Page 25 of Dangerous Chaos

“Won’t be needing that anymore,” she said, taking in his pained expression. “You okay?”

Keeping his stare fixed on the city lights in the distance, Wit slowly nodded. “Yeah, actually. I feel a little lighter after sharing all of that.”

“I’m sure you do,” she said, cupping his chin and turning his focus to her. “Thank you for trusting me with that.”

“You tell Killion?” he asked.

“Only that the Skrivers were your foster family so they could get to work on that,” she confirmed. “The rest isn’t my story to tell. If you choose to tell it, though, I’ll gladly sit at your side through all of it.”

Wit grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer as he rested his head against her belly. “I don’t deserve you, Aye.”

Ayelish grabbed his hands and quickly knelt in front of him so she was sitting at eye level, and he was forced to look her in the eye. And when he tried to look away, she held his face in her hands so he would see that her words weren’t empty, but full of promise.

“You deserve the world, Wit. I don’t know thatIdeserveyou,” she said.

With a snort and heavy Wit twang, he said. “Girl. C’mon.”

“Witman Chester Roosevelt Meyer –– did I leave anything out?” she teased.

“You forgot soon-to-be O’Reilly,” he teased.

“When are you going to get it through your head that I become a Meyer? You don’t become an O’Reilly.” She laughed. “What am I saying? There isn’t a proposal or a wedding. We aren’t getting married.”

He laughed. “Yes, we are. Mark my words. And I’ve proposed just about every single day I’ve known you.”

“You don’t call,hey, I’m gonna marry you,” she said with a mocking drawl, “a proposal.”

“Whatever you say, darlin’. I’ll remind you of that when we stand at the altar before the preacher.”

“Whatever.” She giggled. “Now listen to me. All jokes aside, okay?”

He nodded, and their demeanors grew serious.

“You were the best man I’d ever known before. Now, there aren’t even words for who you are to me and what you mean. After surviving what you did, you fought your way out of the bowels of hell with a pass to be whatever and whoever you want. And as a kid, no less. Not everyone comes out of something like that okay. Not only are youokay, given your circumstances… you’re amazing.” Her voice cracked. “Fuckingamazing.”

“You give me far too much credit, Aye.”

“No. I don’t give you enough because I don’t know how to express the enormity of it all. Of who you are. Of the treasure that is knowing you. You’re the one everyone wants at their side when shit goes sideways.”

“’Cause they know I’ll take a bullet for them,” he teased. “Better odds of survival that way.”

“Not funny and not true,” she fired back. “It’s because you’re loyal, fearless, and you care so deeply for everyone and would do anything for them. You’re the guy everyone can count on through thick and thin and without question. You just show up. For everyone. Especially for me. Wit, even the park squirrels can count on you.”

“Nah, that was all Duchess’s doing. She’s mean, but she has a good heart.”

She rolled her eyes at his antics. “Okay, but do you hear me? You’re everyone’s hero, and you don’t even realize it.” Her voice dropped to a near whisper. “You’re my hero.”

Wit wasn’t comfortable when things grew serious, and his discomfort showed in his lighthearted attempts at humor to distract from her words. “If I’m everyone’s hero, why do they give me shit all the time? They make fun of my soup, and you know Iloveme some soup, and they hate Duchess. She ain’t done nothin’ to nobody. Rip is the worst of them. I say yeehaw, and he wants to chuck me from the rig or off a building.”

“They give everyone shit, and Duchess is an asshole.”

“I know you didn’t just call my cat an asshole.”

“I did, Wit. I called her an asshole, and I have scars on my body to prove just how big of an asshole she is.”

“She just gets jealous when you stay over. You sleep on her side of the bed.”

“That’s not normal, Wit. She’s a bit of a demon.”

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