Page 100 of Fall Into Me

“Your dad won’t miss them?” I asked, knowing that he’d put anything on the line to help someone he cared about, even if it meant causing problems for himself later on.

“Even if he did, he wouldn’t say a thing about it.” He turned to leave and stopped at the door to look back at me. “Get some rest. You look like you’re about to fucking pass out.”

I flipped him off just as he blew me a kiss before slipping out. When I turned my focus back on Cali, her eyes were open and on me.

“You’re a terrible fake sleeper.” I pulled her hand up to my lips, grazing them over the back of her knuckles. Her sleepy smile lasted only a second before it melted into a small frown that made her brows pinch together.

“I thought he cut off his family.”

“Mmm,” I hummed into her skin. “Just his mom.”

Her eyebrows quirked for a second before her frown reappeared. “He’s right, you know.”

“About what?”

“You do look like you’re about to pass out.”

“I can’t look away from you,” I whispered, overwhelmed by the knowledge that I’d only just gotten her back and she could’ve been taken from me. That there was all this fuckinglifeI was supposed to live with this woman, and every second of it had been put into jeopardy.

Her voice gripped onto me, pulling me back into the room. “Is Declan gone?”

“You said you thought you made him up the first time,” I said instead, voice steady, but my body was so tense my bones were aching.

“I—”

“I almost watched youdietoday, Calista.” Neither of us looked away. I told her I wanted no walls between us, but the truth was I’d kept mine up too.

So, I let her see it.

All the fucking fear that coursed through my body the moment my name had left her mouth. She was terrified, and she called forme,and I hadn’t been able to do a damn thing. Again. “Please don’t lie to me.”

I watched her swallow three times before she spoke and felt her hand squeeze mine harder.

“He was the one who chased me.” Her voice shook, and I ran one hand up her forearm. “That day in the café, he said he knew we weren’t really together. He said he wanted to play too. I—honestly, I still don’t even know what that means, but when I went for my run with Jerry, he was just standing in town, out in front of Sunshine, and Jerry went ballistic. I’d never seen him like that before, and I just ran. If…” Her voice broke. “Jerry was pulling me so much faster than I could run on my own. He was so close to grabbing me. I thought when I ran into you, that it was him, and I…”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because he was doing it to get to you. If I told you…” She huffed a disbelieving laugh. “What if youleft?What if you went after him, and he hurt you?” She tried to shake her head and let out a wince. “I could handle it.”

I wasn’t going to push her more on it. I could piece together the rest of it myself, and despite what Ash had said, I knew that the reason he went after her was because of me.

“Don’t do that.” She tugged on my hand, her tired eyes brightening and locking with mine.

“Do what?”

“Blame yourself. It’s written all over your face.” She pointed weakly at me, her IV tugging lightly at her wrist. “That look says you think you could have somehow stopped it. You couldn’t.”

“I’m not going to fight with you anymore.” I shook my head, sitting taller, my voice resolute.

“Fane.” She gave me her signature deadpan look. Challenging me already.

“I’m serious. I’m not going to waste any more time pretending like I’m mad at you. That I’m not so fucking in love with you. That I haven’t been able to breathe for the last two years without you.”

“You’re—” She looked like I’d started speaking pig Latin.

“In love with you,” I confirmed, leaning closer. “Since the first moment I saw you, and every day since then, I’ve been all yours, baby. My plan up until now has sucked, but—”

“Your plan?” Her brow lifted.

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