His Trouble Maker

Chapter 58

JESSICA

I only cried this hard during my father’s funeral. A sob escaped my lips but I continue to wash away Theo’s touch, scrubbing until my skin way row and bleeding in places. It wasn’t enough. Nothing would ever be enough to erase what happened.

I’m so angry at myself. So fucking angry I could scream until my throat bleeds too, Why didn’t I see it coming? Why didn’t I fight Harder? The soap slips from my fingers, clattering against the shower floor as my knees finally give out. I slide down the wall, hot water mixing with hotter

tears.

”

“Stupid,” I whisper, digging my nails into my palms. “So goddamn stupid.”

Dad always said I had fighter’s instincts. “You’re a wolf, honey, not a rabbit,” he’d tell me. What would he say now? Seeing his daughter curled up, shivering, trying to scrub away shame instead of fighting back?

Why couldn’t I have been that brave? That quick? That strong?

A laugh bubbles up–bitter, hollow–mixing with my tears. I slam the water off and wrap myself in a towel, not caring that water still drips down my legs onto the floor. Everything hurts–inside, outside. My mind races like a trapped animal, replaying every second, every mistake.

My phone buzzes on the counter. Three missed calls. All from Grayson.

I throw on the first clothes I find–an old tank top and sweatpants–and dive into my bed, burying myself under the comforter. The darkness feels good. Safe. The only place I can hide from what happened, from what I let happen.

Suddenly, the door creaks open and I instantly knew who it was because I smell his cologne.

Grayson.

I curl tighter, pulling the sheets over my head, making myself as small as possible. I can’t let him see me like this. He’ll know. One look and he’ll know something happened, and then-

hands trying to search

to go anywhere. I

warmth through the blanket–it should be

sensation I can’t handle.

he whispers, gently tugging the covers.

fine.” My voice

hand rest on what he probably thinks is my shoulder but is actually my hip. I

is soft,

to see his face. Mistake. His eyes are full of that protective worry that makes

trying to look

my forehead. The tender gesture makes my eyes sting

1/3

Chapter 58

he observes. “You’re taking hot showers when you’re

pressing his lips to my forehead like he’s checking for fever. It’s so gentle, so Grayson, that for

move to my temple, then my

push against his chest–not hard,

back to search my face. I see confusion, then hurt, then

something happen?” he asks, voice suddenly

and I see his eyes catch on my

that sounds hollow even to my ears. “Can’t a girl just feel crappy without twenty

girls don’t look like they’ve been crying for hours

roll my eyes, going for annoyed instead of

reaches for my hand

thumb traces circles on my palm, and he leans in again, pressing a soft kiss to

Almost let the walls come crashing down. But then I imagine what would happen–what Grayson would

can’t. Not