Page 158 of Love Me Reckless

He’s going back to that horrible memory, when Wes had come around and I took off, not wanting to be anywhere near him. “That’s all in the past. We survived, and that’s all that matters.”

“I hid in the car,” Shel says as if he didn’t hear me. “I wanted to go, even… if it meant leaving you.”

What is this nonsense? I tighten my grip on his hand and will him to look at me. “That’s not important, okay? Just stay with me.”

Sheldon grabs my wrist, his grip surprisingly strong. “It was never your fault.” His voice is scratchy, like it’s costing him effort.

The medics curl over Shel as the helicopter lowers, blasting us with rotor wash. I have to shut my eyes and hide my face in my shoulder.

“It’s going to be okay, Shel. I’m here.”

With the growl of the chopper in my ears and flying dust pelting my face, the medics lift Sheldon, severing my hold on him, and race him to the chopper. I try to go after them, but I’m jerked backward. It’s Zach.

“Stay down!” he yells over the roar.

The chopper’s blades blast us with grit and exhaust. We cower there on the grass until the chopper lifts off in a powerful roar of sound and blasting wind.

A figure rushes from the house, her silhouette backlit by the glow from inside. Kirilee barrels into me. I wrap my arms around her and pull her tightly against my chest. Together we watch the chopper’s blinking lights and hulk of black metal slip into the night.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

KIRILEE

By the timewe finally leave the sheriff’s department, it’s almost one in the morning. The night air is so still and cold, seeping through my clothes.

I’ve told the story about how Sheldon lured me to Grayhawk at least ten times, but it doesn’t get any easier. Sawyer stayed glued to my side, holding my hand, reassuring me that what happened wasn’t my fault.

I thought I could help Sheldon, but he chose differently.

Sawyer’s been getting regular updates from the hospital about Sheldon’s condition. What he’s hearing isn’t good.

Pain vibrates up my ankle as I navigate the steps to the parking lot.

Sawyer must notice my grimace because he stops halfway and crouches in front of me. “Hop on.”

I silence the protest on my lips and drape my arms across his broad back. Though he’s likely so weary right now after this exhausting night, I get the sense he could carry me a hundred miles.

“This is how I first met you, do youremember?” I say.

He gently hoists me onto his back, cradling my thighs at his sides. “I’ll never forget it.”

“You saw Birch with someone in the back of the kitchen,” I say as he carries me down the steps and across the empty parking lot.

“I wasn’t totally sure it was him, but I suspected.”

I rest my head on his shoulder. “You’ve been my hero all along, haven’t you?”

He sets me down gently at my door, but it’s hard to let him go, so I wrap my arms around his waist and hold on. “Do you want to go to the hospital?”

He heaves a giant sigh and pulls my arms tighter around him. “No. Can we go to the vacation house? I want to share some things with you, and I’m going to need to hold you when I do.”

“Of course.” I love him so much for trusting me it hurts.

He spins in my embrace and presses his lips to my forehead in a soft kiss. I sigh, my exhaustion like a heavy cloak.

We drive the quiet streets to the lakeshore neighborhood with our thighs touching the way we’ve become accustomed. I try to tap into what he’s feeling—his brother’s betrayal, and what he risked tonight while the pieces of us shift and settle, the edges raw and jagged.

I lean into him and he releases a gentle sigh, bringing my hand to his knee and covering it with his. There’s a lingering metallic scent from the gunpowder in our clothes, and throughout the questioning at the station, I picked out tiny pieces of glass from my hair. I know Sawyer’s got blood on him too. It makes me feel awful and grateful all at once for his courage and for what he did tonight.

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