Page 71 of Red Zone
“What the fuck is going on?”
Carter’s voice is harder. Louder. Immediate.
Jaxon doesn’t move. “She’s not okay, man.”
I can’t see him clearly, but I feel Carter’s presence the second he crosses the room. His energy shifts the air like gravity.
“She needs quiet,” Carter snaps. “Move.”
Warm hands brush my cheeks. “Hey. It’s me. I’ve got you.”
I can’t speak. Can barely move. His arms slide under me, and I don’t fight it.
He lifts me off the floor like I weigh nothing and walks us straight to the storage closet off the side of the room. It’s small and dark, the air cooler. The second the door shuts behind us, everything is swallowed in a sea of darkness.
Carter sinks to the floor with me in his lap, my back to his chest, one of his arms wrapped tight around my waist, the other holding my left hand, pushing into the center of it.
“Breathe with me, all right?” he whispers, voice lower now. “Match me.”
He inhales slow and deep. Exhales just as steady.
I try. My chest jerks on the first attempt, but he doesn’t flinch.
“Again,” he says softly. “You’re not alone. I’m right here.”
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
Slowly, the tremble in my limbs begins to fade. My heartbeat evens. My fingers unclench.
I’m still curled into him when the tears finally come, silent and hot and fast.
Carter just holds me tighter.
20
LYLA
My breathing’s steadier now. The weight pressing on my chest has eased enough to let me remember where I am and why I started spiraling to begin with.
Carter’s arms are still wrapped around me, one hand tracing lazy, calming shapes on the back of my wrist. His body is solid behind me, warm and grounding. We’re curled up on the floor like some kind of messed-up teenage drama scene, except…this is the third time he’s seen me lose it, and he’s still standing here. Well, sitting.
Just when the silence starts to stretch too long, he clears his throat.
“If you wanted to feel me up, Red, all you had to do was ask.”
I choke on a laugh. “Oh my God,” I whisper, elbowing him weakly in the ribs.
He grunts dramatically. “See? There it is. The spark’s back.”
“You’re such an ass.”
“True,” he says proudly. “But I’m your emotionally available ass, at least for the next ten minutes.”
