Page 28 of Broken-Hearted

Like me. I don’t know what I did to attract Adrian’s attention, and why he’s so determined to have me, but he doesn’t look like he’s about to give up and go home anytime soon.

I yawn as sleep slowly overtakes me.

“Come here.” Nathan urges me closer.

“I’m not interested in you, Blackshaw,” I mumble, liking how his chest makes a perfect pillow.

“Of course you’re not,” he says, and from his amused tone, I envision a big, fat grin on his face. “Sleep. I’ll keep you safe.”

I rest my hand on his chest, absorbing his steady heartbeats. “You still want to keep me safe after I pushed you down a mountain?”

He kisses the top of my hair, and it feels too good to complain about him taking liberties. “A hill.”

I’m smiling as I relax. “Nathan?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.” If he hadn’t come after me, Adrian would have found me in Rosenwood, and if I couldn’t hitchhike out of town fast, I’d have been trapped.

“No worries.” He pauses. “If I called you peach now, you’d shove me out of the bed, wouldn’t you?”

I yawn. “Without a moment’s hesitation.”

“Then goodnight, Clara.”

“Night, Blackshaw.”

7

Iwake up tucked up so close to Nathan Blackshaw, it’s hard to know where I end and where he begins.

He feels…amazing.

“Awake, peach?” He breathes against my hair, gently hugging me.

“I’ve warned you about that nickname.” I muffle a yawn. “It’s not too early for me to shove you off this bed.”

He kisses my forehead. “Except it isn’t early at all. It’s midday.”

I sit up so fast our heads crack together, and we both yelp.

“Ouch.” I rub the sore spot as I glare at him as if it was his fault.

“There’s no in-between with you, is there?” he grumbles, wincing.

“What do you mean?”

“Awake. Asleep. Relaxed. Violent.”

Sitting up, I turn away so he can’t see my smile. He doesn’t sound like he has a problem with it. But he’s right. I bounce from one extreme to the next. For someone who hasn’t known me all that long, he sure does know me.

“How’s your arm?”

He must have removed the cloth I tied around his arm as I slept because it’s missing, and there’s not a trace of blood or even a scratch on him. “All healed up. I think it’s because of your first aid.”

I snort. “It’s because you’re a shifter, not because I tied a dirty bit of cotton around your arm.” And after my tumble down a hill, it definitely would have been dirty.

Muffling another yawn, I slide my bare legs out of bed and try not to notice Nathan eyeing me like I’m the most interesting thing he’s ever seen.

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