“I promise, I’m okay.”I sniffled. “My God, I’m so glad you are.”“Come here. I’ve got you, Rae.”I curled into him as much as he’d let me. And as I cried silent tears against his chest, I drifted off to sleep. With his fingers stroking through my hair and his lips peppering me with kisses, I gave in to him. I gave in to his warmth. His comfort. His strength. The beating of his heart lulled me to sleep. And the beating of his heart was the first thing I heard the next morning.Before I slipped away from his grasp to go get us some coffee.20ClintonI groaned as I opened my eyes. A heavy weight felt like it was propped against me, keeping me rooted to the mattress. I reached out for Rae, expecting her to be there. Knowing damn good and well that was what I felt.Instead, however, I felt the weight of the emptiness of the bed next to me.“Fuck.”I sighed, lying there on my back as I stared up at the ceiling. I wished I’d woken up sooner to say goodbye to Rae. I sighed as I lay there, m

“Fuck them. They got an issue with it, they can take it up with me.”“Oh, my hero.”I giggled and shook my head as Clint finally got himself out of the car. I wrapped my arm around his waist, feeling him inch his arm around my neck. I liked having him there. Wrapped around me. Claiming me in front of the entire school. However, I also felt him leaning against me a bit too much.Which meant he was already tired from the moving he had to do.“Come on, Brick. Let’s get you to homeroom.”He chuckled. “I don’t know if I’ll get used to that kind of a nickname.”I shrugged. “Kinda suits you, though. With how big you are.”“You calling me fat, sweet cheeks?”I grinned. “Maybe just a little.”“That’s what happens when you’re bedridden, I guess.”“Don’t worry, I’ll whip you right back into shape.”He growled softly. “That a promise, beautiful?”And as I gazed up intohis eyes, the world faded away for a split second.“That’s a definite promise, handsome.”22ClintonAll morning, I’d been appreh

Aly sighed a soft sigh before sitting back down in her seat. I slowly turned my attention back to her, feeling a shocked smile cross my lips. She flipped her books open as our teacher finally made her presence known ten minutes after class was supposed to start. Aly leaned over, flipping open my own book to the page we needed to be on.Then she looked up at me.“What?”I shook my head. “Thank you, Aly.”She shrugged. “We’re all tired of their stuff.”“Oh, now you say ‘stuff.’”She smiled at me, and it caused me to chuckle. We muffled our laughter as the teacher started her lecture, rushing us through our homework so we could get to ‘the good stuff,’ as she called it. And while I loved my English class—mostly—this book we were reading could go kick rocks. It was the first book in all of high school I’d been forced to read that I didn’t enjoy one damn bit.Catch-22 could suck my—“I really don’t like this book.”Aly’s murmur caught my ear and it made me grin.“Me, neither. Don’t worry.”

“Clint! Holy shit!”I bucked against him, freeing myself enough to wrap myself around his body. I hugged him close, burying my face into the crook of his neck. And as he held me tightly, our laughter filled the room. Tears of happiness rushed my eyes. Finally, this damn nightmare was over. Clint had been healed. He’d recuperated. And it seemed as if things were finally swaying back in our favor.I kissed his neck. “I’m so happy for you.”“Mm, keep doing that and I’ll show you just how happy you make me.”I kissed his skin again. “That a promise?”Softly, deftly, I planted kisses against his skin. He pulled me away from the wall, carrying me into the living room as he made his way for the couch. I kissed up his pulse point, nibbling against his earlobe as I let my hands wander underneath the collar of his shirt, feeling his muscles rolling underneath that taut skin of his. He held me closely, his hands cupping my thighs tightly. He was back. My Clint. The old Clint. The strong, dextero

But all she did was shrug.“You guys ready to go?”I nodded at Cecilia’s question, then felt her ease us out of the driveway. I wanted to press the questions. I wanted to pull out of her what was wrong. But I didn’t want to do it in front of my stepmother. Rae wasn’t okay, though. And I had a feeling it had something to do with last night.I watched as Rae gazed out the window. She watched the world pass us by as she sank heavier and heavier into the leather seats of the car. She didn’t speak. Not one fucking word. And I desperately wanted to ask her what the hell happened after I left last night. I called Cecilia to come get me around midnight, and D.J. was still there. Her mother and D.J. had still been downstairs, going back and forth at one another. It was like they never stopped. She’d say one thing and he’d clap back. He’d say something wrong and she’d chew him out for it. It made me sick, leaving Rae in that kind of environment last night. I almost had a mind to ask Cecilia if