Page 54 of Vandal Unbound

“You know you can message me if you ever feel unsafe,” he says. His shoulders are hunched, and he stares at a spot on the floor.

“Does that include when bikers break into my house?”

He turns slightly to look at me from the corner of his eye. “You should never be scared of me.”

“I probably should be, but somehow I’m not. Elsie is going to be mad she missed you. You’re all she talks about. Vandal this and Vandal that.”

A smile tugs at the corner of his lips. “We could wake her.”

I huff. “First rule of parenting is if they’re sleeping, you don’t wake them unless the world is on fire. Plus, you let her get up at two in the morning to talk to you, she’ll be in here again tomorrow night expecting me to talk to her because you told her it was okay. So, no. We aren’t waking her.”

His hand turns beneath mine, so our hands are linked. “I was having a real shit night, Daze. I know you’re probably pissed that I messaged and woke you and broke into your house, but…” I hold my breath because I don’t want to interrupt his train of thought. He sighs and adjusts how he’s seated on the bed so he’s facing me. “This, seeing you, made me feel a little better.”

I squeeze his fingers, but they barely budge. They’re so much thicker and stronger than mine could ever be. But something tells me Vandal is someone vulnerable wrapped in a hard shell.

“You want to talk about it?” I ask.

“Just this,” he says, pointing to his scars. “Means I can’t do what I normally do for my club. Leaves me feeling a little…useless.”

“That must be hard.”

He rubs his thumb over the back of my hand. “The worst.”

“You know what I say to Elsie when she’s feeling down?”

He looks at me, and I’m struck by how blue his eyes are, like a rich shade of dark denim. “What’s that?”

“Everything passes. Nothing is ever permanent, Vandal. If you wait long enough, the feelings pass, the sun comes out, you get a chance opportunity, or you decide to step up and give fate a hand in deciding what’s next for you. But whatever state you’re in right now isn’t permanent.”

Vandal rubs a hand over the large scar on his skull. “Some things feel pretty permanent.”

I shrug. “Meh. Makes you look badass.”

“Not sure I see it the same way. Are you sure you’re okay? I’m sorry you got scared, even if it didn’t turn out to be who you thought.”

“I’m okay.” I lean back on my pillow, but Vandal doesn’t let go of my hand. “It actually felt like the first normal day since I moved here. Like, Elsie is happy, and she had a playdate. I had a playdate of my own. You think I should trust Maren?”

He wraps our joined hands in his free one. “Yeah. What she did was all for the right reasons. Protecting the town. Letting Knox know about two newcomers. And wanting to make sure you were okay. I think you can trust her.”

I wonder when I decided that I could trust Vandal. That I would accept his opinion on such things.

“Are you hungry?” I ask.

As if on cue, his stomach rumbles, and we both smile. “Haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

I tug my hand from his, shove the covers back, and kneel in front of him. I place a hand to his cheek, just like I would to Elsie. “You need to start taking care of yourself, Vandal.”

He leans into the touch. “Maybe I just need a reason to.”

I huff at that. I climb out of bed and tug my robe over my pajamas. Then we walk to the kitchen, and we get busy making burgers.

The fridge is bursting with fresh produce and meat and dairy. If I opened the freezer drawers, they’d be the same. “You want a soda?”

“I’ll take a cola if you have one, please,” he says.

Our fingers touch as I hand it to him.

“I think you know I do. Havoc blew your cover. He told me that you were the reason I got two anonymous grocery deliveries of more food than we could eat in a week.”