13. Twelve

The next two days passed in a blur. I slept a lot, and whenever I had nightmares, Boone was there. We didn’t talk much after that first night. There just seemed to be a silent agreement that he’d come and comfort me if he was around.

During the day, he was gone for hours at a time. I tried to stay awake whenever he wasn’t home, even though I was excused from work until further notice. Shepherd had said I shouldn’t be around any heavy machinery for the first few days after starting the new medicine just in case I got drowsy.

So instead, I sat on the sofa with the dogs and watched TV. Ragnar came over once and we watched about ten episodes of The Golden Girls, which he was obsessed with. Despite the lack of blood and violence, it was all right for a dated sitcom. At least Sophia was funny.

On the third day, I woke up to a loud bang out in the kitchen followed by a string of curses and scrambling paws. I caught myself smiling as I realized that meant Boone was home and quickly forced myself not to. That’d been happening more often than not. Every time he came home from wherever he went, it sent a light, fluttering feeling through me and I’d have to stop myself from running to the door to greet him like an excited puppy.

My body creaked like I was twice my age as I stood. I staggered across the hall to the bathroom, pointedly not even glancing toward the kitchen where Boone was cooking. The air smelled like bacon, and my stomach rumbled.

I hurried through my shower, and when I opened the bathroom door, Boone was there, leaning against the opposite wall with a plate in hand. My heart galloped faster at the sight of him, but I didn’t allow myself to react outwardly. I wasn’t allowed to get excited just because he was waiting for me with a fucking sandwich. That domestic bullshit wasn’t worth getting all worked up over.

Boone’s eyes rolled over me, at first with concern, but then with obvious hunger, and not for the BLT he was holding. “You hungry, Pup?”

“Starving.” I snatched the plate away from him and started devouring the sandwich in huge bites.

“I imagine. You’ve been asleep for the better part of two days.” I looked up and found him watching me eat with that same dark hunger in his eyes. “How’re you feeling?”

“My back hurts.” Everything hurt, really, but my lower back hurt the worst. It felt like I’d pulled a muscle.

Boone’s answer was a distracted hum. He ran his tongue over his bottom lip, seizing my attention against my will. I stared at his mouth, forgetting all about my sandwich. He was the only thing I wanted to taste.

But after how things had gone last time, I wasn’t sure that was such a good idea.

Morticia and Trixie came trotting down the hallway, Morticia knocking her big shoulders into my shins to ruin the moment. I smiled and reached down to scratch her ears. Who’s going to get that treatment after Boone gets rid of me? Something in my chest pinched. His three-day time limit was coming to an end, which meant my time with Boone and the dogs was running out. Shepherd had made it clear that there would be consequences if he didn’t hand me over before the end of the third day.

Today was that day.

“Get your shoes on, Pup,” Boone said.

My knees almost buckled, and my heart nearly stopped. I thought I’d have more time. I thought… I didn’t know what I thought. Of course he was going to hand me over now that I was awake. Why would he hold onto me a moment longer than he had to? I should’ve known all that stuff he said before was bullshit.

“Yeah, okay,” I murmured and shoved the last of the sandwich in my mouth. I trudged to the living room and grabbed a pair of socks from the sock basket before sliding on my work boots. Every movement felt sluggish, and not because of the medicine.

I didn’t want to go.

Fuck. When had that happened? A week ago, I would’ve been grateful to get the hell away from Boone. I’d tried to run every chance I got. Now… Now I thought I was going to be sick. I stood, staring at the door, my heart in my throat.

Boone hustled the dogs into their kennel with some treats, but I was barely aware of that. I felt like I was drifting outside of my body, being pulled into the sky without a tether. Was this what it felt like to die?

Boone’s hand closed around the back of my neck, and I fought the urge to melt back into him with a groan. “About before…”

I rolled my head to the side to look at him, my voice small as I said, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

His brows pinched. “When you’re ready to talk, I’m ready to listen,” he said and let me go.

I watched him walk away, the empty feeling in my chest swelling. I couldn’t take it anymore.

“I don’t want to leave,” I blurted, and Boone went still. “I know four million dollars is a lot of money,” I continued, babbling. “I don’t blame you, but I don’t want to go, Boone. Please don’t make me.”

His jaw flexed. “Now you listen to me, Pup. We’ve been over this. I don’t care about the fucking money anymore.”

I stared at him, not breathing, caught in limbo between life and death. “But Shepherd said—”

Boone brought my forehead down against his. “Did you forget what I said? I’m going to take care of you, Xion. You’re not going anywhere.”

I clenched my jaw to keep it from trembling. “Why would you want to do that knowing how screwed up I am?”

His fingers tightened enough to hurt in the best way. “Because I care about you, and I protect the people I care about. Ain’t nobody taking you away from me now. Not the Laskins, not some rich asshole with fancy tech… The Devil himself could knock on my door to collect you and I’d send him straight back to Hell empty handed.”

“But—”

He cut me off, putting a finger to my lips. “No more buts. I made my choice. I ain’t asking you to love me. Hate me—fight me—if you need to. Hell, we can be strangers otherwise, but I’m giving you my word here. I will keep you safe, and I will care for you as best I can. I ain’t gonna be like those other people. I won’t throw you away. You’re not trash, Xion. You’re a treasure. Screw everyone who can’t see that.”

I was back in my body, grounded by his touch, by his words, but my chest was heavy even if the rest of me felt light. I wanted to believe him, but that was crazy. He’d be giving up four million dollars, more money than most people would know what to do with, and he was giving it up for me.

For me, someone who couldn’t even love him back the way he deserved.

My head was a jumbled mess. I felt like I needed to sit down, to think, but there was no time.

Boone’s hand closed around mine, threading our fingers together. He pulled me toward the door. “Let me prove it to you. Come with me.”

I swallowed and nodded, following him out the front door.

The pet store smelled weird. Something in there tickled my nose and made me want to sneeze, but I held it in. Boone told me to go find a couple toys for the dogs while he went to pick up the dog food. They must’ve been out of the brand he usually bought because he made the clerk go into the back and was waiting on them.

Nothing but the best for Trixie and Morticia.

I hadn’t expected to go to the fucking pet store on our first outing, but I wasn’t going to complain either. At least it got me out of the junkyard. I hadn’t been out in the world since I was fourteen, and a lot had changed in six years. A lot was the same though.

Like people. They still wore the same fake smiles, the same bland uniforms, and the same cheap plastic name tags.

I moved down the aisle of toys, eying a few. Most of them wouldn’t hold up more than a few minutes once the girls got ahold of them. They needed one of those big rubber Kongs, but I couldn’t find one.

I turned around to look in the opposite aisle and there it was. Not the Kong, but the collar, the one from the magazine, or at least one like it. It was shiny black leather with silver studs running in two rows around it. I glanced over at Boone. He was still waiting for the clerk, not paying any attention to me. I stepped forward and closed my hand around the collar where it hung and ran my thumb slowly over the bumpy metal studs. Goosebumps broke out on my arms and it felt like someone had just dripped ice down the back of my neck on a hot day. My mind went blissfully blank of everything but the need to have that collar and feel it around my neck.

But there was no way I was going to ask Boone to buy it, and I didn’t have any money.

I gritted my teeth and yanked the collar free of the tiny plastic tag it was hanging from. Before I could second guess myself, I shoved the collar in the front pocket of my hoodie, heart racing.

“There you are, Pup.” Boone’s voice nearly made me jump out of my skin. “Did you find the girls some toys?”

Act natural, I thought as the voices all told me he knew. I swallowed and shook my head.

He shifted the giant bag of dog food over his shoulder. “Well? Get some so we can hit the road and I can show you your real surprise. Here. They like these.” He pointed out the Kongs I’d been looking for.

I hurriedly grabbed two of them from the hook and added a thick knotted rope before Boone waved me toward the register.

I was sweating all through the checkout process, my heart pounding in my ears so loud that I barely heard the lady as she tried to make small talk.

“Xion.” Boone’s voice was like an arrow straight to my brain.

I turned my head and realized I was in the way of him sliding his card so I moved. We finished checking out before I took the bags and hurried out of the store ahead of Boone. It wasn’t until the fresh air hit my face that I let myself take a full breath. I was free. I’d gotten the collar and walked away, and neither the clerk nor Boone was onto me.

I almost made it to the Jeep before Boone called, “Stop.”

I froze in place, unable to disobey. It was like he had a supernatural hold on me sometimes, the way my body just obeyed his commands.

Boone came up to me and yanked the bag of toys away, giving me that disappointed dad look. “Where is it?”

“Where’s what?” I said, like I didn’t know exactly what he meant.

“Whatever you stole out of there.”

I snorted. “I didn’t take anything.”

“Don’t lie to me, Pup. I ain’t no fool.” He held out his hand. “Show me.”

“I fucking told you—Shit!” I tried to twist away when Boone started frisking me, but he grabbed me, and when he did, the collar fell right out of my hoodie. I thought I was going to be sick. Not only did I have to own up to shoplifting, but I’d have to explain why I took a dog collar.

For a minute, we both stood there, staring down at the leather collar on the pavement between us, neither of us moving. I could practically see the wheels turning in his head. Shit, what was I going to say? What was I going to do?

Slowly, Boone knelt to pick up the collar. He held it out to me, and I waited for him to berate me or make fun of me. Instead, he said, “Next time you want a five-finger discount, don’t run out of the place like you stole something, huh?”

I blinked and stood there until Boone grabbed my hand and shoved the collar into it.

“You’re not mad?” I blurted as he walked around to the other side of the Jeep.

He leaned against the top, the keys dangling from his finger. “About what?”

“About the collar.”

“What collar?” he said and got into the Jeep.

I guess we’re not going to talk about it. I gave the pet store one last long glance before hurrying to get into the Jeep before he took off without me.