Wreck Me - Page 200

Hunter arches a brow, looking straight at Bailey. “Were you worried all alone in your ivory tower, kitten?”

“Hunter,” Kaden and Celine say at the same time.

Hunter smirks, then goes to Celine and kisses her cheek. He’s the first to leave, followed by Blake.

“That was quite a show,” she tells Dane.

“I’m good at blowing up things.” He shrugs then leaves as well.

Mia sits on the chair next to her bedside and says, “From an orphan to having both of your parents back. That’s not weird at all.”

We burst into laughter.

“You can cut the crap now,” I say. “We have to talk, because you might say you’re fine and you might try to hide it. But the memories will eat at you, and when you least expect it, they will resurface.”

“If the Family was good for anything, it was to make us stronger than we ever thought.”

“Promise,” I insist, and Celine dips her chin in agreement. I know she needs more time to process.

“So you and Hunter are not odd at all,” she turns to Bailey.

Bailey fidgets with her fingers. “He sees me as useless and annoying.”

Mia places a hand on her shoulder. “You intrigue him, and he’s going to eat his words when he finds out.”

“Hey, we shouldn’t keep secrets anymore,” I say.

Mia offers, “Yes. Agree. Girl power.”

We all nod, and a yawn parts Celine’s lips.

Mia says, “We’ll come back tomorrow.”

“Okay. Love you.”

“Love you too,” we say back to her.

Dane waits for me outside her room, and my chest overflows, love and relief spilling over.

“You’re free.”

“Not until we hear what Grandmother has to say.”

He takes my hand in his and drives us to the college house. When we’re in my bedroom, he follows me into the shower. The water sprays down on me as I watch him undress and he gets behind me.

“If you could go back in time, would you still….” I can’t say it out loud. It’s a hypothetical question, one I strangely need the answer for.

“Want you?” He finishes my sentence.

I chew on my bottom lip, and he lifts my chin. “It never felt like a choice. It felt like something beyond my understanding. I saw you and that was it.”

“Instalove?”

“Probably but more like instaconfusion. There you were, a girl I have never seen before, pulling me to her like no one before. And let’s not forget you didn’t make it easy for me.”

“I tried to protect you, even then.”

“I know.”