Entangled by Aria Wyatt

Author:Aria Wyatt [Wyatt, Aria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Compass Prose Books
Published: 2023-12-10T16:00:00+00:00

17

HENRY

Mood Music: “Need the Sun to Break” by James Bay

“Not happening.” Rowan stands at the foot of the bed with her hands on her hips. “I own the place. Now, tell me what you need. Water? Food? Different clothes?”

What do I need?

I need my past to stop torturing me. I need a peaceful night’s sleep. I need a shitload more therapy and probably some meds. A river of alcohol to drown in. Nothing that she can provide me. Right now, I’ll settle for her not seeing me this way.

“I need you to leave.”

“Like I said, I’m not going anywhere.” She sits on the edge of the bed. “Do you want a hug?”

“No.”

“Why not? Hugs always make me feel better. Probably because I never get them, so it feels like a treat when they happen.”

I fling my arm toward the broken table and glass shit. “A hug won’t fix this.”

“I’m not worried about any of that stuff. I can always order some wood glue and a different lamp, then annoy you when you deliver it.” She smiles and crawls up the bed toward the pillow. Scooting to the edge, she adds, “I’m making an executive decision.”

“Rowan, I’m not in the moo—”

My words die on my lips when she slides off the bed. Straddling my lap, she wraps her arms around me and pulls my head into her chest.

“I’m sorry your past haunts you.” She kisses my forehead and pulls me closer, gently running her fingers through my hair. “I’d take it away if I could. I have no idea what you went through, but I know how it feels to fall apart. You are not alone.”

Her words crack something deep inside me. The validation I didn’t know I needed makes my eyes blur. I blink back the welling emotion, but a tear escapes to spite me. I was never a crier until my wife filed for divorce and abandoned the fucked-up shell of a man I’d become. The way Rowan is holding me, like she truly cares about my pain, is something Chelsea never gave me.

This must be what compassion feels like.

“Thank you,” I whisper, returning her embrace. I close my eyes and breathe in her scent as she massages away the tension in my neck and shoulders.

“No need to thank me. Trust me, hugging you is no hardship.”

With her arms and legs locked around me, we fit together like two pieces of the same puzzle. Not just any pieces though, but the final two needed to complete the picture. I don’t think I’ve ever felt whole—not even before my deployment—but here I am, wrapped in the arms of an angel who has no idea how deeply her kindness moves me. How is it that a woman I met yesterday has the power to put me back together? Rowan is the magic that turns a sparse, weathered evergreen into a Christmas tree. She’s the light and beauty to my darkness, and I can’t get enough of her.

“How come you don’t have a tree?” I ask, remembering the lack of decorations in her home.

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