Page 61 of Bake the Town Red

The storefronts are decorated in orange, black, and purple. With spiders and cobwebs. Skulls.

They’re nothing but a backdrop. Nothing but a nuisance on my way to Dahlia.

I tried. My God, I tried to convince myself that keeping my distance meant saving her.

Failed.

As I paced my apartment last night—as I pressed her note to my nose—I knew she won. I couldn’t keep this up. Being away from her.

What if she dies?the reasonable side of me screams as I pass another Halloween decorated storefront. Another dark alley.

She won’t.My reply is concise.Or I’ll join her in hell. Whatever it takes.

Staying away another second means I’ll die. I won’t survive this.

The last of my resolve has snapped, after years of denying myself the love of my life.

If someone sliced me open, cleaned the meat off me, they’d see my bones.

They’d see the woman I’ve been trying to protect. The person I love more than I love my own damn self.

Dahlia.

Her name is carved on each and every one of my bones.

Dahlia.

I’m ready to face misery, tears, and anguish. I’m ready for a thousand dangers to cross our path. I’m ready to face it all and be her human shield.

As long as we’re together.

On my terms. How I see fit. I’ll need to hover over her. Protect her.

Sure, she’s strong. She’s a fighter.

She’s creepy and crazy and a serial killer.

She’s mine.

I’ll keep her safe.

It will be nonnegotiable.

The rest is up to her.

We’ll be together. I’ll fix myself.

I’ll fix us.

Then…

That’s when I’ll do all the things I haven’t done in four years.

A lot of them were the things I’d done while being her guardian.

Do the grocery shopping. Buy her clothes. Pay her bills.

She didn’t let me do much more than that back then.

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