Page 170 of Hold Me Until Morning

The two of them with me like this was exactly where they’d always belonged.

At my side.

My family.

The arrow of truth speared through me.

So fucking staggering I struggled to get the next breath into my lungs that felt like they’d just collapsed.

But it was the truth.

That’s what they’d become.

My family.

My reason for breathing which was a complete mindfuck considering it hadn’t been that long ago I’d been promising I’d never give myself to anyone.

Not when my past lurked like phantoms behind me. One misstep, and they’d catch up. That shady agreement I’d made that I’d carried, and here I was, breaking that oath that I’d made to myself.

That time stamp on my chest that was meant as a reminder of where I could never go.

But she was worth it.

She was worth it.

Didn’t care what it cost, even though I was going to give it my all to end the mess I had myself in. To find a way to fully give myself to the two of them because they deserved all of me.

Not the twisted, mangled pieces that at any moment could completely splinter apart.

I made the last turn into Time River, and I pulled into the gas station off Manchester and stopped in front of a pump. There wasn’t a soul around, that stilled quiet hovering.

Hailey stirred when I shut off the engine, and those crystalline eyes flickered open to look across at me, though she was clearly still out of it.

“Just going to fill up before we make the trek to Hendrickson. Go back to sleep.”

She gave a small nod and curled back up, a contented sigh slipping from between her plush, full lips. I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out and tracing them, though I saw no point in resisting when touching her was the only thing I wanted to do.

My spirit clutched.

God, what had she done to me?

Blowing out a sigh, I cracked open my door and pushed out, and I dug into my back pocket to get my wallet when a black car turned into the lot.

Its headlights were blinding as it wound around the pumps and pulled in by the curb near the air compressor.

A prickle of unease skittered across my flesh, lifting the hairs at the back of my neck into spikes.

I didn’t know what it was, but I was instantly on guard, watching it in my periphery while I swiped my card, flipped the lid and unscrewed the gas cap, then situated the nozzle.

The car just sat there idling, while a rash of shivers rolled. I stuffed my hands into my jeans’ pockets and leaned against my truck, all casual like, though I kept watch.

A minute later, the door to the car finally snapped open, so fucking slow.

Agitation blistered, and I straightened in the same second the bastard rose from his car.

Wearing gray slacks and a light blue polo and this expression on his face that claimed he had the right to be there.

Tall and thin, but Pruitt didn’t vibrate with the kind of power Ryder did, and I was surer than ever that he wasn’t the actual one who’d attacked me on Tuesday.

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