Page 48 of Pucking Obsessed

That makes sense.

When I was dragged away from my brother as a kid, who was locked in the Room, the couple were amused every time that they mademecry.

I remember their laughter as much as my own tears.

Maybe that’s why I don’t understand emotions. Happiness and sadness are mixed up in my mind.

For a long time, I was simply numb.

It was easier.

My ink helps to remind me that I’m no longer someone’splaything.

I am a man.

My ink protects me. I can feel the security of claiming ownership over my own body as I run my finger along the roses and thorns.

Yet Robyn makes me not want to hide in my numbness anymore. I can be brave enough to share my fears with her.

I can reveal the demons from my past and know that she won’t use them against me.

Also, allow myself to risk feeling…what everyone else does.

I want to experience the same intensity of life as my twin.

My breathing picks up, as I turn to Robyn.

She looks beautiful in a woolen dress but with bare feet.

I bend to lift her foot into my hand. It’s cold. Gently, I start to massage warmth back into it.

Robyn lets out a happy sigh. “That feels good, phoenix.”

I warm at thephoenix.

Her special name for me.

No one has given me a pet name before.

I keep massaging her, even though my shoulder is aching.

When a sharp pain shoots through my chest from my cracked ribs, I force my breathing to become shallow.

The pain eases.

Unfortunately, Robyn has become wise to my act.

She pulls her foot away from me. “Do you need your meds?”

I shake my head.

She assesses me for a long moment. “Pain scale?”

“Two.”

I push the boxes of scones further back on the counter.

Robyn snorts. “Let’s pretend I believe that. Look, you’re doing incredible work both as D’Angelo’s PA and as the team’s photographer. The true fans love the team. The haters aren’t fans. Trolls have four personality traits: sadism, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy.”

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