it too. He even told me he was proud that night at the dinner table.
Candy didn’t look up from her plate that night. She didn’t touch her wine. When her mother asked her what was wrong, she said she had girl-stuff, and then excused herself from the table.
I’d been going back and forth in my mind—one minute convinced I had to report them, the next absolutely positive that I couldn’t. I told myself it was because I was protecting her—who the fuck wanted to sit up in front of a judge and relate a sordid ordeal like that to a crowd of strangers?—but I also knew it was because nothing would come of it.
I didn’t have many friends at Maple Ridge besides Alex, because the guys there are all fucked in the head. They think they can get away with anything, and they often do. Sean, especially—with his dad working on the force, there’s nothing much he can’t sweep under the carpet. And, for some reason, he never hesitates to.
“You chased them off?” I ask, finally looking at her again. Warmth floods my chest as I think of her in that red room, wild as a rabid dog, clawing and biting anything that got close to her.
So not her blood then. Theirs.
“I guess,” she says absently. The movie’s still playing, and a particularly bright scene washes her face with light. That light glimmers off a tear track.
Fuck.
“Hey, that shit’s done and dusted.” I attempt to inject a smile into my words, but it falls flat.
She fought them, and she won. I don’t know why I’m so fucking proud of her, but my mind’s too fucked to figure it out. Instead, I reach out for her and brush my fingertips against the edge of her shoulder. She starts at the touch and sends that azure-blue stare my way.
“Come here,” I murmur, beckoning her with a flick of my fingers.
If she’d stayed where she was, then I’d probably have left and gone to bed. She should have stayed where she was, because then we’d still just be two kids watching movies way past our bedtime.
But she didn’t.
She gathered that blanket around her shoulder and moved closer, inch by inch.
And the whole time, those big eyes of hers stayed on me. They mirrored every emotion trundling through my mind.
Wariness.
Utter fascination.
Heart-pounding anticipation.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Candy
Josiah’s body is warm and hard against mine. I hold myself stiffly, not sure what he wants from me. What he wants to do to me. He drapes an arm over my shoulder and draws me a little closer, then gently pushes my head to his chest.
To provide comfort?
My body grows heavy. Every inch of me is supported—either by Josiah or by the couch. I’ve never felt this…safe before.
He turns the sound back up, and I watch the images stream over the screen without paying them much attention. I can’t; I’m too busy focusing on the way his chest lifts and falls under my head with every breath he takes.
My eyes fall closed, blocking out the screen, but its glow still plays over my eyelids.
Josiah breathes deep, and then lets everything out in a warm rush that tickles the hair on the side of my face.
Is he looking down at me? Watching me?
I slide one arm around his waist, tucking the other between our bodies.
His only response is another big breath, another warm exhale over my cheeks.
So I hug him, pressing myself even harder against him. The arm slung around my shoulders tightens like a boa constrictor.
My head moves up a little, until I’m nestled under his chin, and then he rests his head on mine.
Tighter.
My arm shakes. My body tenses.
His hand slides down my arm, then slips around my waist. He draws me closer still, until my body’s flush against his.
Now my head is on his shoulder.
I’m still staring straight ahead.
My heart goes thump, thump, thump so hard, I’m sure he can feel it. I lay my palm on his chest, and my hand moves as he breathes.
His bare skin is so warm and smooth. I trace the outline of his muscles, barely touching him now.
He shifts in his seat, and makes a soft sound in the back of his throat. A sound that brings me to the here and now in a rush.
I freeze, my heart thundering now.
What are you doing?
He offers you comfort, and you start feeling him up?
I push away. Relief floods me when an inch of space appears between us. But then he makes that sound again,