Bitter Kisses (It's Just High School #3) - Thandiwe Mpofu Page 0,99

I make my way back to my room. It’s then that I notice the open door. Slowly, trying my best not to apply pressure on my left leg, I make my way to the door with the intention to close it, but when I peek my head out, there’s no one in the hallway.

The thing in my chest surges to life. Glad to fucking know that it actually still works.

Grabbing the fucking chance—or trap, depending on how you see it—by the horns, I make my way down the hall as fast as I can, gritting my teeth at the sudden pain.

I have to go to her.

Because of earlier when we were in her room when she woke, I remember my way to her room. Elevators are totally out of the fucking question, someone will recognize me and I’m pretty sure the press is buzzing around somewhere, not to mention Courtney, so I take the stairs.

With one arm in a fucking cast and a fucking shitty leg, the pain is excruciating but damned if I let that stop me. Instead, the agony pushes me forward, something in me demanding to be with her.

Earlier, Cole did some fucking patrol thing and told me Nicky was at home, exhausted. That asshole Nathan is still in police custody. The Matthews house is currently under fire, well not literally, because of what was found there so this means Mia might be alone.

It’s both a blessing and a fucking curse when I’m proven right the moment I get to her room, all but panting, my body sore.

When I push her door open, I see the lights are muted low, casting a warm, almost intimate glow on the small, petite mound under the covers on the bed.

She’s sleeping, facing away from the door and just like that, I’m not breathing anymore, but I want more.

I want to see her, so without wasting a second, I get in her room, close the door as silently as I can. I turn to go to her, but I turn back and flip the lock on the door.

I want as much privacy as I can get with Mia, even if she doesn’t remember me. She will. She fucking has to.

Mia lies still in her bed, almost like a statue but when I get closer, I hear the gasps and whimpers escaping her lips. I run the rest of the way to her, reaching for her. Her skin in cold and damp with a sheen of sweat, her beautiful face healing from the bruises, scrunched up in pain.

She must be having a nightmare.

As soon as I touch her, she tenses up, turning into marble under my touch. She’s in obvious distress, in the grips of horrors she was never meant to sustain. That knowledge fucks me up all over again. I’d rather willingly drink acid than watch her suffer like this.

“Mia, wake up, baby,” I murmur close to her ear, my voice tinged with desperation. “You’re safe now.”

A tortured moan of pain escapes her lips as they part, her breathing audible, shallow and fast, like she’s trying to suck in a breath, fighting shadows and monsters she wasn’t meant to see.

“Baby, wake up. I’m here,” I whisper. A tremor moves through and I can’t stand it anymore. I waddle my way around the bed, going behind her, then lower the bar so I can slide into bed with her.

I hate myself for all this, but if I can do something to fucking weather the nightmares, I’ll fucking do it.

Ignoring the electric shock waves of pain in my body, I slide into bed behind her, and then gather her in my arms as best as I can with a fucking useless arm making everything fucking slow.

As soon as she’s lying on my bare chest covered with bandages though, her head laying right over my pounding heart, the tremors stop. The gasping bursts come to a stop, but she’s still tense over me.

I choose to see that as progress, as if there’s a light at the end of this darkness.

“I’m here, Little Minx,” I murmur close to her, scenting her as I hold her close to me. She’s so close I think I might be hurting her, but I don’t give a damn.

I bring the blanket over us, then shift her more comfortably into her favorite sleeping position.

“God, I’m so fucking mad at you, you have no idea,” I whisper. I’ve been holding these words for weeks. “How could you do that, Mia, damn