Page 104 of Anything To Be With You

"Already done. I used your phone, introduced myself and explained what had happened. Not in full detail, just enough and your Mom said she'd pick Mason up from Axe's tomorrow and stay with him."

She looks up at me with a small smile on her face. "Thank you."

I lead her into my room, helping her onto the bed. "She wants you to call her tomorrow when you get up."

"Yeah." She starts pulling at her clothes, getting stuck in her shirt. "I need to change."

I grab one of my t-shirts. She’ll swim in it, but it’ll keep her covered. I help her change and tuck her into bed.

"Will you stay?" Dani asks.

"I’ll be in the living room," I inform her.

"Will you stay…with me?"

"You sure? I don’t want to accidently hurt you while we’re sleeping." I confess.

"I don’t want to be alone right now."

I hesitate. Her body is battered and broken; she needs rest. "I’ll stay until you fall asleep, then I’ll move to the couch."

She sighs, blowing baby hairs off her face. "Stop being a ding dong, Archer. Get in the bed."

I climb under the covers, because I can’t say no to this woman. "If you start to feel uncomfortable, just say the word and I’ll leave."

Dani nods and curls into me. "Thanks, Luke."

My heart skips a beat at the sound of my name on her lips. "Anything for you, Sweetheart. Always."

Always

Luke

Dani spent the day in bed. Only getting up to use the bathroom and check on Mason. I brought her food and water, checking on whether she took her pain meds or not. She never did. She didn’t eat the food I brought either.

I sit on the couch and watch her sleep through the open bedroom door. She hardly moves, her breathing is shallow, and the odd word works its way from her lips. I’m starting to get worried; I don’t think it’s normal to sleep for almost thirteen hours.

The front door swings open and Gabe saunters in. "Damn dude," he whistles, "you look like shit." He drops next to me on the couch.

"Thanks." I scrub my face.

Gabe glances into my room. "Ah," Gabe elbows me, "now I know why you look like shit. Up late learning about the female form."

"That’s Dani," I reply.

"Even better."

"She was attacked last night."

Gabe’s smile vanishes and his body starts shaking. "By. Who." He growls.

I give him the footnotes, as it’s not my story to tell.

"Get the boys," Gabe stands, cracking his knuckles, "we got a fuckhead to kill."

"One: we don’t have any boys and two: that’s not up to us." I state.

"The fuck it’s not!" Gabe’s hands curl into fists at his side.

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