He blushed. “What? My stomach didn’t know there was a crisis. I can’t help it.”
“Sorry guys,” I said, leaning against Stryker.
“Are you kidding? What do you have to be sorry for?” Simon said. “I’m sorry about my stomach. Shut up stomach,” he said, tilting his head down as if he was talking to it.
“Let’s go back home and order pizza. What do you think?” Stryker said.
“Good idea,” I said, letting him lead me back toward the stairs.
“If he ever lays a finger on you—” Stryker started to say.
“He won’t. I’ll break his hands off first,” I said. “Nobody will ever make me feel that way again, least of all Zack.”
I leaned my head on his shoulder. “That’s my girl.”
Chapter Thirty-one
Stryker
She put on a brave front, but I woke up in the middle of the night to find her whimpering in her sleep. I was still on edge about the whole thing, so I wasn’t sleeping at all.
“Katie, wake up.” I shook her shoulder and her eyes popped open.
Looking left and right she searched for me. “Whaaa?”
“You were dreaming, sweetheart. It’s okay.” She wiped her eyes and sat up.
“It’s nothing. I’m fine.”
“Do you want some tea or something?” I’d do anything I could to try to make it better, or at least not suck so much.
“Yeah, sure.” She closed her eyes and sat back, breathing as if she’d just run a mile.
I made her some tea in the microwave and brought it back. She was messing with her hair.
“I’m sorry I woke you,” she said as I handed her the mug.
“You didn’t. I was already awake. I couldn’t sleep after…everything.”
She sipped the tea and moved so she could lean against me. I put my arm around her and my chin on the top of her head.
“I just feel like I’ll never be free of him. That he’s always going to be lurking in the back of my mind. He’ll be that thing I’m afraid of when the house is quiet and I’m alone and I let my mind go to a dark place.”
I sighed, wishing I knew what to say, what to do to change it. But we all had our demons, and we all carried them with us. That was just part of life.
“He’s always going to be a part of you, of your past. It happened and in the absence of a time machine to go back and change things, that’s always going to be the case. The only thing you can control is how you respond to it. There are so many people that wouldn’t be able to pick themselves up after what you’ve been through. Those people wouldn’t even bother to get out of bed, let alone give their heart to someone else after what he did to it. But you did. You do. Every day. And that’s all you can do. Be strong, move forward.”
“You and me,” she said, turning to give me a kiss.
“Even without me. You are strong, and you will survive. Always.”
“But I’d rather do it with you.”
I kissed her back. “Me too.”
***
The alarm rang much too early, but I did end up getting some sleep, wrapped around Katie. Both of us had class, but we skipped to go make her statement. She figured that was a valid excuse, and I concurred. We also dodged calls and texts from the group, asking how we were, and we were somehow able to sneak past Lottie and Zan’s new apartment without them being the wiser.
“They’re so sweet, and they mean well. There’s just so many of them,” Katie said as we got back in her car after giving her statement.
“I’ve never had this many people concerned about my welfare before. It’s stifling.” She nodded. “Hey, do you want me to drop you off at class?”
She shook her head.
“We’re just doing reviews in most of my classes, so I don’t really need to be there. What about you?”
“Same.” A smile started growing on her face. “What did you have in mind?”
“Just a little something. I’m going to be gone aaaallll weekend.”
“I think I’m picking up what you’re putting down and I like it.” I smiled as she put her hand on mine on the shifter.
We couldn’t get to the bedroom fast enough.
Katie
Mom’s reaction to my hair wasn’t nearly as dramatic as I expected. Before Dad died, it probably would have been. Her eyes just went wide and she sighed and shook her head like when I was little and I spilled something.