Page 289 of The Reluctant Hero

I shove it back angrily. “Can you be annoying somewhere else?”

“No.”

“Figures. From one torture to another.”

“Shut the fuck up and go back to sleep,” he snaps, finally at his wit's end.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you,” I wheedle just to be perverse. “For me to not call you out on your nonstop bullshit parade.”

The arm slowly draws away from my body, and he leans back a bare inch. I catch sight of a pillow slowly coming from behind me to hang over my face.

“If you suffocate me, you better finish it. Otherwise, it’s dentures for you. How much do you like your rich kid, pearly teeth?”

The pillow gets flung off the bed, and the mattress shakes from the vehemence.

“I don’t want to fight,” he defends in agitation.

“Uh, you crawled into this bed despite the warnings. This is on you, not me.”

“What do you want from me, Mana?” His arm wraps around me again to hold me tight. “I’ll give you anything to makeup for what I did. Money. Self-respect, apparently. I’ll grovel.Anything. Just stop hating me.”

He waits, his body tense as he braces for whatever I might say.

I don’t hate him. I wish I could right now. Simply so I can get some rest. Everything is over, according to them, and I’d like to bask in it. Maybe do a fist pump and flip off Blake’s body as it lowers into the ground. I blame my mother for that one.

“I killed for you.”

His whispered guilt trip comes out shaky.

I understand how he feels. It’s something you don’t come back from with a smile. It’s soul-crushing to know you’ve gone to that length just to preserve yourself or someone else. Especially when he’s been tormented by his father for his inaction before.

I swallow hard as images of the things I did haunt me. My breaths hitch, and getting therapy feels like a really good call right now. Until then…

My hand moves to cover his under the blanket. He spreads his fingers, intertwining them with mine.

“We’ll deal with it together,” I mutter in defeat. I hate the fact that this pathetic little attempt at a guilt trip is working.

“You didn’t think I would care,” he presses his forehead against my shoulder. “If I could have gone back in time, I would have stayed home with you.”

“I want you to remember that when you go to sleep at night,” I grumble back without mercy.

“I will,” he assures me darkly.

“Good.”

“What else?” His voice has gone tight.

I let out a ragged sigh. “I want to sleep. A day off that doesn’t include being fired. Maybe a vacation. I want to see my parents. Have somebody call them and let them know I’m ok. Then I want pancakes. Now, why does my butt cheek hurt? Iwasn’t hit there.” I try to untangle my fingers to touch the spot, but Gabriel doesn’t let go.

“Jake put a tracker on you.”

My body sags into the bed.

“Of course he did,” I sigh in resignation.

“I love you, Mana-chan.”

I blink my eyes open in surprise. He sounds like the words were pulled out of him via torture.

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