Page 15 of Captured Immune

“Not for a second.”

I feel a little piece of his soul fall apart somewhere in that dark cloud above his head, and it makes me feel bad for him.

This man has been through a lot. Seeing his parents get murdered. Surviving his abusive uncle. Losing the only child who’s ever meant anything to him. They’re all reasons as to why he’s so guarded, has deep trust issues, and refuses to let people in. And don’t even get me started with his lack of self-worth.

I get it. It took me a long time to start healing from my abusive ex, and I’mstillhealing, so if there’s anything I can do to help ease Trey’s pain right now, I’m going to do it.

I hop to my feet. “Come. I’ll let you sleep in my bed.”

His eyes light up. “With you?”

Yes, please!“No.”

The light in his eyes goes dim. “I’ll stay here on the couch then.”

“It’s okay. You can sleep on the bed, and I can?—”

“Arella, what kind of man would I be if I took over a woman’s bed and forced her to sleep on these old cushions? The answer is no. I’ll sleep right here.”

With Trey, I’ve learned to pick my battles. We’re both as stubborn as the other, and I can tell this is a fight I’m not going to win.

I leave him for a moment, then return with the one extra pillow and blanket I own. It’s what Javina always uses whenever she stays over. When I hand them to Trey, he takes it, clutching my hand in the process.

“Cuddle with me.”

I almost burst into tears. All I’ve wanted for the last seven days is for him to want me. Here he is, acting like he wants me more than he wants his next breath, and I can’t bring myself to let him in. He hurt me—deeply. If we pretend like nothing happened and go back to the way things were, he’ll hurt me again. I can’t allow that.

Besides, there is no going back to the way things were. I’ve got his baby growing inside me now. No matter what happens from here, things will never again be the way they were.

“Please?” he begs. “It’s been really hard for me to fall asleep without you.”

I know how that feels all too well, so I give in.

We lie on the couch with my face pressed against his bare chest.Oh, the scent of him...He wraps the blanket around us, tucking it under my waist the way he always does. My body relaxes into him as a rush of calmness settles over me. This time, it’s not just his feelings. They’re mine too.

Trey leans back a little to look at me. “You wanna know something I’ve noticed?”

“What?”

“You’re still wearing the angel wings.” He grazes a thumb across the necklace he gave me. The golden wings feature a way-bigger-than-I-can-afford diamond heart in the middle. The tiny engraving on the back reads:Paris? T.G.

Maybe that’s where the portal to his alternate universe is and he was trying to take me there with him. It would make sense since he said if I knew the reason behind why we had to go to Paris, I wouldn’t go—and he’s right. I have no desire to leave this universe for an alternate one. Not even for him.

“I guess I forgot to take it off,” I lie. I’ve refused to take off this necklace because doing so feels like disconnecting from him, and I’m not ready for that yet.

He caresses my cheek with his fingertips. “I like that you’re still wearing it.”

I grab his hand and hold it against my chest. “Why don’t you try going to sleep?”

“Do you ever think about me?” he asks as if I didn’t say anything.

I clear my throat to give myself time to decide if I should lie or not. “Sometimes.”All the time.

“I think about you constantly. You’re like a never-ending song that keeps replaying in my mind. I can’t stop writing lyrics about you either. Every single song I write sounds like a miserable ballad.”

Boy, do I want to hear one of those!“Go to sleep, Trey.”

He doesn’t obey. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened. I want you to know that if the situation was different, I’d ask you to marry me. We’d raise this baby together to be the best little boy or girl the world has ever known. I’d ask you to give me more babies. We’d have a whole bunch of ’em. I’d grow old with you and support you in any dreams you want to make come true.”

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