Page 117 of Devoted

It took him a moment, but finally his eyes met mine. The heavy exhaustion there made me want to weep.

“You did no such thing,” I said firmly. “From what Benji told me, you were forced into an environment where you weren’t comfortable. One where your senses were likely immediately overwhelmed. It’s not a surprise to me that you had a panic attack, Sam. I think a lot of people would’ve felt uncomfortable in that situation, and that’s before even taking your mental health into consideration.”

A tear slid free. “You should’ve seen their faces, Zeke. They were horrified.”

“They were shocked and worried,” I corrected him. “They knew you were going through something, but not how to help.”

“No one can help me,” he whispered.

“That’s not true,” I murmured, leaning forward to kiss his tears away. “I know it feels like that now, but your brain is lying to you. Benji helped, right?”

“He did. He made them all leave and stayed with me. But that was probably just to stop me making even more of a scene?—”

I cut him off with a kiss. “No. It’s because he understood what you were going through and wanted to help. Trust me, if everyone else knew, they would’ve done the same.”

Sam leaned his forehead against mine. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. Another. A third. After the fourth, he opened his eyes and…there. I could see him. A glimpse of Sam through the storm. “This is why I’m usually open about my OCD upfront.”

“You don’t have to tell them, but I think it would help.”

“What if they want me to leave?”

“They won’t.” I leaned back and smiled reassuringly. “Trust me, I haven’t even checked my phone but I bet they’ve been blowing up my messages, worried about you.”

Sam eyed me sceptically, so I pulled out my phone and navigated to our group chat. My smile was smug as I glimpsed the messages. Sure enough, they were from everyone who’d been in the kitchen, all of them worried about Sam and apologising for anything they’d done to upset him, begging for updates on how he was.

“Here. See for yourself.”

Sam took the phone warily. As he scrolled, his features softened. The tension left his shoulders and, as he reached the end, the corners of his lips were tugging upwards. “Huh.”

I rested my chin on the edge of the bath, smirking at him. “Huh? That’s all you’ve got to say?”

He rolled his eyes and a little of the stress I’d been carrying fell away. “Okay, so maybe you’re right and I’m wrong.”

“Or I’m completely right, and your brain is being a dick.”

“Time will tell,” Sam said. “Not about my brain being a dick, it’s definitely that.”

He laughed then, and the relief that went through me was almost dizzying.

Sam went to hand my phone back, but something caught his attention. “Why’s your chat calledSeraphim?”

“…if the human is unmated, we will have no choice but to intervene.”

I sighed, knowing the stress was going to continue for a while longer. “It’s connected to what I was going to tell you earlier before I was called away. There’s a lot?—”

“Actually, can we not?” Sam flushed red as I stopped talking. “Sorry, I know it’s rude to cut you off like that, but I can’t handle any new information right now. Can it wait until morning?”

“At the end of those five days…”

“Of course,” I said, my smile strained. Rushing him was exactly what I’d been trying to avoid. Fucking Gloria. What I wouldn’t give to come across her in a darkened alleyway. I wouldn’t even need weapons, just my bare hands would be enough. “It can wait.”

“Thank you.” He shifted in the empty bath, wincing when his bare arm came into contact with the porcelain. “Fuck, that’s cold.”

Leaning back, I snagged a warm, fluffy towel from the radiator. Draping it around his shoulders like a cape, I tucked it around his arms. “There. That should help.”

“Thank you.” He eyed me suspiciously, even as he pulled the towel in tighter. “Aren’t you going to ask why I’m fully dressed in an empty bath?”

I shrugged. “Nah. Figure you have a reason. If you want to tell me, you can. But if you don’t that’s also cool.”

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