“Harper, look at me.” I drop the washcloth and grab her face. She slowly opens her eyes and keeps them locked on mine. “Looking at you standing here, I’ve never been attracted to you. You are gorgeous.”
She sighs, not even moving her arms from her side. “Okay,” she replies.
I move my hands to rest on her chest. She once again flinches and I lean forward, pressing a kiss above the incision. “You took a bullet for me. Your heart was hurt.” I press another soft kiss in the same spot. “This will always be a reminder of when you gave your heart for me. It will be a scar, but a scar that represents our love. Please, babe, look at it.”
She’s crying and rests her head on my shoulder. “I love how you see it, Z, but I’m scared if I look, I’m going to see hate, not love,” she whispers.
“Why did you push me out of the way?” I quietly ask.
“Because I was trying to save you.”
“And you did. This scar will always remind you that you saved me. You saved us, babe,” I say, sinking my fingers into her hair.
She lifts her head and searches my eyes. I don’t say anything, I just give her a small encouraging nod. She visibly swallows and I feel her shaking. I move my hands to hold onto her shoulders, squeezing them. She looks down at the staples sticking out of her and she gasps, tears streaming down her face.
“Oh God,” she whispers, holding her hand over her mouth. “It’s so big.”
“It won’t always look like that, once the staples are out, the incision will be much smaller,” I say, trying to reassure her.
“I’ll never be able to wear anything low cut again.” She shakes her head and looks up at me. “I look damaged.”
“Don’t ever say that again. You are not damaged; you are fucking perfection. The scars will heal, inside and out. And every time you wear something low cut, it will turn me on,” I growl.
She doesn’t say anything but looks down again. I watch as she lightly touches the staples, turning her head to see the few stitches on her side. She’s still crying, but it’s not as hard.
“You take my breath away,” I whisper.
She wraps her arms around me, and I carefully hold her as close as I can. “I love you, Zane.”
“I love you, Harper.”
After a few minutes, she pulls away, ready to get out. I help her get dressed in gray sweats and a white baggy shirt that falls off one shoulder. I can’t help that my dick has been taking notice this entire time, and I need to adjust myself as I get dressed. I get my jeans on and slip on black t-shirt.
“You wanna go out to the living room and have some dinner?”
“Yeah, that will be good. Is Ivy still awake?” she asks.
I kiss her nose and grab her hand. “Yep, Kace and Riley are here too. They all wanted to spend a little time with you.”
She smiles as we slowly make our way down the hallway.
“Oh shit, look how good you look,” Riley says, standing up.
Kace comes over and grabs her other hand to help her sit down. “You do look better,” he says, kissing her cheek.
“Thanks.”
“You smell good too,” Ivy says, and we all turn to her. “What? She does.”
We all laugh, and it feels good. It feels like the beginning of our new start.
8
Harper
It’s been a long few weeks but I’m finally starting to feel better. Updating Zane’s house has definitely helped. He wants to make sure I feel like it’s my house, too. It’s incredibly thoughtful, even though letting go of my house will be hard. He told me that if we are going to live together, it should be in the bigger house. He’s right, it makes more sense being here. I haven’t put my house on the market yet, but I will soon.
“Harper,” Ivy yells, from the living room.