Page 24 of The Echo of Violence

I take a deep, shuddering breath before blowing it out. “I love you. You know that, right?”

“Of course you do. I’m awesome.”

I grin, fatigue weighing on me.

“How sore are you?”

I don’t answer, which tells him all he needs to know.

When he lifts me off the bike, I don’t protest, letting him carry me inside like a newlywed ready for devirginizing.

“Devirginizing?” he laughs.

“Shut up. I didn’t mean to say it out loud.”

Walking me inside, he flips on the lights before closing the door behind him.

Toto runs over with a happy yelp to welcome us home.

“Hey baby, did you miss me?”

Toto barks his answer as I snuggle into Rex, ignoring the ache in my thighs. I know I’ve been on my prosthetics too much today, but it’s nothing I can’t live with. I’ve been pushing my limits since I crawled out of my mama’s womb. Having a double below-the-knee amputation might have altered the trajectory of my life, but it never stopped me from living.

Rex crosses the house to my bedroom and goes straight into the bathroom. “You need help?”

I shake my head as he puts me down. “I’m good, though I think I’ll skip the shower until the morning.”

“Alright. I’ll make sure everything is locked up.”

“You staying?”

“Yeah, I don’t know what time Nico will be done, but he knows to come here.”

I nod as he leaves the room, taking care of business before he comes back. Not that it matters. There is nothing Rex and Nico haven’t seen before. They have seen me at my absolute worst, and yet they’re still here. I learned to stop questioning it long ago. I gingerly walk over to the mirror and grumble when I catch sight of my reflection.

I look pale as fuck, except for the dark circles under my eyes. Maybe the guys are right. Maybe I do need a break. The problem is, when I’m not busy, all I do is think. And sometimes, that’s more exhausting than anything else.

I use my makeup wipes to clean my face before washing it, patting it dry, and moisturizing it. I’m just finishing brushing my teeth when Rex walks back in and starts stripping.

“You sure you don’t want a shower?”

I look at the shower and sigh. It would be nice to wash the grime of the day away.

“I’ll come in with you. I know you can do it alone, but I need a shower anyway.”

In the beginning, I always had someone with me, but I fought hard to relearn how to do things on my own. If it had been anyone else, my pride would probably stop me, but Rex is my family in every way but blood.

“Okay, fuck it.”

He grins and scoops me up, carrying me into the bedroom and sitting me on the side of the bed.

“You want help taking them off?”

I flop backward. “What the hell.”

Popping the button of my pants, I shimmy them down as far as I can before Rex takes over, easily maneuvering me out of the restricting material. I stare up at the ceiling while Rex rolls the silicone sleeve down my leg, followed by unfolding the liner over my thigh. I reach down and hold the liner on either side of my knee before Rex tugs, and I pull my stump free from the prosthetic.

We repeat the process with the other leg before Rex removes the liners and the socks beneath them. His hands smooth over the skin before he looks up at me and frowns. “They’re a little red. How do they feel?”

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