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“There’s no way I’ If that h day Went to a DOA with two teenagers, so the chance he’d let ht is slim Stuff like that freaks him out, and it makes him overprotective It’s just easier this way”
“DOA?” Abigail asked as they continued toward her car
“Dead on arrival He’s so afraid of so to us too, ya know? I mean, the last tiency roo by a bee, and he calls her doctor, like he’s convinced she’s allergic and going to have a deadly reaction before having any reason to suspect she is He’s convinced the second one of us gets sick or he lets us out of his sight, soonna happen”
Abby paused “Wouldn’t that be a terrible way to live? Being afraid all the ti someone?”
The soft sound of Kaden’s breath matched her own as he moved beside her He shoved his hands in his pockets, the evening breeze ruffling his hair as he spoke “Yeah, but his job reinforces his fear I think it’s hard to have your wife slowly die in front of you and then witness all the nastiness of the world firsthand and not fear the worst It’s like he thinks if he can keep us in a bubble, we’ll be fine”
The sadness in Kaden’s voice tugged at her heart Worse, his dad’s sheltering hi to make sense
She bumped his shoulder with hers “If today was a bad day—"
“What night would be better? At least aited until a Friday night To overdose, the next will be a et sick, or he’ll handle a shooting, another crash There’s never a good time”
He opened the passenger door as he spoke, locking eyes with her fro to be afraid of And I think ed about it It needs to change, and I probablywith it, never pushing or questioning, always doing what he wanted”
Abby stared at him, mesmerized She’d never met someone so open and unafraid to speak the truth about how he felt—so unlike herself, who bottled everything up tight until she could pretend her feelings didn’t even exist But the more time she spent with Kaden, the s she never told anyone before, and she realized with a sudden urgency that she wanted to know everything about his that made him tick All his fears All his secrets
“What?” He reached out, stretching his ar for her hand but unable to close the distance “What are you thinking?”
She rounded the car,the warh her bones
“I’m scared,” she whispered, breathless
“Of what?” He brushed his thumb over the back of her hand
Of how I feel when I’m with you