Page 94 of Burn Point

I felt her leg adjust beneath me, making room for my shoulders, and I sank back into her. I needed to move. I was probably crushing her, but I needed another second of holding her before I did anything.

Her hands resumed their path through my hair, chasing away the discomfort of talking to my parents. Just this little act of kindness was more than they’d done for me in years.

“Oof, who knew a man’s head could be so heavy?” Jordan mumbled.

My chest shook with silent laughter, and I drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face.

I woke to the rumble of Jordan’s belly. She hadn’t moved an inch. I pulled my arm from around her waist and ran my hand down her leg. My fingers brushed over a raised bump, and I paused to trace the line of the scar she’d gotten the night we met.

Memories of that terrifying night flashed through my mind. The tornado. Finding her trapped in her house. Working so damn hard to find people.

“We’ve been through a lot in a short period of time, don’t you think?” Jordan said quietly, as if she’d read my mind.

The angle of the sun filtering through the windows gave the impression that it might be some time in the late afternoon.

I recalled all the things that had happened since that first night. Her moving in with me, building Pearl together, her leaving for her adventure, both fires, meeting the family of the man I’d saved. I nodded, rising on an arm to look at her. Her eyes were puffy from lack of sleep. Exhaustion was written all over her face, yet she still greeted me with her angelic smile.

“I’m so glad you are here. Thanks for taking over with my folks,” I whispered, finding that my throat didn’t hurt so bad if I didn’t try to actually speak.

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” she said, cupping my cheek with one hand and lifting up to kiss me. “Are you feeling better?”

I nodded again, unable to drag my gaze away from her.

“I love you so damn much, Jordan. No one in my life has ever loved me like you do,” I declared, catching her hand and pressing a kiss to her palm. I lowered my head, pressing a chaste kiss to her soft lips, and laid my head on her chest.

“Do you want to talk about the fire?” she asked quietly, running her hands over my shoulders, petting me. Just touching me, showing me that she loved me too.

I swallowed, still getting used to talking about the details of a scene with anyone other than my crew. “We were charging up the stairs, I was in the lead. The guy behind me slipped, and reached out to grab me, which made me stumble. I remember crashing into the wall, then falling backwards. My air hose must’ve gotten snagged on the banister, because the next thing I knew I was sucking in hot air.”

“That sounds scary,” she said softly. The warmth of her hands on my shoulders kept me grounded, kept me safe with her instead of in that dark building.

“It was. All I could think of was, ‘Oh fuck, this is bad’ and ‘Skippy is going to kill me if something happens to me.’ Which is a stupid thought, actually.”

“It really is.” She tried for a laugh, but her eyes swam, and her chin quivered. “But do me a favor and maybe let’s not joke about something bad happening to you. I’m holding it together by a thread over here.” Her words held the weight of the fear she’d felt.

The reality of the situation had not fully settled on me until that moment. I could’ve died and left behind this beautiful woman. “I was scared, Jordan. So fucking scared. All I could think of was that I had to make it home to you.”

She tugged my hair, pulling my head up, before pressing her lips to mine.

“I’m so grateful that you are okay,” she said against my lips, then pulled away, her eyes searching mine. “I love you,” she whispered, her chin quivering.

My heart broke at the sight of her tears, and I gathered her in my arms. “I know you do, sweetheart.” Her body heaved under me as a sob broke loose, and she buried her face in my neck.

“I was so scared.” Her voice broke. Bless her heart, she’d been through hell, and she’d held it together. But she’d stayed. She hadn’t run. I could handle these tears. She could cry a river, and I would hold her through it and dry every single last tear she shed.

When she finally exhausted herself, I turned us so that we were face to face and my back was to the couch with her head nestled on my chest. We lay there long into the evening, staring at each other, whispering I love yous, and being grateful for every single moment.

Chapter 28

Jordan

I pulled Nate’s truck up to the curb in front of Mrs. O’Malley’s cute bungalow house. The quaint neighborhood was quiet in the middle of the day.

Two weeks had passed since that terrible call. Life was back to normal. Nate and I were still sharing a vehicle, seeing as how most days, I didn’t have anywhere that I especially needed to go. I saved my errands for the days that he was on shift and focused on my editing business the days he worked remodeling jobs. Any other time we were together.

I’d been finishing up a grocery run when Mrs. O’Malley had called in a near panic and demanded that I come over right then to help her with an issue.

I jogged up the short stairs to find her standing at her door, wringing her hands, a pinched expression on her face.

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