then gently lowered his shirt over my head to dress me. I took the soft boxers, stepped into them, and then he led me to his bed with a hand on the small of my back.
“I’m going to shower. You eat.”
I nodded, watching him curiously as he disappeared into the bathroom. Settling onto the bed, I pulled the tray in front of me while I stretched my legs out. When I saw what was on the tray, a smile spread over my face. He’d brought me my favorite comfort foods. Macaroni, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, chips and guacamole, hot chocolate, and strawberries with cream. He remembered it all. I was half tempted to take a photo of it, just to remember the thoughtful gesture.
Rogue came back into the bedroom in record time, his brown hair wet and combed back from his face, only wearing a pair of low slung sweatpants that gave me a fantastic view of his abs and strong arms.
He came to the bed and sat beside me, frowning when he saw that I hadn’t touched the food yet. “You don’t like anything?”
“I love all of it,” I answered, scooting closer to him, like even the few inches separating us was painful. He immediately put a hand around my waist and pulled me against him. “I just wanted to wait to eat with you,” I said.
He hesitated for a second, but then nodded. We ate together without speaking, taking bites of different things, and occasionally, Rogue would pick up a strawberry, dip it in the cream, and insist on feeding it to me. And if I got some cream in the corner of my lips, he’d sweep his thumb over the spot and suck it into his mouth before kissing me gently.
It wasn’t sexual. It wasn’t teasing. It was purely Rogue taking care of me. The love I already felt for him multiplied inside of my chest, like seeds suddenly growing out of the ground and blooming.
When we were done eating, I cuddled into him as we laid down, and Rogue put on some cheesy romance movies that I could fall asleep to. I was nearly asleep, blissful from the way his fingers were running through the strands of my hair, when I heard him speak.
“I was so scared, Scar. When they grabbed you, I—” his voice choked off, and I turned over, holding myself up on my forearms so I could look at him. The torment on his face nearly killed me. “If anything happened to you…”
I leaned up and put my hands on his cheeks, rubbing the pads of my thumbs along the bristles of his facial scruff. “Hey,” I said quietly, looking into his brown eyes. “I’m okay. We’re all okay.”
He put his hands over mine, holding them against him. “I need you,” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper.
I pushed forward and kissed him tenderly. “I need you, too.” And I did. I needed Rogue so much that it physically hurt to be separated from him. I needed him like air. As long as I could breathe him in, then I knew I would be okay.
He kissed me again, gently, like he cherished me. Like I was the most precious thing in his whole world. But it never went further than that. He pulled away after just a few minutes, leaving my lips swollen and tingling, and then tucked me into the crook of his shoulder. I felt so incredibly safe and loved, that I couldn’t help it when a single tear escaped from the corner of my eye and soaked into his skin beneath me.
Being there, laying on Rogue Kelly with his heart pressed against my ear, was pure perfection. There was nowhere else I’d rather be.
Chapter Thirty-Four
I didn’t want to go to school the next morning, but I had seventeen missed calls from my mama by the time I’d woken up. Rogue assured me that he’d called to explain that we cut class and were hanging out at his house. He’d also promised her an invite to an exclusive charity event that Bonham’s family hosted at the end of the year, which seemed to pacify her some. Guess her worry for her daughter only reached so far.
“Look, I’m glad that you’ve reconnected with your friends, Scarlett Anne. But you have to let me know where you are,” she said over the phone.
Rogue trailed his lips along my exposed shoulder as I held the cell to my ear and listened