“You can’t even see it. I’m the safest thing you’ll ever find”
“I see enough. I saw you.”
“I wouldn’t have waited this long for you. I would have already showed up at your dorm the minute I decided I wanted you. I wouldn’t leave until I convinced you that you were mine”
“I thought you were gone, Pepper. It was bad enough to lose you the first time, but to lose you like that? I couldn’t have dealt with that.”
“Oh. Yeah? Then do me a favor and explain it to me. Why is Hunter so important? Why does it gotta be him? ’Cause that’s what this is about, right? You fuck me but you still want to be with him.”
“You’re with Hunter.” It was more of a question than a statement.
Tears welled up in my eyes. “But it hasn’t been right. It hasn’t been you. I can’t . . . I haven’t been able to—” I sucked in a deep breath. “I can’t be a real girlfriend to him when all I can do is think about you.”
“Ah, shit, Pepper.” Still holding my face, he lowered his forehead to mine. “I’m not going through this again with you just so you can run when you get scared that I’m not like some ideal you built up in your head. I love you. I’m fucking in love with you, but it’s all or nothing. I won’t do this again unless it’s going to be like that.”
Now I was crying, choking on my sobs. “I know. I want that. It took me so long to figure that out, but I know now. You are the safest thing I’ll ever find.” I deliberately repeated his words, holding his gaze and letting them sink in. “Because you love me. Because I love you.”
“I’m not going to lie to you and convince you that I’m someone good and shiny like your guy that’s going to be a doctor.”
“His blue eyes drilled into me. “Why are you doing this?”
I shrugged uncomfortably. “I don’t know.”
He shook his head once like that wasn’t good enough. “Why are you here?”
His fingers shifted, the tips sending hot little sparks up my arm. He should look ridiculous with the blue washcloth covering half his face, but he didn’t. He looked human and male and all too vulnerable right then.
“Because you need someone.”
“That’s just ridiculous,” I breathed, awe and lust swirling through me like some heady elixir.”
“Kicking off my shoes, I climed in beside him.
I eased toward him. His body radiated heat in the bed. I relaxed, inching closer, burrowing the tip of my nose against his back, savoring the clean smell of his skin, fresh from the shower.
His voice rumled through his back toward me. "Hey, your nose is cold."
I grinned ahainst his skin. "How about my feet?" I wedged them between his calves.
He hissed. "Get some socks on, woman.”
“Is that what you would do?"
He stared at me and I waited, wondering why his answer mattered so much.
"I wouldn't have waited this long for you. I would have already showed up at your dorm the minute you decided I wanted you. I wouldn't leave until I convinced you that you were mine.”
“His eyes drifted shut. without opening them, he murmured, "I like the sound of your laugh. It's real and genuine. A lot of girls have this fake laugh. Not you."
"I like your laugh, too." I whispered, feeling pulled in, cozy in the cacoon of his bed.
"Yeah?"
I flattened my palm over his chest, enjoying the sensation of the firm flesh, even warm as it was. He sighed, like my cool hand offered him some relief.
"I laugh more since you came around," he said quietly, his lips barely forming the words.
He did? I frowned. He must not have laughed at all before, then, because I didn't think he was particularly jovial.
I held him through the night. And he held me back, tucking my head beneath his chin. His arms surrounded me and kept me close to his overly warm body. Almost like I was some kind of lifeline. I felt the moment his fever broke around one in the morning. I finally relaxed and fell asleep.”
“That's what I wanted. Something to enrich me, to make me feel better about the things in my life that I could never change." - Page 56”
“Jaypaw wasn’t sure she was right. If the Clan cats failed to drive out the intruders, the Tribe, and the spirits of its ancestors, might have to face a journey of their own.”
“The time of the Clans was coming to an end, and he, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf were the only ones who could save them.”
“Ranger was the second biggest complication in my life, and now that Morelli was out of the picture, I supposed Ranger was elevated to numero uno. He’s close to six foot, one way or the other, is Latino, with medium brown skin and dark brown hair cut short. His teeth are white and even, and he has a killer smile that is seen only on special occasions. He dresses in black, and today he was wearing a black T-shirt and black cargo pants.”
“Yes!’ Beck crowed, pumping his fist into the air. ‘That rocks!’ Then he charged off in search of another Three to decapitate. Riley sighed to herself. ‘I’ve created a monster.”
“I’m not going to fucking calm down. I’m going to hunt that bastard down and murder
him.”
“Oh fuck,” Hank rocked back on his heels, his eyes went to the ceiling, his hands went to his hips.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothin’.”
“What?” I asked, louder.
His eyes came back to me. “You aren’t
huntin’ anyone down.”
“Wel … no,” I said, staring at him like he was crazy. “I was just saying that because I’m mad as hell. I wouldn’t begin to know how to hunt him down.””
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