Page 66 of When You Saved Me

Whipping her hair around, she glared a hole into my face for a few moments. Then the second she darted beneath her wall again, I moved behind mine and started building a small artillery of snowballs.

When I came back up again, I realized she must have had the same idea as me because she started throwing snowball after snowball in my direction.

“You’re going down!” she laughed between each word, continuing to hurtle more snowballs at me—most of them missing their mark.

I followed suit, both of us rising from our stations. When I ran out, I knelt down, taking her hits while I packed together the biggest snowball I could manage.

Finished with my masterpiece, I lifted the monstrosity into the air, readying my attack. Her eyes flashed, growing wider as she realized what I’d done.

“No way!” she laughed and yelled at the same time, holding her hands up in defense.

Reeling my arm back, I grunted as I threw the giant snowball as hard as I could. I watched as it soared through the air. Like a punch to the gut, my stomach sank as I realized my aim was off. The snowball moved quickly several feet above Charlie’s head until it landed in a flurry of white onto the edge of the porch roof where there was still at least a foot of snow piled high.

Charlie craned her neck to look above her. Time slowed the moment I realized what I’d done. Two cracks formed along the edge of packed snow on the roof and it started to slide.

“Charlie!” I screamed just as the snow slipped from the roof. Charlie covered her head with her arms and ducked down just as the snow slammed into her back, forcing her to the ground.

My legs moved faster than ever before as I ran toward her submerged body. “No, no, no!” My heart lurched into my throat. I thought I was going to be sick, but I kept it down. Focusing solely on Charlie as I finally crossed the yard.

“Charlie!” I called to her through the snow as I slid to the ground and immediately started digging through.

Frozen to the bone, my hands ached as I clawed through the snow. Frigid wetness bit through my gloves from the effort, but I didn’t fucking care. Flashes of that day sprang to my mind as I kept digging. Images of her beautiful face, those bright blue eyes both terrified of her looming death and hopeful that I’d be able to save her.

I’ve done it again.I’ve fucked up the only good thing in my life.Oh, God. Oh, God!

My mind reeled with self-loathing as my chest squeezed so tight I couldn’t breathe.

“Charlie, please!” Something hot and wet started to roll down my face as my vision blurred. Tears. I hadn’t cried in years. Not since I came home from war without three of my brothers. Not since I had to watch as their bodies were buried, and their loved ones suffered.

But Charlie... Charlie was my fucking soul. The only person who could bring me back to life after every fucked-up thing I’d seen in this world. She wasmine.

And I’d screwed up again. I couldn’t keep her safe. Just like I couldn’t keep my brothers safe.

“Charlie!” I cried out just as my hands uncovered her black puffer jacket. Moving faster, I moved the snow from her sides until I could reach around her stomach. Gripping her sides, I pulled her from the snow, the momentum jolting us backwards with her landing on top of me.

Scurrying to see if she was okay, I sat up and pulled her entire body into my lap. “Charlie! Please answer me. Please tell me you’re okay.” Her eyes were closed as I held her facebetween my hands, a large red mark already marred the right side of her beautiful face.

She blinked and a guttural sound escaped from my throat.

“Deacon.” Her voice was raspy as she settled those ice blue eyes on me. “Deacon, I’m okay.”

Drops of water splashed onto her cheeks and I realized my tears had fallen, leaving little wet marks on her freckled skin. She wrapped her arms around me when I brought her close to my chest and hugged her. I took in a deep breath of her warm vanilla scent and thanked whatever divine powers were at work that she was okay.

“Is Casper alright?”

Shit.

Not ready to let her go, I let her pull back only slightly so I could look around for the little guy. Thankfully, I saw him right away, sitting on the top of the porch steps watching us closely.

“He’s fine.”

She sighed with relief.

“Do you want to try to stand?” I asked, wanting to test her body for any sign of injuries.

When she nodded, I rose and helped to steady her with my arms. She staggered a little bit and my heart raced, nearly beating right out of my chest.

“Does anything hurt?”

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