Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 63608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 318(@200wpm)___ 254(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
“Yeah,” I tell her quietly. “I miss her. But I’m here for you. Both versions. Whoever you are today, whoever you remember being tomorrow.”
Her breath catches again. She looks away, overwhelmed, and focuses on her hands. Silence stretches between us in a gentle, fragile, real way.
I clean up as she sits there lost in her own thoughts. She’s scared. She’s vulnerable. She’s looking at me like I’m the one steady thing in a world that just went dark around her.
I move closer slowly, sit in the chair beside her.
“Sunshine,” I whisper. “Don’t push it.”
She lets out a shuddered breath and leans just slightly in my direction — not enough to touch, but enough that my body aches with the effort to hold still.
Her eyes flutter.
“I should probably sleep, just for a little while,” she murmurs. “Will you stay with me?”
I nod.
But inside, I already know— I’m not leaving tonight. I’m not leaving tomorrow. I’m not leaving until I find the bastard who hurt her.
And when I do?
I’ll make sure he never gets close to her again.
Ten
Kelly
Being near him feels normal. The thought of him leaving … soul crushing. Except I can’t remember why.
* * *
I’ve never been so aware of my heartbeat in my entire life.
It thuds in my ribs, too fast and too loud, and every time I glance at Ledger — which is approximately every twelve seconds — it speeds up like my body is betraying me on purpose.
He’s standing at the counter of the cabin kitchen, arms crossed over his broad chest as he watches Shaft and Mellow walk the perimeter outside. The outside light cuts across his jawline, sharp enough to carve through the fog in my brain. It’s been less than twenty-four hours since I left the hospital, and already I know two things: I don’t remember Ledger even though we clearly have history. I may not have memories, but my whole being feels like I’ve known him my whole life.
That’s the confusing part.
My brain is blank when it tries to pull our shared history into focus but my instincts? My instincts treat him like gravity. And I’m so tired of feeling lost that part of me wants to fall willingly into the pull.
Ledger glances over his shoulder, eyes finding me immediately. “You okay?”
I’m sitting on the couch, wrapped in a soft blanket Ally brought from my place, nursing a cup of tea I don’t remember making. My ribs still ache, my temples throb, and my memory is a minefield of missing pieces.
But when he asks me that, with that voice, that look, I feel steadier.
“Yeah,” I mutter softly. “Just tired.”
He studies me for a long second, then nods. “Tomorrow, we’ll get you out of the cabin for a bit. Fresh air. Short walk.”
I blink. “Out? Should we? Should I really be going anywhere?”
“You won’t be alone,” he states, as if that solves everything.
Maybe it does.
Ally told me last night that Riot used to avoid emotions like they were contagious. She says he is grumpy, stubborn, and allergic to relationships. She also says he softened around me in ways that made the whole MC whisper.
I don’t remember the details, but I believe the way my body reacts there was something special between us. There is softness under all that growl.
He clears his throat. “If you want. Only if you want.”
There it is. The consideration. The careful tone that doesn’t match the intimidating exterior.
I nod. “Okay.”
His shoulders drop a fraction in what I can only call relief.
Two days go by and things are the same. The cabin feels too quiet. Too tense. Too much like a cage that isn’t locked but still feels hard to leave.
Ally stops by with clean clothes and one of her signature no-nonsense pep talks. “You look pale,” she announces the second she steps inside.
“Well hello to you too,” I joke back with her while sitting comfortably on the oversized couch.
“You’re wearing gray sweatpants. Riot, for the love of God, stop dressing her like your roommate. You have them rolled and tied and I bet if you stand up they will fall off still.”
I laugh, “I have enough curves to hold them up, thank you.”
Ledger grunts. “She needed clothes.”
“She had clothes here,” Ally remarks and I can’t hold back the gasp. She isn’t wrong. I have my own drawer here, a toothbrush, my own drawer in the bathroom too.
“His clothes are comfortable,” I explain while avoiding the elephant in the room.
Yes, Ledger showed me where my stuff was. I looked it over, held it up and considered using it. I hoped the memories would come back, they didn’t. And somehow it didn’t feel right to use those things. Instead I slipped into one of his t-shirts and sweats. I did wear my panties that were stashed here, but actual clothes, nope.
Ally gives her attention back to Ledger. “She’s not a stray cat you rescued,” Ally fires back. “Here, Kelly, jeans, shirt, soft sweater. And some mascara because you look dead behind the eyes.”