Page 109 of The Grief We Hold

When I get to my bed, Wraith is wincing as he tries to wrestle the hoodie over his head. I reach for the hem and do much of the heavy lifting, and together, we manage to remove it. There’s a large dressing on his forearm.

Wraith grips my hips and pulls me between his legs before resting his forehead against my abdomen. “I’m gonna claw Atom’s eyes out for looking at you in this,” he says.

I stroke the back of his head. “He wasn’t looking. He was too concerned about you. Should we get your pants off?”

Wraith lifts his head with a lascivious look on his face. “Is that you hitting on me, Blue?”

I laugh. “Absolutely not. My only thought is about what you’ll be most comfortable sleeping in.”

He bites the tied knot of the robe. “I’d be more comfortable sleeping in you. Well, with my cock in you. Not ‘in you’ like I cutyou open and crawl inside and turn you into a skin suit like that horror film.”

A burst of laughter escapes me. “I understand you.”

“My arm hurts,” he says, offering it to me with a pout.

I kiss the top of the bandage. “There, a magic kiss to make it all better.”

“Fuck, I’m tired,” he says, then flops back into bed. I lift his legs onto the mattress.

It takes a bit of effort to get him beneath the covers, but once he’s settled, he starts to get some color back in his cheeks.

I turn off the lights and then climb in next to him.

“Sorry if I worried you,” he says in the darkness. His voice is starting to sound more normal.

“It’s okay, but we need to talk in the morning.”

“Why?”

I tuck my hand beneath my pillow. “It can wait.”

“No. It can’t. What’s up?”

“I need to know…things. I was married to a man who kept a huge, painful secret from me. I don’t think I want to do that again.”

Wraith nudges closer to me and brushes his lips over my forehead. “You want to know how this happened?” he asks.

“I do,” I say. “But not tonight when you’re under the influence of medication. I want you to tell me in the morning.”

“Then, I promise you, that’s what I’ll do.”

I wake seven hours later to the scent and hissing sound of bacon frying, and it takes me a moment to realize where I am. I glance at my phone and see it’s fifteen minutes before my alarm would usually go off to get Fen ready for school and myself off to the diner.

When I step out from my little bedroom corner, I see Wraith wearing only the trackpants he’d arrived in last night, making breakfast.

“Hey,” he says quietly when he sees me. He tips his head in the direction of Fen’s room. “He’s still fast asleep.”

I yawn as I walk over to him, and he gently wraps me up in his arms. “How are you feeling?” I ask.

His hair is wild, a function of going to sleep with it wet, I guess. “Bit like I got thrown off a horse.”

“You ride?” I ask.

“I ride everything. Motorcycles. Horses. You.” He chuckles as he nibbles my neck.

I tilt my head so he can reach more of me. “We don’t have time for any kind of riding right now, as fun as it would be. I need to get Fen to kindergarten soon.”

“That’s a shame.” He plants one last kiss on my collarbone. “But we need to talk so you know exactly what you’re signing up for?”

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