Page 165 of Damaged Protector

Staring down at the thousands of dollars in my hand, I said, “I’ll deposit this and then transfer the money to you since you’re providing my housing now.”

“No.” His answer was short and firm.

“Hawk, I’m not—”

“No. How was school today?”

I sighed, already making plans to somehow get this money to him. “Really good, actually. We’re studying the cardiac system in anatomy. It’s hard, but I like it.”

Hawk nodded. “Why do you have to know about that? Won’t you usually work with muscles and bones and stuff?”

“Yes, but in acute care physical therapy, we may have to work with patients that have just had heart surgery. Or other medical issues. Our anatomy classes are very extensive.”

He put the spoon down and came over to place a chaste kiss on the top of my head. “Go put your stuff in your room and relax for a few minutes. Dinner is almost ready.”

I smiled and left the room. I could really get used to this kind of treatment.

Hours later, we were seated on the black leather couch. Hawk was watching TV but had his ear buds in, so the house was blissfully silent. Coconut was sleeping lazily on my lap as I went through the note cards I’d made.

I read the question on the front of each one, then closed my eyes and thought of the answer before flipping the card over to see if I was right.

Hawk nudged me with his elbow, and I looked up. “Need me to quiz you?”

“Do you mind?”

He shook his head. “Of course not. What are you studying?”

“Exercise physiology,” I told him. “I have an exam on Friday.”

For the next hour, he grilled me, going back to questions I missed until the information was firmly ingrained in my brain.

When I went to bed, I curled into my pillow, happy to be in this calm, quiet house but wishing I was in someone else’s bed.

Chapter 49

“How did your anatomy lab practical go today?” I asked as soon as she walked in the front door.

Mallori’s teeth sank into her bottom lip, and she hunched up her shoulders. “I don’t want to jinx myself, but I think I aced it.”

“I told you.” God, I was so fucking proud of her.

“So I’ll definitely come away with an A in that class. Now I just have to study my ass off for my finals, and hopefully I’ll do the same in the rest of my classes.” She set her backpack down beside the door and collapsed onto the couch beside me.

“A four-point-oh in your first semester of a doctoral program? Pretty impressive.”

“I have a good study partner,” she said with a wink.

“Megan?”

She laughed. “She’s my library study partner, but I was talking about my home study buddy.”

Placing my hand over my heart, I dramatically mouthed, “Me?”

Mal shoved my shoulder. “Stop it. I really couldn’t have done this without you.”

“I don’t mind,” I told her honestly. Seriously, any second I could spend with this woman was a win in my book. I didn’t care if it was grilling her on muscle insertions or helping her meal prep her lunches for the week. As long as I could look at her, smell her sweet scent, touch her.

Well, about the touching… it wasn’t exactly the kind of touching I truly wanted, but at least it was something.

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