Page 31 of A Dragon's Miracle (Fires of Fate)
Zed tilted his head, a thoughtful look on his face. “Are you sure about that?”
“Yeah. I know him.” I'd spent the better part of two and a half years studying him, after all. He couldn't fool me so easily. “He's always had these moments where he'd be a little out of it. It's been worrying me for a while, but I figured it's just part of who he is, you know? Only it's getting worse lately.”
Zed opened his mouth, then closed it again, hesitating. “It sounds like he's been through a lot,” he said eventually. “Maybe that's just his way of processing the break-up and everything. I think the best thing you can do right now is to be there for him so he knows he can tell you when something's bothering him.”
I nodded. “I guess you're right.”
“Think you can focus on practice now?”
Practice, right. I stretched and tried to let go of some of the tension in my body. “I'll try my best.”
“Good.” Zed gave me a smile and went back inside. I followed a few feet behind him. What he'd said made sense, but still, he hadn't managed to put my mind completely at ease. I'd known Zed for a long time, and just as with Ryan, I could tell when he was hiding something. Heknewsomething about Ryan and his situation. But he wasn't telling me.
Why?
* * *
That night, I invited Ryan to stay over at my place. My mom was out for some charity event she was running in town and we had the house to ourselves. In the past, that would have meant movie night, but since we were a couple now, we had a few other ideas on how to best pass the time--in the bedroom.
We only ever got to the undressing part of the activity, though, before things crashed to a halt.
I felt the tension in Ryan's body as I slid my hands under his shirt, intending to take it off. It was only then that I remembered he hadn't wanted me to see him naked the night before and his bruises probably hadn't healed in the short time between then and now.
“It's okay,” I whispered. “I'm not going to get upset. I just want to see you.”
Ryan gave me a soft smile. “Yeah, you're going to be upset. I know you, Finn.” He tapped my nose, as if telling me not to lie, but then he stepped back and took his shirt off anyway.
I realized instantly that he was right. It was impossible for me to look at the blue and purple marks on his skin andnotget upset. The sight made my stomach turn and every protective instinct in me roared to life.
“Is there more?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm and steady--which was pretty damn hard. But if there was more bruising, I wanted Ryan to show me now so I could take it all in at once instead of getting nasty surprises later.
Wordlessly, Ryan took off the rest of his clothes.
I nearly wept. There wasn't a part of his body that wasn't blemished somehow.
Where had I been when all of this happened?
This only happened because I'd failed to find him when he vanished.
“Finn?” Ryan stepped up to me and put an arm around my shoulders. “Are you okay?”
No, no, I was not okay.Thiswas not okay. “I should have protected you. I should have prevented this.” I'dknownthat boyfriend of his was bad news. And I'd just let it go on.
“You couldn't have. What happened isn't in any way your fault.”
“It was my job to protect you.”
“We weren't even an item then, remember?” Ryan rubbed my back, as ifIwas the one who was hurt. “It wasn't your job to protect me.”
“But it feels like that to me,” I insisted. “I've always felt that way about you.” I had to protect Ryan. I couldn't explain it, but I knew it was the truth. I’d known it from the very first day I’d run into him at the market. And yet I’d failed spectacularly.
“I promise it looks worse than it is,” Ryan tried to reassure me.
I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself, because I knew I was being ridiculous. Ryan shouldn't have to be the one doing the comforting here.
“I can put my clothes back on,” he suggested.
I shook my head. “No.” I wasn't going to close my eyes from this. “I'll love you no matter how you look.”
“You...” Ryan's mouth hung slightly open.
What was he so surprised about? “You know that I love you, right?”
“Yeah, as friends, but... “
“Not as friends.” I put a hand on his hip where he wasn't bruised and pulled him in for a kiss. And I didn't kiss him the way I would kiss afriend. No, this kiss was a declaration of love--and a promise. I hadn't been able to keep him out of harm's way in the past, but I would never mess up like that again. From here on out, he was mine, and he was going to be safe.
I didn't care what it was going to take; I was going to keep that promise.
