Page 104 of Give Me a Shot

“But not being with you is going to harm me, too,” he said softly.

A hiccup-sob shot through her. She tried to take a quick breath to shove it down, but it was followed by another and another. A fight broke out inside of her—the desire to hold herself together, to take back what she’d said, to reach out and comfort him, the imperative to stop running away from her feelings—everything became a jumbled mess fighting to get out. She couldn’t breathe. She sat up a little straighter to help her lungs and caught the lightning-quick expression on Mo’s face: teeth clenched, eyes narrowed. He was in pain. And she was causing it. She jumped to her feet and went to the front door, a hand clamped over her mouth to hold in her cries. He sighed, stood, and joined her. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close, tucking her cheek against his chest. She let her arms wind around him and her tears soak his shirt.

“I’m a sturdy guy, m’lady,” he whispered. “I won’t break.”

That just made more tears fall. Even though she felt like a monster, she squeezed tighter, wishing she could burrow inside him and hide from everything. He stroked her hair.

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do,” he said. “I understand that you want to protect me. It hurts, but I’ll respect it.”

She sniffed hard, gorging herself on the cedarwood, leather, and hint of anise. And him.

“I know you have to do some of this on your own. But the minute you’re ready for some help, the moment you need anything, I’m here, okay?” he asked, his voice rumbling through her. She nodded. He pressed a long kiss to her crown, gently released her, and left. As she closed the door behind him, a wrenching cry tore out of her and she sprinted to the bathroom, even though there couldn’t have been anything left to come up.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Mo

Mo turned onto his parents’ street, a light charge of tension cementing itself between his shoulder blades. It was a perfectly lovely Saturday afternoon and he should have been in a good mood, on the way to celebrate his father’s birthday with his family. But he’d been under a cloud for coming up on two weeks and he didn’t know if he had the ability to “people,” even with ones that he loved.

Those first few days, an hour hadn’t gone by without Mo turning Jess’s arguments over and over in his mind, trying to understand how she could see the pain of breaking up as less than the pain that might have come from supporting her in her grief. The conflict between appreciating her desire to protect him and the pain of being rejected made it hard for him to see straight. It also drove him to lift to the point of fatigue multiple times a week, and to double his production of the goods they were going to sell at the Faire.

At least Doug’ll be happy.

The care and attentiveness Jess had shown by researching what it meant to be a Highly Sensitive Person had led her to become intentional about supporting him. Unfortunately, that concern had turned into overprotection. Mo wondered if it had been because she hadn’t been able to protect Cassie.

“I’m so excited,” Madison said, drawing his attention back into the truck as she bounced in her seat.

“I can tell, sugar plum,” he said, parking along the street.

“You’re gonna be okay, Daddy,” she said, catching him off guard as he unbuckled his seatbelt. He looked up at her and smiled sadly.

“I am okay, Maddie. Don’t worry about me,” he said.

She unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned across the seat to hug him.

“I love you and so does everybody else here,” she said. She squeezed him tight and hopped out of the car.

Mo’s nose burned a little, so he sniffed to make it stop. He hadn’t told Maddie that he and Jess had broken up, but words weren’t necessary. She’d seen through him the moment Diana had dropped her off that Sunday evening. Maddie was demonstrating more and more HSP traits with each passing day, which saddened him. The upside, he reminded himself as he stepped out of his truck, was that Maddie didn’t get as overwhelmed as he did at the same age.

He walked through the empty kitchen and into the den in time to see Maddie launch herself into Khalil’s arms. He caught her and swung her in a circle, laughing as he almost knocked his wife, Vanessa, out with Maddie’s foot.

“Hi, Mo,” Vanessa said, laughing. She pushed herself off of the couch and came over to greet him. “It’s good to see you,” she said, reaching up to give him a hug, careful not to spill the Coke in her hand on his shirt.

He smiled and hugged her back.

“How’s it going?” he asked.

“Pretty good,” she said. “But better now that Khalil’s getting his Maddie fix.” She laughed, and Mo followed her gaze over to where Khalil and Maddie were in the middle of a complicated-looking special handshake. Mo smiled, feeling free for a moment.

“I think she’s happy to have her fix, too,” he said. “How are things at work?”

Vanessa nodded, looking back at him.

“Very good, thanks for asking. We’re in the process ofacquiring another tech company. It’s a little stressful, but I think it should be worth it.”

Mo was impressed at first, but then he realized he shouldn’t have been surprised. This was Vanessa he was talking to. If anyone had the acumen to choose the right sort of company to acquire, it would be her.

“I can’t wait to congratulate you on the acquisition,” he said, trying to give a supportive smile.

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