Page 83 of Wicked

One of the medics step toward me. I shake my head. “I’m okay.”

“I failed you.”

“You didn’t. What you taught me in the ring paid off.”

His skin is pale. A sheet of sweat lines his forehead. And there’s a dark stain on his shirt, over his side. How did I miss the bloodstain?

The medics notice where I’m looking. They become stoic. “Ma’am, we should get him checked out.”

Underlying urgency in the medic’s voice.

I plant a kiss on Shephard’s hand.

“We’ll be by to check on you.”

Shephard’s not done with us.

“Harper is my best friend. Break my girl’s heart and I’ll break every bone in your body. You got that, Conway?”

“I hear you, man. We’ll see you soon, Shephard.”

They wheel him out. I lean into Ryker’s body for support. Glance up at him as he looks down at me. Life isn’t simple. Living is hard. So is talking about what hurts us.

I owe Ryker the truth, all of it, and not whatever snippets he heard through the broken windowpanes or from the private investigator he hired.

He has to understand all of me to willingly choose whether to stay or go.

The war of wills and dark desires is over. What I have left is the most important part of my life for the moment.

Love.

And I’m playing to win.

31

Ryker

After she showers, we take spots on opposite ends of the couch. I hand her a pack of frozen peas for her swollen wrists. Eye the reddened skin of her ankles. Gnash my teeth at what that bastard did to her.

Unable to keep my distance, needing her as near me as possible, I scoot closer, reach for her ankles, and stretch out her legs over my lap.

My fingers skim over the inflamed skin. “Is this okay?”

“More than okay. Thank you.” She sets the peas down. “We need to talk.”

“Is this the end for us?”

“You’re so dramatic. Of course this isn’t the end. It’s our beginning. My promise to let my past rest and to live in the moment.”

She slides her legs off my lap and straddles me.

“But I can’t do that until I clear up what exactly happened in my past. Tomorrow is your chance to shine, Ryker. All you’ve been talking about is the chance to impress the scouts that’ll be there. I don’t want ‘us’ burdening or distracting you.”

She kisses my brows. My nose. The v of my upper lip. I groan. This girl and her kisses. Tender. Rough. Wet. Dry. Pecks.Devouring. I’ll take all of her kisses.

Her forehead settles on mine. She looks deep into my eyes. I cup her hips. Squeeze and caress her flesh through her pink cotton shorts.

“You’re none of that. We’re none of that. You’ll never be a burden or a distraction.”

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