Page 26 of Guarded from Danger

Crap. Jade interrupted her morning to be here, and now I’m acting like an ungrateful jerk. And I like Jade. Normally, I’d want to spend time with her. I went to her wedding earlier this month, for Pete’s sake.

“Sorry,” I tell her. “I don’t mind talking. It’s just… ever since… I feel… unbalanced. Not like myself.”

“I think that’s normal. At least, I felt that way after I was abducted.” She pauses. “Is it okay if I say that? I don’t want to trigger you.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ve talked about it before. So it’s getting a little easier. Except—” My cheeks heat at the memory. “I cried at the meeting. Which I’m sure you know, since you’re here. I’m sure Xavier thinks I’m on the verge of falling apart.”

“No, I don’t think so.” Jade pauses, playing with her strawberry blonde hair as she collects her thoughts. “He’s worried, yes. But does he think you’re falling apart? No.”

I snort. “Then he’s the only one. With my nightmares, and having to keep all the lights on, and panic attacks… Ifeel like a mess.”

Her gaze meets mine. “When I first came here, Niall slept on the bedroom floor every night. I couldn’t sleep any other way. And I had horrible nightmares. Eventually, they got better. But it took time.”

Without intending to, I confess, “I’m worried it’s going to put too much strain on our relationship. I mean… it’s already bad enough, being scared all the time and trying not to remember…but if I ruin things with Xavier because of this—” My throat gets thick. “I don’t want to lose him.”

“Oh, Lucy.” Sympathy softens her features. “I understand. But trust me, you are not going to lose Xavier. Not over this. No way.”

I want to believe her, but there’s a niggling worry I can’t get rid of, like a splinter worked in deep. “We haven’t been together that long. And he never did relationships before. I was okay with taking things slow, but now…”

Jade reaches over and squeezes my hand. “I know Xavier pretty well now. And he and Niall… they’ve been friends for over ten years. Like brothers, really. So when Niall tells me he’s never seen Xav this happy before, I believe him.”

“Well, he has a new job, and he’s with his friends?—”

“That’s not it.” She gives me a kind smile. “I knew Xav before he met you. And he was great—funny and kind, like he always is—but he changed after he met you. He’s softer. And when he talks about you… he lights up. Not just that, but he manages to work your name into almost every conversation.”

“He does?”

“Oh, yes.” Grinning, she imitates Xavier. “Oh, you want to go to Seguin? We should stop by Lucy’s bookstore to say hi. You’re watching a movie? Did you know Lucy’s favorite movie isThe Holiday? Someone’s talking about college? Oh, Lucy has her MFA in creative writing. She graduated from the Michener Center at UT.”

A fizzy warmth fills my chest, and my lips tug into a genuine smile. “Oh. That’s…”

“It’s sweet,” Jade finishes. “And he’s not going anywhere. Not the way he looks at you.”

“How does he look at me?”

“Like you’re the most important person in the world to him.”

Oh.

All the dark thoughts are pushed away by a blossoming joy. “He’s the most amazing man I’ve ever met. And I don’t want to go anywhere, either.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

XAVIER

“So how’s Lucy doing?”

As we leave the gym, Niall glances over at me. He rakes a hand through his damp hair, shoving it into haphazard spikes, and his wedding band—which I’m still not used to seeing—glints brightly as the overhead light catches it.

When Niall proposed to Jade, I was happy for him. Just because I avoided relationships like the plague didn’t mean I thought they were all bad. All I have to do is look at my friends and teammates from the Army—the team in Sleepy Hollow, Niall, Dante, Tyler, Knox—to know they can work when the right two people come together.

I just didn’t think it would happen for me. And I was okay with that. My life seemed plenty full already, first with the Army, and then B and A.

But that was before I met Lucy. From the moment she smiled at me in the bookstore, I knew I wanted to see her again. Not for a casual hookup, but something more. I wanted to know what made her smile. What made her laugh. She was the sun, and I wanted to absorb her warmth.

What started out as a chance meeting changed my life.

Now… I could see myself wearing a ring one day. Calling Lucy my wife.

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