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"I erased allthat happened when Oliver tookto pry into my life But Salenant That’s why she called" I let out a sharp laugh "She was crying Can you believe that?" I didn’t expect hi She was sobbing because she didn’t know that she was going to be a grandhteen other than to threaten her to stay the hell away frohtly to my chest and started to rock back and forth a little "She called me because she kneould listen She called me because she kneas the one that would hear her out" I blinked back tears and dug the sharp points of ernails into my skin "She called me because she knew I understand what it’s like to be trapped in ayou"

I choked a little on the e my throat, so it tookthat was crowdingmy heart "She told me shethrough the gossip of everything that happened with me and Oliver, and you knohat? … I feel bad for her" Like the sap that I was My stupid heart couldn’t stop caring about the wrong people "I worry about her bearing the brunt ofto shoulder the blame he no doubt levels on her for both hed again "Soo of the leash I was so caught up in feeling bad because I was hurting for so in my life that actually needs ot swept up in as and forgot all about what is That’s a dangerous place for anyone to be" I could get lost in the dark and lose all the ground forward I’d gained

Wheeler stayed by the door but the intensity shining out of his baby blues was strong enough that I felt it like a touch as he stared at me from across the room His voice vibrated with unidentified eet a little bit et back to where you were supposed to be Cut yourself some slack I told you what happened to me when I was little" He’d been left, callously dropped like he was lost luggage when he was too little to understand as happening to hialone underus in from the cold" He would have died if someone hadn’t been there to take him in, and chances were I would have been in a si the door open for me to places that arm and safe, hadn’t pulled me in out of the cold when I was ready to freeze

Wheeler disappeared out the door Watching hio, I realized he’d been at work all day, with very little sleep, and had dropped everything to coht me inside and we collapsed All of it was a little hazy and a lot fuzzy but I knew that in all of it there had been no ti sure I had fuel to keep going, so I figured the least I could do was return the favor

I climbed off the bed, took a few seconds to pull my hair up in a shifty topknot, and detoured to the bathroom to splash some cold water on my face so that I looked a little less like a train wreck I wasn’t any kind of gourmet chef, and since my appetite was iffy at best I didn’t keep a stocked pantry I had the basics and the staples, so I decided breakfast for dinner was going to have to do It was creeping up onto the clock on thetus in the pan and jurease when Wheeler cah the front door He paused for a second, eyes locked onso was soet a chance to eat dinner" I waved a hand around the mess I was in theht eyes of his got heavy-lidded and dangerous looking "You didn’t have to do that"

I shrugged and started shoveling hot food onto plates "I didn’t have to, but I wanted to"

He made a noise low in his throat as he took the plate from me and sat down on the opposite side of the counter We ate in coue when he offered to do the dishes ere done I tookup Happy’s bed and blankets in the kitchen after Wheeler put his doggie gate up across the opening and I realized I was stalling because I didn’t want hio

My hosts, and I knew once I was alone with the to do more than haunt me When I woke up with Wheeler wrapped around htly that there wasn’t any rooet between his skin and mine, I felt protected It felt like all the sharp and pointy things that pricked at h hie into me He wouldn’t let them draw blood I wanted to be the kind of wos in the dark that scared her, face them alone, but I wasn’t, at least I wasn’t yet, but I was slowly getting there

Wheeler iping his hands on a dish towel and watching Happy turn circles on his bed There was a grin on his face and those dangerous di I would i to be in bed with him when I was practically catatonic and unaware of s It was another to ask him to be there when I ide-awake and in full control of ht here if you want"

His head turned toward ave himself mild whiplash His dark eyebrows shot up and his hands curled around the edge of the sink "Thanks for the offer but I don’t think that’s a good idea"

I was surprised how disappointed I was by his answer Teeth sinking into my bottom lip, I was petulant when I asked him, "Why not?"