Page 106 of Unbroken

“Thank you,” I said instead of answering his questions. I considered what else I might say, but he seemed to fully grasp my appreciation with just those two simple words.

A soft, crooked smile touched his lips, and I swore my entire body sighed when he touched those lips to mine. “Always, sweetheart. Always.”

FORTY-SEVEN

Blakely

The panicof the night terror lingered when I woke up to Devon’s lips on my forehead and his arms wrapped around me.

“You’re okay,” he murmured against my skin and brushed a soothing hand down my back and over his T-shirt that I’d worn to bed. Exhaustion made it difficult to open my eyes, but I somehow managed. “Go back to sleep.”

The few hours I had slept were already a fucking miracle, because the second my eyes opened, my mind started working.

“I don’t think I can,” I mumbled into his chest. I burrowed deeper, trying to suffocate the thoughts.

When we’d made it to Devon’s place early that morning, I’d been too wound up to sleep immediately. So, we stayed up playingUnoand watching Tato and Stormy have a standoff across the room. They were both wary of the other and unwilling to make the first move.

“We’ve only slept for four hours.” I groaned and willed sleep to find me again. But any attempt was useless when someone started banging on the door. Reflexively, I tensed, and Devon’s arms tightened around me.

“Dev, I know Blakely’s in there, too, because I saw her car out front, but we were supposed to have breakfast this morning! Get your ass up!”

“Fuck,” he groaned and wiped at his eyes.

“I’ll be in the kitchen, and I have a surprise for you!”

“What do you think the likelihood is of her leaving us alone if I don’t go down there?” he asked.

“None. Absolutely zero percent chance. She’ll be back up here in five minutes, probably.”

He mumbled his agreement and pushed a few locks of my curly, chaotic hair out of my face before he leaned down for a quick, chaste kiss. “You make it really hard to leave this bed when waking up next to you is all I’ve ever wanted.”

I was suddenly very aware of my heart in my chest and the way it was thumping against my rib cage. He was so sweet and so perfect and so mine. I reached my hand up and did the same thing to him—brushing away a few stray strands of dark red hair that had fallen forward onto his forehead. It was just long enough on top that it brushed his brow.

“I don’t know how I didn’t realize it before.”

“Realize what?”

My fingers trailed over the side of his face, over his freckled-dusted cheek, and over his scruffy jaw. I surveyed the subtle lines around his eyes and across his forehead. The scar above his lip from running into a parked car as a kid and the slight bump in his nose from the same accident.

“That it was always supposed to be you. I didn’t realize it before, but I should have.”

I brushed my thumb over his smirk and kissed it quickly. He hummed over my mouth and wrapped his hand around my hip to tug me closer. My thigh pressed against his dick, which was half-hard behind his briefs.

“I’m glad you finally realized it because I can’t relate. I’ve known all along that it was you I wanted. That Ineeded.”

His words were warm and truthful, and I felt like I wasfucking glowing under the echo of them. I leaned in for another kiss, dropping my hand down his chest and enjoying the minor reprieve from, well, everything.

But Devon’s phone started vibrating on the nightstand, and the blissful moment was broken.

Unsure of the wooden stairs, Tato cautiously followed me down from Devon’s apartment. He’d gone down twenty minutes earlier to placate his sister, leaving me to begrudgingly roll out of bed. I threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and attempted to cover up the dark, deep-set circles under my eyes.

It was futile, but at least I didn’t look as dead as I felt.

I was hoping the coffee Devon promised would also help with that.

I’d also taken the time to call Detective Baker on Devon’s phone and tell him about the cookies. He agreed to send an officer to my house later that day to pick them up as evidence.

Tato stopped in the grass and then proceeded to sniff around, identifying the new and exciting smells. Normally, I would have let him take all the time he needed, but I couldn’t help but glance over my shoulder. My eyes scanned the fenceline and bounced between the windows of the homes around us that overlooked the backyard.

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