Page 54 of Complete Me
“I’m normal. Malice is insane.”
“Quite clinically, actually,” Malice adds.
Jesus Christ, I need to keep Kinsey locked in my bedroom and away from my dysfunctional family. They’ll have her begging to leave, and to my surprise, as much as I didn’t want to bring her here, I’m not ready to take her back to Aspen Ridge. Luckily, she’s the one calling the shots, and she doesn’t seem remotely close to being well enough to head home.
I finish making us each an omelet with bacon and cheese and butter two pieces of toast before leaving my asshole brothers and heading back to my room. I’ve already been away from her for too long, and my skin is tight, my spine tingling with unease.
I push the door open as quietly as I can, cursing the old hinges and the loud creak announcing my arrival. Kinsey stirs lightly, her hand slapping the bed in search of . . .me. Shit. She’s waking up alone, and she wants me? My heart swells. I need to get her through this.
“Hey, little fighter,” I whisper against her forehead. The bruises on her cheek are so much worse today, and I hate seeing her beautiful skin marred and blooming with blacks and blues. “I brought you breakfast in bed. I need you to eat for me.”
“Hi,” she squeaks, her voice raspy with sleep.
“How are you feeling?”
“Sore, tired,” she groans, and my heart plummets. How the hell do I ask her where she’s sore? My hands clench into fists in frustration.
“I’ve got some pain meds, water, and food. That’s gonna make you feel so much better. Will you sit up?”
“Yeah.”
I help her sit up in the bed, careful to keep the blankets pulled up around her waist, fully aware and attuned to the fact that she’s not wearing any panties under my shirt. The thoughtshould turn me on with the number of times I’ve thought about taking her in nothing but one of my shirts, but right now it just makes my heart ache painfully.
I grab her plate of food and cut a piece of the omelet with the fork, bringing it up to her mouth.
“I can do it myself, Reid. You don’t have to feed me.”
“I know you can do it yourself, sweetheart, it’s not about what you’re capable of. Iwantto do it for you.”
“You want to feed me?”
“I want to take care of you.”
She gives me the first real glimpse of a smile as it plays on her lips ever so slightly, and my heart jump-starts behind my ribs. Kinsey opens her mouth, her lips closing around the tines of the fork as I gently pull it away.
“That’s my good girl,” I growl, not meaning for my voice to come out so gravelly but fuck, this woman is so goddamn perfect. I’m done pretending there isn’t something between us. Done fighting what’s wrong and right. I was a dead man walking until Kinsey Hayes walked into my life, all light and good. She’s my beacon, lighting my way out of the purgatory I’ve been wandering through. She’s my salvation.
Kinsey feels like she could save me. If I cling to her hard enough, maybe I can find peace, accept the peace she brings me, and hopefully, in turn, I can do the same for her.
After feeding her a late breakfast, she drinks two glasses of water and takes some pain medicine that Stitch, our in-house doctor, gave me for her. I hold her long after she falls back asleep, until my phone vibrates in my pocket, forcing my attention away from watching her breathe.
Sawyer: She awake?
Me: She woke up to eat and then went right back to sleep
Sawyer: We want to talk to her
Me: Your other two brothers know where we are? I know you told Dallas.
Sawyer: I only told them as much as I needed to
Me: Which is?
Sawyer: That you took her to your old house
Me: So not a lie
Sawyer: But not the full truth
