Page 97 of The Fighter

That eased my mind. I knew Tav had a fondness for the old man.

I sighed, “You were right, by the way. Both of you.”

Ben’s eyebrows nearly disappeared into his perfect hairline. He blinked and then cupped his palm around his ear. “I’m sorry, what did Conrad Stafford just say to me? That I wasrightabout something?”

I threw a pillow at him. “I sometimes think you’re right.”

“Oh, but it’s rare, my friend. So please, enlighten me on what I was so right about.”

“Devlin,” I answered. “And how I couldn’t have changed him.”

Ben’s humor fled as he studied me. “Nik told me what state Devlin was in after they rescued you. And I don’t think it was because Tav beat the shit out of him. He tried to fuck you mentally, and you turned that around on him, didn’t you?”

I pressed my lips together. “I think we both did some damage to each other. But yes, I finally realized Devlin had always thought I was someone else. Some idealized version of me who could give him what he wanted. And I never could have. When I told him that, when I burst that bubble in his head, I think that snapped something in him.”

Ben nodded. “And you? Did it snap something inyou?”

“Yes,” I said. “Yes, it did.”

“Finally,” he muttered.

“Silver lining to getting snatched off the street and tossed in a cage.”

Ben barked a laugh. “Fuck’s sake.”

“And hey Ben?”

“What?”

“I’ll invest in Collar. To get it renovated.” I was going to gild the stool where Tav had sat in gold.

His eyes shone as he scoffed. “I don’t want your money.”

But he was grinning a stupid grin, and I felt twenty pounds lighter.

Ben and Nik stayed for a few more hours, finally leaving me alone. I tried to sleep on the couch, but all I could thinkabout was Tav. I typed and deleted approximately one hundred messages to him and had bitten my lip to hell by the time the door beeped and he stepped inside.

He looked as good as always, so handsome with his haircut and his tight T-shirt stretched across his muscled chest. As he eyed me and drew closer, a sweet scent followed him. Like cake. I sniffed. “Why do you smell like sugar?”

“Holden and I made a cake while Amara napped.” He leaned a hip on the island counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “How are you feeling?”’

I stepped closer, and he eyed me warily, like I was a rattlesnake ready to bite. “I’ve been a nightmare, haven’t I?”

He blew out a breath, and his shoulders relaxed a fraction. “A fucking terror, Con.”

“I’m sorry for being an asshole.” Tav opened his mouth, maybe to protest about mysorries, but I had to get this out. “I thought that was a boring enough apology that you’d let it skate.”

He narrowed his eyes. “It’s toeing the line.”

I felt my lips curl into a smile. “Good enough.” I reached for him, wrapping my hand around his hip, but he didn’t sway closer to me, just watched me as I struggled to express myself. “I’m in pain, but that’s something I can handle. My frustration lies in being unable to work properly. I can’t take care of myself. I need to rely on you or Ben or Nik, and I haven’t relied on anyone in decades. I want to hold you. I want to fuck you. I’m impatient, and I want it all now.” I stared at a random spot on the wall beyond his shoulder as I realized all he’d done for the last few days, how I’d felt safe enough tobean asshole, because I trusted Tav to stay with me through it. “And most of all, I keep thinking about how I was only there for a day, and you were there for a week. And when he let you go, was anyone there to take care of you?”

Tav’s neck jerked at that, like he hadn’t expected my train of thought to go there. He frowned. “Con, that had nothing to do with you?—”

“Was there? Anyone?” I snapped.

“No,” he answered. “He dropped me off in an apartment with a mattress and told me I had a fight in a week.”

I let the pain roll through me. “Fuck him.”