and forget about the stripper that was hot enough but too much fucking work. I mean, he’s gotten the notch in his belt from fucking me already. What else is he around for?
“Angel, sweetness, please stop crying. I can’t fucking take it, I’m gonna fucking kill every man you’ve ever fucking met if you don’t stop soon, baby.”
I can’t stop.
It’s like the dam has broken and now all of the tears I refused to cry when I ran away are flooding out of me. I try to pull away but he doesn’t let me, just pulls me into his body even tighter so we’re as close as two people can get. Fuck, it’s as if he wants to absorb me completely until we’re one person.
My dad used to say my mom was the other half of his soul and being together was as close as a man came to feeling whole again.
I don’t know why that popped into my head.
Fuck.
I can’t handle him holding me like this on the off chance this doesn’t work out because when he knows everything he’s going to hate me. I need him to stop right the hell now. “I’m fine. I just—I need a second. Let me go clean up.”
“Angel, you’re shaking too fucking much to get up. Just go the fuck back to sleep and we can sort it out tomorrow.”
I settle down a little but his words come back to me.
You’re mine.
Maybe I am his, maybe I can trust him and when I tell him everything he’ll be… okay. He’ll still want me.
When my phone pings and wakes me a few hours later, I wriggle away from him to see who the hell would be messaging me.
Your truck is done! Tell Tomi to let you out from your tower for the night and come get her.
I let out a sigh and text her back, a smile on my face.
“Should I be fucking jealous over who’s making you light up like that or what?” Tomi grumbles and when I glance down at him, he’s frowning and scratching at the shadow of a beard that’s starting up on his face.
“My Chevy is fixed. I can grab her on the way to work tonight, Poe’s going to bring me the keys.”
He huffs and sits up, his back popping and crunching. I wince, it’s my fault he’s gotta be feeling sore. It must be guilt because I say to him, “It was my dad’s truck. It means a lot to me.”
He tenses up a little but doesn’t make any other reaction. “Oh yeah? It’s a beauty, ’69?”
I nod and pull my knees up to my chest. “Yup. It was his baby, I got it in his will. He died of cancer when I was nine.”
He nods and stands up, holding out a hand to help me up. I take it and let him pull me up, pulling me into his chest. He’s only got a pair of boxers on, all of his tattooed skin on display and I kind of feel like he’s teasing me with his nakedness.
“Listen, Rue is staying home to keep an eye on things while we’re gone. He’ll be splitting time between the hospital and The Boulevard. Axe will be there for all of your shifts too, so you go to either of them if anything is up. Anything at all, Angel. Promise me.”
I nod and when he swoops down to kiss me I push up on my tiptoes to meet the kiss. Jesus, the first time he’s doing something and I’ll be late to work if we do anything more than just this kiss.
He groans into the kiss and pulls away from me, grabbing a box from his desk and handing it over to me.
“What’s this?” I say but the box is clearly holding an iPhone.
“I need to be able to get hold of you while I’m gone. Keep it charged and on you.” He pulls away from me properly and grabs up the bedding from the floor and throws it all back on the bed.
“I can’t afford this kind of phone, I can get a cheaper one,” I mumble and walk into the bathroom for a shower.
He walks in behind me. “I added you to my plan, take it. We’re talking about where the fuck all your money is going when I get back Angel, no excuses.”
I shrug and fuss with the hem of my shirt before I lift it over my head. I’m a stripper for fuck’s sake and