Page 60 of Sweet Punk
My lip catches between my teeth as I consider. “I won’t hurt you?”
He shakes his head. “No. But you wanna tell me why you’re in one of these fancy hospital gowns?”
Like a deer in headlights, I pause, staring at him. “Do you really not know?”
He coughs a bit, then gestures for me to join him and helps me get settled. “The police officer might have mentioned it.”
“Oh.”
“You shouldn’t have put yourself at risk like that.”
“I was the only one who knew what was happening. There was no way I was leaving you.”
He tries to swallow, and it’s visibly difficult. “Mad and Hawk helped you?”
“Yeah. The doors were locked together with a chain and padlocks. I tried but I couldn’t get it open, and I was in a panic. They showed up, and Mad whipped out this lock-picking kit, and they went to town on it. And you can’t get mad at them for not making me leave, because they told me to. But they wouldn’t have found you as quickly—I knew where you’d be.” I draw in a breath and stop to cough before continuing. “They picked you up, and I led the way as they hauled you out.” I shift, touching his chest as I do.
And he winces.
I grit my teeth.Scars. Shit.“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
He shakes his head. “No. It’s not that.” Plucking at the snaps that run from the collar of his gown down to the sleeve, he pops them open. “I want to show you something.”
“I don’t understand. Did you get burned in the fire?” I purse my lips, staring at his hand that’s clutching the edge of the hospital gown, my heart rate picking up.
Kellan pulls the oxygen mask down and wets his lips. “Do you remember how I took off at ten this morning? Told you I needed to help set up for the show?”
I nod, my brow furrowing.
He removes his hand from the gown. “Look under there.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yep.”
Cringing for a second, I suck up my courage and cautiously pull the gown down. What I see floors me. I’m speechless. I cover him back up for a moment, only to pull the fabric down again to stare.
After a solid thirty seconds, Kellan murmurs, “Do you like them? Because there are more.”
My teeth scrape over the skin of my lower lip as I release it, and my gaze flicks between the stars outlined on his shoulder and the questioning expression on his face. “Are you telling me that you got— How many are there…?”
“Stars. Sixteen.”
“The same number as—” I bite back my words. I can’t say it.
Kellan nods. “Yes.” His eyes scan my face, worry lines marring his forehead. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Do I like the stars that you marked your body with? I mean, I hope I’m not making too big of an assumption. They’re for me?”
Kellan nods solemnly.
“Why?” My heart flits around my chest like a hummingbird.
He tilts his head to the side. “Because you’re my person, Star. You understand me. And I want to have you with me always, the same way I have the roses for my mom. They were her favorite.”
I’m all choked up. I know it took a lot for Kellan to say all that to me. And in my head, the words I want to say are clear.I love you.But all I can manage to do is to bury my face against his chest and hold onto him tightly.How did I fall so hard so fast?
THIRTY-TWO
