Chapter 25
Adrian
“I didn’t knowhe’d be there, baby.” Skylar lowers her head and stares at the ground, the long fall of her hair lightly obscuring her face. “But maybe he needs this?” She looks at me then. I watch as she glances to where Holden is speaking with Claire off to the side. It doesn’t take a genius to realize there is something between them, whether they’d admit it or not.
“He needs it?” she says, kind of void of emotion. I know she doesn’t have feelings for him, knows she loves me with the same intensity with which I love her. This isn’t about anything but her being worried, of her looking out for a friend.
I move closer to her, wrap my arms around her body, and pull her in close. She’s mine, and I’d do anything for her. Anything. I hate to see her feeling this way, scared, worried, maybe even disappointed.
“Truth is I hate seeing you in the middle like that, not knowing if you’ll be okay, or if something goes terribly wrong and I’ll lose you.”
I cup the back of her head, wanting to make things okay for her, wanting to make her see I’m a fighter, and not just in the literal sense. “Baby, as much as I want to give you anything and everything you want, I can’t stop fighting.” I pull back and look in her eyes. “This is who I am. You knew that when you decided to be with my stubborn ass.” I smirk, and love it when she softens a bit.
“I know, and I’d never ask you to stop. I wouldn’t want that. I know you need this like you need to breathe.”
God, and that’s why I love her so much. She gets me, knows that even though I’m not perfect in any sense of the word, that above all else she’s my number one. “You’re what’s important to me.” I pull her in for a hug again, not giving a shit I’ve probably pissed off a load of people by rushing out of there. I may have to fight to let my inner demons out, and may need that bloodshed to feel like my life isn’t spiraling out of control, but until Skylar came into my life I hadn’t been living.
Skylar
I liein Adrian’s arms, the sound of students right outside my dorm room loud, but not loud enough to drown out the emotions going through me. We are both naked, and the feel of his warm body pressed to mine, and the sound of his heart beating the same easy rhythm as mine, lulls me to sleep.
I spoke to Claire just this morning, right before she was off to her classes. I wanted to ask her about Holden, because whether they knew it or not, the chemistry between them is serious. It is intense. But I haven’t asked her anything, because if she wants to talk about it then I am here.
She knows that, and I hope she confides in me, because even if I’ve crushed on Holden back in the day, Adrian is the love of my life. He always will be.
“I love you,” I whisper, and I feel his hands on me tighten, as if he is afraid to let go, or maybe he thinks I’ll leave.
“I love you more than those three words could ever mean, baby.”
My heart swells even more at those words, at the emotion and truth I feel in them. Adrian is everything good and right in my world, but I also know that I could stand on my own two feet. I could make my life whole, healed. But having Adrian giving me the strength, the love that I know I deserve makes life seem pretty bright.