Page 50 of Come Back to Me

“Damn, you’re fast,” I say.

“I don’t mess around.” He opens the concealer. “Okay, what do I do with this?”

“Can you place three dots on the top of my cheekbone where the bruise is?”

He nods, placing the palm of his hand on my neck and his thumb underneath my chin, so he can tilt my head up. He gently places three dots of concealer where I told him to. “What now?”

“Blend it in with the sponge.”

“Sounds easy enough.” He takes the sponge and lightly taps it onto my face, so the concealer blends into my skin.

I smile at him. “Thank you for doing this for me.”

“Stop thanking me for doing the bare minimum. I’m telling you, if your mom didn’t scare the shit out of me, I’d be hunting her down and yelling at her for what she did to you.”

“I’d appreciate that, but it’s not necessary.”

“Has she ever hurt you like this before?”

I shake my head. “She raises her voice at me a lot, but she’s never laid a hand on me until tonight.” I gulp. “Maybe if I just kept my mouth shut, this wouldn’t have happened.”

He tilts my head down, so our eyes are at the same level. “Don’t you dare blame yourself for this. This isn’t your fault, Vi.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“You know you can ask me anything. I’m an open book.”

“Were you scared when your dad hurt you for the first time?”

“I was terrified. I mean, how would you react if the person you looked up to the most abused your trust and your body? I thought it was my fault. I was convinced there was something wrong with me, but I accepted that it wasn’t my fault. It wasalwayshis.”

“I would love nothing more than to yell at your dad for what he’s done to you.”

“Honestly, I’d love to be able to witness that.” He smiles so big, blinding me with his perfectly white teeth. “You know, you’re so easy to talk to about this stuff. I talk to Noah and Xander about it, but it’s different with you. There’s this energy you give off that makes it easy for me to tell you everything.”

“I feel the same way. It’s also because I don’t really have any friends, except for you.”

“I’m your boyfriend,” he corrects me.

My arms circle around his neck. “You’re my best friendandmy boyfriend.”

“Well, I’m honored.” His cheeks gradually turn more pink with each minute that goes by.

Smiling like a total dork, I stand on my tippy toes to kiss the tip of his nose until his lips meld onto mine.

He runs his hands down to both of my hips. “Wow, this dress is silky.” He studies my dress before his eyes land on my face. “I’m happy you chose to wear this.”

“Why?”

“I think you know why.”

What is he talking about? Oh, hold on. Is he talking about what I think he’s talking about? There’s no way.

“We can’t do that.”

“We can’t do what, exactly?”

“You knowexactlywhat I’m talking about, Gray.” My eyes grow wide.