Page 115 of Savage Scream

Her bottom lip wobbles, but I’m not done.

“I fucking love you, Dee. Like really love you. The type of love that fucking hurts when you try to leave me, to the point that I thought I might just fucking die.” I punch my chest, letting my emotions control me as I remember the agony I felt not that long ago.

“I’m sorry,” she cries, more tears springing free.

“I know you are. I know you haven’t had this before.” I gesture to her room, meaning a home. “I know you’re used to only looking out for yourself, because you are the only person you can trust, but that’s changed now. Here. In this house. In this town. With me. You can finally trust that we will all always have your back.”

She nods, swiping at her tears.

“Fuck,” I lean forward, gripping each side of her head, not able to go long without touching her. “You mean everything to me, Elodie Porter. Fucking everything.”

She nods, smiling through her tears, and I don’t give a fuck that she’s probably all snotty right now. I kiss her anyway, because I’m starved to have her close.

We kiss frantically, clawing at each other like we are trying to dig under each other’s skin, and when we break apart, Dee’s tears have dried, and her cheeks are flushed with arousal.

“Jared,” she says quietly, her husky tone the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard. “I really love you, too. It’s why I couldn’t leave. Sure, I didn’t want to leave Travis, and I really wanted to stay here and see what it would be like to have a family that cares, but it’s you. I couldn’t leave you. I couldn’t take a step further than the corner house, because I actually thought I was about to die from the pain tearing through my chest, too.” She shakes her head. “I’m so sorry for putting you through that.”

Her words mean everything. To know she felt the same agony as me tells me that she really does love me with the same ferocity as I love her.

That’s how I know that we are going to be alright. No matter what this fucked up world throws at us.

DEE

EPILOGUE PART 1

If I thought the drama of me leaving Fox Pines on my eighteenth birthday was all I was going to have this year, I was dead wrong. Only a few weeks after I realised my home really was here in this regional area in South Eastern Australia, a virus spread across the world, and our government put us in lockdown.

I swear Cynthia Rogan can handle anything. After all the drama her foster children bring into her life, me included, she then had to deal with setting up something they started calling remote learning, which is how I finished my final year of school.

Of course, the Rogan house was still bustling with boys sneaking in at all hours of the night for secret visits that Cynthia and Will turned a blind eye to.

I’m thankful for that, because not seeing Jared daily just wasn’t an option for me, but I don’t think they chose to look the other way for my benefit.

It was all for Rhys. She has needs that no one but her guys can give her, and her foster parents recognised that taking away access to her guys would have led to dire consequences.

Cynthia and Will really are the most understanding adults I’ve ever come across, and being stuck in their home while on lockdown was a trillion times better than any of the other homes I’ve ever lived in.

I didn’t really hate staying home to do schooling. It suited someone like me perfectly, but what was hard was not being able to go to dance classes.

Eventually, Miss Adele started holding remote dance classes online as well, and Will moved the lounges out of the theatre so I’d have a space to do the classes online.

For that, I was extremely grateful.

Unfortunately, with no in person dance classes, Ruby went off the radar. I haven’t heard of her or from her in months, so I reached out to my aunties, the Angels, to track her down and do a welfare check.

They haven’t been able to find her either. Nor her little sister.

“Are you ready, beautiful?” Jared asks, bringing me out of my thoughts as I stare at my reflection in the mirror.

I’m pale because I feel like I’m going to hurl.

“I can’t do it,” I whisper, and he grins, already knowing I was going to have this reaction today.

“Yes, you can. Because of the virus, the audience is only at half capacity. And you probably won’t even see them past the bright lights.”

Bright lights?

Jesus, that doesn’t help the nerves!

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