Chapter 169

His whole body was stiff, like he didn’t know what to do with contact. I ran my hand slowly over his back, palm flat, keeping the rhythm steady. After a few passes, his shoulders dropped. He exhaled, shallow and shaky, and his head lowered until his face was pressed into my neck. Then he held on. Hard. The car stayed silent. There wasn’t even traffic outside. Just the faint creak of the leather seats as he shifted closer and locked his arms around me. He didn’t speak for a long time. When he finally did, his voice was low, paced out like each word needed effort. ‘I moved back in with the Laurents when I was ten. Nobody gave a shit I was there. Gwendolyn acted nice in front of people but told the staff to mess with me behind my back. One time, they sent me up a tree to get Declan’s kite. They’d already broken one of the branches. I fell. Hit my back on a rock. The scar’s still there.’ I kept my hand moving slowly across his back. I didn’t know where the scar was, or how bad it had been.