" I shifted again until I was straddling him. Placing my hands on his cheeks, I leaned forward and brushed a soft kiss over his lips before pulling back. "I don't know how to thank you."

"For what, Baby Girl?"

The genuine confusion on his face made me almost cry. "For that," I whispered. "For everything you've been doing for me."

"I want to help."

"Exactly." It was as though two tons of weight had suddenly lifted off my chest. I could breathe again. "You didn't have to do this. Didn't have to take me on. To love my kids. To help me when I've been in a place so low I wasn't sure I'd ever dig my way out." I swallowed because the tears were getting close. "But I know I'm going to make it out of this, because while I've been slowly digging from underneath, you've been trying to reach me from above. For so long now it's felt like I've been buried. Under guilt and shame and fear. And I know I still have a lot of work to do on myself, but because of you, I'm...alive again."

"Jesus, Gwen." He leaned forward and buried his face in my hair. "I can't tell you how fucking hard it is to see you struggling. Knowing I can't do a damn thing to help you."

"But you do."

"I'm trying to help you feel better and here you are making me seem like some kind of fucking superhero. I haven't done a damn thing. Or not enough. You deserve the world and I'll do my fucking best to give it to you."

The first tear fell, slipping down my cheek. "I love you, Reed. And you don't have to say it back or anything. It's just-"

He interrupted me with a kiss. It was soft and lingering and it set every nerve ending inside me alight. When he pulled back, he looked down at me. "I'm not going anywhere," he promised. "You're not alone anymore. I love you, too, Gwen."

My heart fluttered in my chest, trying to take flight and soar. "Will you show me how much?"

I'd done my best to tell him what he meant to me. Now I needed to show him. I wanted him to realize how much I appreciated everything he did for me. That he was here. That he showed up, and had been over the last year. For too long I wasn't able to see anything except my misery. He was like a breath of fresh air after being trapped and I wanted to keep him as close as possible.

CHAPTER 31

Gwen

One blond brow rose as he grinned down at me. "Every damn day, Woman." He picked me up in his arms and carried me to my bedroom.

As much as I wanted to be spontaneous and make love on the couch because we were young and free, we really weren't. My kids, or any one of my friends could walk into my apartment at any time. I doubted they would right now, but you never knew. So our lovemaking would always be behind a closed, locked door, and I was absolutely perfect with that.

We stripped off our clothes, his lips never far from mine. As soon as we were naked, we fell back on the bed. Our bodies pressed together. We were a perfect fit. He was all muscle and power and strength. He made me feel small and delicate, and cherished. Never once had he used his strength to intimidate or coerce me.

I would be happy to place my life in his hands and take whatever consequences might come from that. Because I knew that only good things would happen for me. He would make sure of it. Static was the kind of man who took care of his woman. Who protected her. Made sure she had everything she needed. All these men were. If I had any doubt about it, I would run in the opposite direction. Instead, I gave myself over to him.

Shoving him back on the mattress, I smiled at him. "Let me be the one to take care of you this time."

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