Page 56 of Craving Her
Chapter 31
Skylar
I slowly find myself awake. I can feel Torin beside me. I know the two of us need to talk. He’s adamant that I misunderstood his phone conversation. I’m not sure how I feel about it. I think he’s being sincere, although I’m not sure how you can misinterpret everything he was saying. If anyone can, it would be me, though. I am really good at flying off the handle and regretting it later. I kind of have my mother’s temper and that saying about red hair iscompletelytrue.
“You barely slept, Peaches.”
I look over at him and try to muster a smile. “I have a lot on my mind,” I explain lamely.
“What do you need from me?” he asks. “I want to help you.”
“You’re here, that helps,” I admit. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me so that my head is resting on his chest. I sigh as his fingers sift through my hair again.
“I’m fucking up already,” he mutters. For some reason, I get the distinct impression I wasn’t supposed to hear him.
“What do you mean?”
He scrubs his face with his hand and lets out a breath. “I love you, Skylar.”
“Tor—”
“I’m your man. It’s my job to make sure you have everything to make you feel like the queen you are.My queen.”
“That’s crazy. I’m just me. You give me more than enough now. There’s not much anyone can do to help right now.”
“We need to talk, Peaches.”
“About?” I ask, almost scared to ask.
“I want to explain the conversation you overheard. I want you to feel in secure in our relationship.”
“I know we need to talk, but …”
“I’ll need to leave soon to go with my parents, Thea and Dom. Dad wants a family meeting?—”
“I’ll go with you.”
I pull back to look at him. I wasn’t exactly expecting that. “You can’t,” I whisper, hating I’m saying the words. I really want him with me. I hate the thought of being alone without Torin to lean on through all of this.
“Why not? Are you ashamed of me?”
“Quit being stupid. I’ve been in love with you forever. You’re the only man I’ve ever loved. Why on earth would I be ashamed of you?”
“Then, it’s settled I’m coming with you.”
“Torin, you can’t. Mom and Dad don’t know about us.”
“Skylar—”
“I’m not ashamed. I want to tell everyone in our family—including the fucking club candy out there—that you’re mine. It’s just Mom and Dad are going through enough. I don’t want to spring this on them right now.”
“You get I don’t want to leave you alone when you’re going through all this, right? Doesn’t the fact that Ineedto be beside you matter?”
“It does?—”
“I loved Breaker, too, Skylar. He was family for me, too.”
I sigh with regret and more than a little stress. I know I’m being completely unfair to him. I reach up and hold the side of his face in my hand. “Let me meet with them alone today. We can tackle everything after I kind of feel them out. Is that okay?”