Page 57 of The Lies We Tell Ourselves

My eyes fluttered closed as the exhaustion I’d been pushing down became too much to ignore. I needed to give my mind a chance to reset and rest. The trouble with suffering from nightmares and flashbacks from some of the worst moments of your life, is that it infected you like a cancer. It took root in every facet of your mind, body, and soul. People might see how it affects you physically, but they couldn’t feel the relentless mental anguish that holds you hostage, or the way it made your mind play tricks on you, forcing you to question everything.

I was tired, and not the type a weekend’s worth of sleep could fix. I was emotionally drained and running on empty. My soul ached, and it felt like my bones were turning to dust. I just needed someone to hold me together, to love me even on the days when it was impossible to open my eyes.

“Put him on the bed, Dil. Let me check you over.” Dillon’s grunt made me want to laugh, but I couldn’t move. I was weighed down by the world.

“I’ve got him,” he snapped as he lifted off the floor and tucked under the covers on the bed. Warmth suffused my heart at Dillon’s tenderness. Fingertips brushed the hair off my face, and he placed a kiss to my forehead. I wanted to melt in my semi lucid state.

“B…” Dillons aching sigh made my heart clench.

“Don’t, Dil. Tell me when you’re ready, okay?” The sound of a zip being undone made me flinch, and the pregnant pause that followed as everyone in the room held their breath was suffocating. “Tip your head back, or it’s going to run into your eye.”

“He’s gonna pay for this. No one gets to touch him or hurt him like that.”

“Alright, big guy, calm down. You can go all caveman on Chad later. Right now, you need to get dressed and get out of here. Take him home, Dil. He needs you.”

“I know, B. But someone insisted on cleaning up my face.” I smiled at Dillon’s amused tone. “What I don’t understand is why he came up here in the first place.”

“Um, well, Tristan turned up and brought some of his crew to join the party.”

“Fuck!”

“Yeah, you could say that. He brought some heavy shit too, so you know it’s going to get messy.”

“I need to get him?—”

“No! You’re going back to the dorms and taking care of what matters. If people here fuck themselves up, that’s on them, not you. Not us. Got it?”

“Sure. Catch ya later, and thanks, B.”

“Anytime, Dil. You know that.”

I listened to Dillon’s soft foot falls as he moved around the room before the bed dipped, and he kissed my nose. “Hey, little crow. Open those beautiful eyes for me. We need to go.”

I peeled one eye open and stared into his ebon depths. Ones that had previously been filled with glacial hate now brimmed with concern and maybe, possibly, something much more powerful.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-THREE

JAMIE

Dillon yanked the covers off me. “Hey! That was mean.” I wrinkled my nose at him.

“I know, I’m sorry.” The smirk on his face said otherwise as he pulled me up and slipped a hoodie over my head. I buried my nose in the material and inhaled his sea-salt scent. I couldn’t help the groan that slipped from my lips.

Dillon chuckled. “Now is not the time for that.” I snickered and stuck my tongue out at him as he worked some butter-soft sweatpants up my legs. They were massive and hung off my feet by several inches.

“I look like an idiot,” I grumbled. Dillon sunk his teeth into his bottom lip and shook his head instead of answering me.

After putting my shoes on, he pulled me from the bed and laced our fingers together. His rough calloused palm swallowed mine, but I loved how we looked together and how damn hot that rose tattoo on his hand looked. We were opposites in every way, but it was like we were made for each other.

“No. You look like mine.” The possessive growl in his voice made every nerve in my body spark to life ,and my heart did a backflip. “You ready to get out of here?” A small smile played around my lips but instead of answering, I pushed up onto my tiptoes, grabbed the toggles of Dillon’s hoodie, and pulled him down to me so I could fuse his lips with mine. His sharp inhale made me preen as I licked into his mouth. His taste burst across my tongue, making me groan. I needed this. Needed him to make me forget.

I pulled back and couldn’t help the chuckle that left me as I took in his dazed expression. “Yes.”

“Well, alright then.” He cleared his throat and adjusted himself before giving my hand a gentle squeeze.

The party was in full force when we made it down the stairs, and even though no one paid us a blind bit of notice, we stuck to the shadows. We slipped out of the party house like thieves in the night and stole away in Dillon’s truck. As we drove across town, I wondered if it would always be like this—him and me—hiding in the dark. A secret that could never be shared with the world. I shook my head and stared out the window, watching the streetlights pass us by and let that thought go.

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