“What the hell?” I rush forward, gently brushing my fingers over the marks.
“It’s nothing, baby,” he argues, tucking his thumbs into his waistband and shoving his sweats to his ankles, leaving him deliciously naked.
“That is not nothing. What the hell happened?”
He kicks off his trousers before stepping up to me and wrapping his fingers around his shirt that’s hanging around my thighs.
Peeling it up my body, he throws it behind me.
“I’m never going to be able to explain how it felt to think I’d lost you, Jodie,” he says, his own frayed emotions making his voice deeper with every word as he wraps his hand around the back of my neck and pressing his brow to mine. “I’ve never felt so helpless in all my life.”
As I slide my hands up his bare chest, his entire body shudders at my innocent touch.
“You got me, baby. I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“Fuck. I’m so sorry.”
“Stop,” I demand, pressing my fingers against his lips to cut off any more words that might want to fall free. “It’s over. We’re free. We’re going to focus on the future. Right after you tell me why my boyfriend is black and blue.”
“I’ll tell you everything.”
“Me too,” I promise.