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I’d spent every second since Oliver had pulled that trigger h to hurt me physically or emotionally I was determined toand definite like Salem was I wanted to be untouchable and unattainable like Sayer was But I wasn’t I was still too soft, too easily wounded My armor was made of feathers and fluff and all it took was that voice on the other end of the phone to pierce right through it If Wheeler hadn’t shown up when he did, I would still be wandering up and down the streets calling Happy’s naht: I would have been frozen and of no use to anyone because I couldn’t think That phone call had launched ain, and instead of facing it head-on and confronting my fear, I let it overwhelm me and cripple me … just like I always did Fear was familiar and it was far too easy to let it take over all the other things I’d allowed myself to feel as I moved on frorowl and ju his soft head againstwe had been curled up in bed but I bet it was long enough that the puppy needed another trip outside He was ready to play but it ell past both of our bedtihtly to his front I could feel his chest rising and falling steadily behind ive in the iron band of his ar on one of the sleeves of his coveralls, I could feel the snaps digging into s, which, now that I ake, was totally uncos, the initial war to other, more intimate parts of my anatomy I was sure the flush on my face was visible even in the pitch-blackness and the silence surrounding usin and out between my parted lips obscenely loud Wheeler htened and then i to roll away froet Happy off the bed before he made any more noise, but before I could Wheeler’s tattooed hands reached aroundoff the pillohere he was now chasing shadows across the fabric

"I’ll take hiht You go back to sleep" His voice was rough and groggy and there was no rooument I had to sit up and scoot over to free the part of his coveralls I was lying on and he grunted a little when he was finally free to stand up "Sorry for crawling into bed with you still indirty let me know and I’ll replace it"

He scratched Happy behind the ears and set him on the floor so he could pull his discarded boots back onto his feet I stared at his back, eyes tracking the way his plain T-shirt stretched across the span of his wide shoulders I pulled my knees up, wrapped my arms around them, and rested my cheek on the bony surface as I continued to watch him When he lifted his ar and lean h He turned his head to look at me over his shoulder and I told hile set of sheets I have You showed up and cleaned up a mess I rease spots If you can clean up afterup after you"

He turned back to the bed, hands on his hips, and I noticed that the collar of his T-shirt was ripped and that fabric was hanging down over his collarbone, revealing what looked like part of a e and some kind of ani I could see his skin a thousand ti new to look at

"Everyone ends up a little bit out of place every now and then I’ll put you back where you’re supposed to be, Poppy" He grinned, and even in the dark I could see those twin dily into his cheeks Itfaster and nore "That’s what I do, ya know I put things back the way they were supposed to be I s the way they were before soht"

I scrunched up my nose at hiht "I’m not a car, Wheeler You can’t find replaceht anymore"

He bent at the waist, put his fisted hands on the bed, and leaned over so that his lips could lightly touch the top of h my entire body His care reached places inside of me no one had ever touched before, places that lit up and exploded like fireworks every ti and expanding, pushing out the other areas inside ofbeen dark and scarred

"Nothing about you needs replaced What you got runs just fine, it just needs a tune-up and souyorder I should tell hi hio back to bed"

He started for the door, the puppy happily nipping at the heels of his boots I called his name and waited for hi to ask o of the leash? Don’t you want to knohy I was in such a sorry state when you found me?" Honestly, I didn’t knohat to do with the fact he wasn’t bla me There was zero censure or condeate that I had platitudes and apologies itching to crawl off ue but he didn’t ask for any of them

"No I don’t care what happened, I just care that it did happen I hate that so upset you to that point and I hate that you feel like you owe anyone an explanation for feeling however you feel Everyone made it inside safe and sound, so whatever bad shit happened, it didn’t win tonight and that’s what I think we should focus on" He always made it sound so easy His acceptance and reassurance settled around me like a velvety blanket

I closed ainst my knee "My mom called I haven’t spoken to her or my father since Oliver took me She’ll occasionally send an e-mail to make sure I’m alive and to tellin sin, but I haven’t heard her voice in h, and when I pried h to spit nails He understood thatfroht back memories of more than just Oliver The tenuous hold I had on my sense of safety was ripped away by that voice with its soft Texas drawl and thinly veiled accusations