Page 116 of Too Sweet
And she’s still asleep, lips pursed, one hand across my ribs, the other under the pillow.
So fucking gorgeous.
I ghost my fingers up and down her arm under the comforter, getting ready for whatever comes when she wakes up.
Her hair is sprawled on her pillow, which she hardly ever uses, nestling her face in the crook of my neck or my chest, and I fucking love when she’s so close.
It’s not the most comfortable position, lying on my back most of the night, but if it means having Mia curve into me, I’ll gladly suffer the lower back pain.
She only sleeps in my arms on the weekends. It’s starting not to be enough. Every night without her warm, body beside me, it gets harder to fall asleep.
My wristwatch tells me it’s nine-thirty when she starts stirring, changing positions every few seconds like she’s trying to find one that’ll let her sleep a little longer.
I’ve been awake almost two hours but didn’t dare untangle myself from her hold.
“Morning,” I whisper, kissing her head.
“Morning,” she breathes, pulling the comforter so high nothing south of her nose is visible. “Did Shawn come over last night?”
“Yeah. He’s coming back today around eleven to talk to you.” I tug the comforter and nudge her until she lies on her back. A nasty bruise on the side of her pretty face kick-starts the bright-white freeze of anger worming my mind.
The bruise is larger than my fucking hand. Red and purple from her cheek to her jaw.
“That bad?” she asks, combing her blonde locks over one shoulder. “I wouldn’t have this if not for the clotting factor deficiency. It’ll be gone in about a week.” She pinches her lips together, and a hot glow of pink spills over her cheeks. “Did you see the clip?”
I grip her waist, pulling her under me. “I did, baby, and before you ask, it changes nothing. I’m sorry you went through that.” I kiss her forehead, moving my elbows flush against her ribs. “I’m sorry you didn’t feel you could trust me. I won’t let you down again.”
“It’s not your fault. Please—” she whispers, biting the inside of her cheek. “Don’t do this. Don’t blame yourself, the triplets, or anyone else, okay? It doesn’t help anyone. It happened. It’s done. We can’t turn back ti—”
“Don’t act like it didn’t happen. You need time to process it,” I cut in, anticipating where this is going. She’s invalidating the whole thing, lessening its severity and consequences. “Don’t rush. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’m not rushing, Nico, but I’ve been through this before. After Asher, I kept everything in. I didn’t talk to anyone for weeks. Ask your brothers. I spoke in monosyllables, replaying that night over and over. It took me a long time to heal. I don’t want to make that mistake again.”
“You can talk to me. I saw what happened, but I’ll listen if you want to let it out. I’ll find you a therapist if that’s what you need.”
“I was in therapy last year. I know how to deal with this. I don’t want to keep thinking about what Jake did or wonder what would’ve happened if I had done one thing differently. I don’t want to look back because if I do that I can’t go forward. I’ll talk to Shawn and tell you everything you want to know, but then I want to move on, okay?”
“Can I help somehow?”
“You can start by repeating what you said last night.”
A small smile curves my lips when she beams, eyes sparkling. She’s so fucking strong...
“What did I say?”
She huffs, bracing both hands against my chest, trying to wriggle out from under me. “I won’t tell you.”
I take her hands in mine and box her in again, looking into those green eyes that hold my soul hostage. “I love you, baby.” I dip my head to kiss her, but she slaps one hand over her mouth, shaking her head.
“I love you, but I won’t kiss you until we brush our teeth.”
THIRTY-FOUR
Mia
“MIA!”
I immediately tense at the sound of his voice. Taking a deep breath for courage, I spin on my heel, standing face-to-face with Brandon.
