CHAPTER 30: JACK

When she was lying in my arms, like she is now, she was vulnerable.

Only, I didn't realize just how vulnerable she was until last night. I also didn't realize how strong she was, how much fire was in her.

I looked down at her. Her hair was fanned across my pillow, and her lips were parted slightly, her breath crawling over my bare chest. She looked peaceful when she was sleeping, like there weren't a thousand demons running around in her head and her heart. Like she wasn't protecting herself from anything and everything.

My hand moved from its resting place on my stomach, and I smoothed hair away from her face. She sniffed and moved closer to me, causing me to pull her even closer. My lips pressed against her forehead, and she slid an arm across my stomach, her fingers brushing the bare skin above the covers.

I was not sure when I started to care for her so much. It could have been the day at the beach when she told me about her Mom, or it could have been when she went crazy at that g