Page 21 of Guarded from Danger

She can’t stand the dark now, even looking outside at night. It reminds her too much of those long nights alone, hoping to hear a person approaching, but also afraid to.

I’ve been by her side through all of it, save for brief meetings with my teammates in the hallway, or a quick shower while she’s distracted by something else. But I worry I’m not enough. Lucy needs to talk to a professional about this stuff, but she’s put it off whenever I mention it, saying she’s just not ready to talk to a stranger yet.

Given that she was abducted by a stranger, a person whose face she never saw, I get it. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to keep bringing it up. Gently, of course. The last thing I want to do is upset her.

Even her parents don’t know the details. When Matt tracked them down at a camp in Antarctica, he just told them Lucy had been abducted and we wouldn’t stop until we found her. Later, once she was rescued, I talked to her dad and explained that it would be safer if they didn’t come back to Texas since we didn’t know the identity of her abductor. There’s always the chance of her parents being targeted, either as leverage to get Lucy back, or revenge for her escaping. As a team, we figured Antarctica was probably the safest place for them to be.

But now that Lucy’s talked to them, she’s been vague about what happened. She just said she was held hostage, that she was left alone, and no one hurt her. When I asked her why she didn’t tell them the truth, Lucy explained, “They can’t come back to see me. So why make them worry more than they already are?”

So I understand that, too, even if I don’t agree. But then again, I had terrible parents who didn’t give a shit about me, so maybe I’m not the best one to judge.

Still. I feel like I should be doing something more. I’m just not sure what.

When I get a chance, I should ask Erik about it. Out of the six of us, he’s the one who’s struggled the most with PTSD. After an explosion gave him a traumatic brain injury and damaged his peripheral vision, forcing him off his team, he had some pretty tough months of it. He’s doing much better now, but he must have some strategies. Or maybe he can come over to teach Lucy meditation and yoga, like he did after everything Jade went through.

Lost in my thoughts, I nearly forget about the eggs I’m cooking until they start to give off a slightly scorched scent.

Shit!

Snatching the pan off the burner, I make a face at the eggs, which are now several minutes past over-easy. Could I scramble them? Or is it too late?

No. I’m not giving Lucy crap for breakfast. “Starting over, it is,” I grumble as I dump the eggs in the trash. Then I head back to the fridge, only to discover I’m down to two eggs, which isn’t going to be enough.

“Shit.” I stare into the fridge, as if I can somehow make another carton of eggs appear by force of will. “Damn eggs.”

“What’s wrong with the eggs?” Lucy walks into the kitchen, her long hair still damp and cheeks flushed from the heat of the shower. A tiny smile quirks her lips. “Did you overcook them again?”

For a second, I can’t respond. All I can do is stare at my gorgeous girlfriend, wondering for the thousandth time how I got lucky enough to find her.

The sun streaming through the kitchen window catches her hair, turning it to a shimmering curtain of bronze and chestnut and copper. I love Lucy’s hair, falling nearly to her waist, which she attributes to her love of Rapunzel when she was little. Her jeans hug the curve of her hips and she’s wearing a pink T-shirt in a color that matches the rosy shade of her lips, the V neck dipping just low enough to give a tiny hint of cleavage.

As she walks towards me, her big blue eyes hold a brightness that was missing in the hospital, and her cute nose—she says it’s too small but I think it’s perfect—shows off a few freckles from our brief trip out to the yard yesterday. Before I can answer her question, she wraps her arms around my waist and snuggles against my chest before saying, “You look really handsome today.”

Oh.

My heart swells with unexpected joy.

I’m so damn lucky.

Not just finding her the first time, but the second.

An almost rabid need to protect her sweeps through me. Like I would do literallyanythingto keep her safe.

Lucy pulls away slightly and reaches up to brush her fingers across my beard. Her smile gets bigger. “Did you use that special beard stuff I got you?”

“Maybe. Does it feel softer?”

“It does.” She stretches up to kiss my cheek. “Definitely.”

After the first time I left a slight rash on her face after kissing, I was horrified. It wasn’t something I thought about before, because most of my encounters with women were of the one night kind. But seeing Lucy the next day with her face all pink… I felt terrible.

So I actually offered to shave my beard off, but she refused, saying she thought it looked sexy. Instead, she found some sort of beard conditioner, and I’ve tried to use it regularly ever since.

Man. If I told my Army buddies that I was using some fancy oil on my beard so it stays soft for my girlfriend, they wouldn’t believe me. Not perpetually single Xavier who didn’t want a relationship.

Well. Niall would. Now that he has Jade. And all the guys at the Sleepy Hollow branch, since they’re all happily married. But they’d still make fun of me. And honestly, I wouldn’t care.

“So, what happened with the eggs?” Lucy asks, eyeing the empty pan. “Do you want some help making them?”

---