And I can’t help but wonder if he means that newly installed device.
Not that it matters. We’re out of Lex’s claws now.
There’s no way he can hurt Beast or me from this distance. I’m sure that device won’t work from this far away.
Which means … he should definitely get even farther away.
I sigh as I finish up and put some tape over the gauze, sealing the wound. “All done.”
“Thanks,” he says as I put the supplies away.
He gets off the seat and walks to the window to check the neighborhood. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s followed us here.”
“I hope not,” I respond, clearing my throat.
He’s still staring out the window, hands splayed on the glass like he’s looking out into a world he’s yet to discover. And it makes me feel like I’m holding him back.
“You’re free to go wherever you want now,” I say.
“What?” He turns to me as his eyes darken. “What do you mean?”
I don’t know what to say. “I just … don’t want you to think you have to stay here.”
“Why wouldn’t I stay?” he asks, approaching me.
“Well, you’re free now. You can go anywhere you like.”
He walks closer, invading my space in a way that feels intimate. Exciting.
“I don’twantto leave.”
He pauses. The air is thick with tension.
Why wouldn’t he want to leave?
He has the world at his feet.
All the freedom he could ever want.
“I don’t want to leaveyou.”
That one added word.
God.
I don’t even know what to say.
“You’ve done more for me than anyone ever has,” he says, taking my breath away.
But I’m just little me. I didn’t do anything except try to save my papa, but it almost cost him his life.
“I almost got you killed. Twice,” I mutter, tears welling up in my eyes at the thought.
He grabs my face, clutching me tight. “I’m alive, thanks to you.”
I shake my head. That doesn’t make any sense. I’m the reason he wasn’t freed to begin with. The reason he chose to defy his owner.
But his fingers squeeze my cheeks, refusing to let me look anywhere other than into his mesmerizing green eyes.