Page 84 of Catch Me When I Fall

Leo.

Dinner.

Falling asleep on his chest.

Waking up with him on top of me, trying to—

A gunshot.

The bounty hunter saving me.

I was falling then, but before I made it to the floor, strong arms caught me, and my body was pressed against the bounty hunter’s. The room began to spin once more as I got lost in his dark eyes, pools of warmth and security as his arms tightened around my waist.

“Dammit, baby, I said take it slow,” he muttered, lifting me from the floor completely.

“Grayson.”

His eyes snapped back to mine, and pain sliced through my heart as a sob escaped me.

“Grayson,” I whimpered, tears stinging my eyes as I remembered how gentle he was with me. How he asked to touch me. How he was careful not to cut me when he released me from the binds.

Grayson moved then, sitting on the bed with me sideways on his lap.

“Deep breaths,” he ordered.

The first tear fell, sliding down my cheek quickly as he watched with agony on his face. “You remember then, yeah?”

I nodded; my hands curled against his chest as my lip trembled. “You saved me,” I whispered, my voice thick.

He shook his head, a pained expression on his face. “Sunshine, you have to stop crying. I can only take so much torture.”

Torture. My eyes drifted to his scar, starting at the top and trailing all the way down to where it disappeared into his beard. Slowly, I lifted my hand to his face, wanting desperately to touch him. I halted, looking away from his scar and back to his eyes. His intense stare had my lips parting, a small breath escaping me. I moved my hand from his face.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” I said, wiping my eyes.

“I deserved it.”

He did, but after he saved me, I didn’t think yelling at him was the best route to go. A throbbing pain shot through my head, causing me to wince.

Grayson tensed underneath me, his hands at my shoulder and the crook of my knees tightening. “What? What is it?” he pressed.

“My head,” I rasped, bringing my hand to the top of it.

“Fuck,” he muttered as he rose. He twisted and laid me back down on the bed. I watched as he ran a hand through his hair as he bit off another curse, bending his head and closing his eyes, jaw tight.

I sat up slowly. “Grayson?”

He didn’t move, but he did open his eyes, his focus on the floor. I looked at his hands hanging at his sides, wanting desperately to grab them, but I didn’t. Last night replayed through my mind, more clearly than before.

“He drugged me,” I guessed. “That’s why everything was fuzzy when I woke up.”

Grayson made a sound that came from his chest, a low growl. I focused on his face once more as he lifted his head, looking outside. He was looking everywhere but me, and for some reason, I needed his eyes on me. I needed him to see I was okay. That we were going to be okay—

A thought occurred to me then.

“Why did you say Tic-Tac was our cat?” I blurted.

His head snapped back down to me then. “Because you’re mine.”

---