Page 91 of Of Flesh & Bone

Me: I get the gist.I didn't actually know that he had an Instagram account.

Vaughn: Yeah.Funny thing.I don't think he did before he met you.His first post is the picture of you with his jersey.He has only posted pictures of you or the two of you together.

Vaughn: I think that jersey one was posted the day after your great escape.

Me: Should I ask him about it?

Vaughn: I hate to say it but I'm coming around on this guy.I mean, he is definitely insane, but at least he's insane about you.

Vaughn: He's going to lose his shit when you tell him what happened last night.You know that, right?

Me: I'm not sure that I should tell him.

Vaughn: Red alert!That is the worst idea of all the bad ideas.What if you have to testify?He'll wreck everything and everyone if he finds out about this way after the fact.

Vaughn: He'll need the time to prepare; otherwise, I guarantee he will attack the guy right there in the courtroom.

Me: I know.You're right.I had planned to tell him, but I keep waffling.

Vaughn: Waffles are good.Deception is shit.Keeping this from him is deceptive.That's not you.

Me: Who's side are you on here, turncoat?

Vaughn: Yours.Always yours.(Kiss face emoji)

I inhale a deep sigh and put the phone back in my pocket.

Adam walks back into the bedroom and goes straight to the blood canvas.I've taken to calling the canvas Adam used to smear my virgin blood on the 'blood canvas' in my head.He's constantly looking at it and touching it.

"Hey."

He turns to me with a suspicious scowl, marring his perfect face.

"I have something to tell you and...I don't want you to overreact."

He works his jaw and scowls harder as he walks over to me, where I sit on the bed.It takes several steps, even with his long strides.The bedrooms in Eden House are larger than most master suites in other homes.I feel the intensity of his stare in exactly the way that I know he's intended.Without warning, he scoops me up off the bed and turns, laying himself down.He's propped up against the massive headboard and I'm sitting across his lap.He pushes my head onto his chest and strokes my hair reverently.He says nothing.He just keeps stroking my hair, waiting for me to continue.

"Eli came home this weekend and we celebrated."

His hand in my hair falters for a moment before he resumes stroking.I explain to him everything that happened from party prep to picking up Eli, to the party, and then everything that happened afterwards.When I talk about going outside the bar by myself, Adam's heart rate picks up.When I mention the guy walking toward me, he stops stroking my hair and instead grips it firmly like it's reality, and he's being suctioned into Wonderland by a vacuum-wielding Mad Hatter.I explain the attack and subsequent scuffle while Adam's entire body quivers and he grips me in an increasingly restrictive hold.He's seething.There's no misunderstanding what he's feeling right now.

"What's his name?"His voice is smooth and calm, giving nothing of his fury away.

"What?"His question and the tone of his voice throw me off and I don't understand what he's asking me.

"The man who attacked you.Surely, they gave you his name to see if he was known to you?"

"Oh.Uh, yeah.Paul.Paul Hastings."

"Paul Hastings."

His heart rate is beginning to return to normal.He's no longer shaking, and he has resumed stroking my hair.He kisses the top of my head.

"You know that you shouldn't have left the bar alone, don't you."

It's a statement, but I nod anyway.

"I'm so fucking proud of you.You're incredible.Nothing like that will ever happen to you again."

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