Page 33 of When You Saved Me

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Hurt me?” she asked with a laugh.

“I weigh about three times as much as you, Charlie.”

Even though I couldn’t see her face, I knew she’d just rolled her eyes at me again. “I’ll be fine. Scoot up.”

Begrudgingly, I did as she said until my head was resting on her stomach and her thighs were snug against me. My breathing shifted and my heart rate sped up being this close to her. Feeling so much of her skin pressed against mine.

I hated that I wasn’t in my best state. That my skin still had a sheen of sweat over it. But she didn’t seem to care as she brought her legs even closer against my side.

“Comfortable?”

“Yes.” I closed my eyes and noticed every point where our bodies melded together. My throat grew even more dry from the contact. She was so damn close and the faint smell of vanilla was soothing. I relaxed a little more and noticed how her firm thigh muscles provided a little more support around me.

“Good,” she quipped. “I’m going to place the ice pack on your forehead now to try and get this fever down.”

“Okay,” I nodded slightly and braced myself for the cold.

Her touch was gentle as she brought the ice pack to my forehead, but I sucked in a sharp breath at just how damn cold it was and accidentally grabbed her shins from the jolting sensation.

“I know, it must feel freezing. I’m sorry.” Once the pack settled onto my forehead, I felt her lean forward a little. “This should help distract you.”

My eyes sprang open at the comment wondering what kind of distraction she had up her sleeve. Then, I felt her fingertips glide along my scalp with just the right amount of pressure to ease the pain.

“Ahhh,” I breathed out, feeling my head grow heavier in her lap as my neck relaxed.

“Feels amazing, huh?”

“Oh yeah,” I noted, drawing out the words. Chills spread out over my back and chest from her touch. “Where did you learn this?”

She was quiet for a moment as her fingers continued down the base of my skull where the pain was greatest.

“I’ll make you a deal. A question for a question.”

It was a dangerous game letting this woman inside of my head. Maybe it was the sickness or some delusional part of me that thought I had a chance in hell of being a normal guy for a moment. One who didn’t have a fucked up past that kept me up at night. One who avoided any sense of closeness to others.

But I’d found that Charlie was good at getting close to people. She was too hard to look away from. And the pull I felt toward her… The strength I normally had to fight it was diminished from whatever sickness plagued my body right now.

“Okay.” Her fingers stilled on me for a second like my agreement was striking. Which, I guessed it was given how I’d acted toward her for most of the time she’d been here.

I heard a quick breath move past her lips as her fingers started moving over my head again. “When I was little and would get sick, my mom would always let me crawl into her lap and she’d give me scalp massages to help with the headaches.” Her laughter fluttered over me like a gentle breeze in springtime. It was…nice. “When it was just me in my apartment, I ordered a scalp massager for when I was sick. It was nice and helped with the headache, but there’s nothing like the comforting touch of someone else trying to make you feel better.”

Her world seemed like a fairytale, and I wondered if she’d ever experienced the pain of the world before the apartment fire. Maybe she just had a way of letting things go that I’d failed to master.

I stayed quiet, thinking about what she’d said and bracing myself for the question she was about to ask. I didn’t like people prying into my life, which was why I’d found great friends in Pebble Brook Falls. Somehow, we all had a bit of darkness to us. Things we wanted to keep hidden away from the light. And we all agreed not to poke around when things were too sensitive.

Charlie wasn’t like that. It seemed like she stared into the void, beckoning it to fight her, knowing all along that shewas going to be the victorious one. She was brave, I realized.

“Did you build the tiny cabin yourself?” A wave of relief washed over me at her perfectly benign question.

I closed my eyes and let my body sink a little deeper into the mattress. “Not entirely. The structure was there when I bought the property, but I remodeled it this past year to use as a rental. My friends helped some too.”

“Was Sarah the one to bring in the flowers?”

Opening my eyes, I looked up at her. “I believe it’s my turn to ask the next question.” Her eyes lit up as she bit the corner of her bottom lip.

“I guess I did agree to that.” She winked at me and the simple gesture had my blood roaring in my ears. I shifted my gaze to the ceiling.

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