I ignored that, because as crazy as it sounded, I thought his eyes held a certain sheen to them as I stared down at him. And that made my heart ache something fierce, because I didn’t want him to take on the heavy weight of responsibility for someone else’s actions. That wasn’t fair, and it hurt to watch him carry that.

It struck me then, like being hit by a ton of flying monkeys—­flying monkey asses, actually. That piercing pain in the chest must’ve become something all too familiar to my parents after watching me blame myself for what happened to Charlie. Yeah, what was going on with Kip was totally different, but in a way it was still the same, and it had to be what Reece felt when he heard me talk about the way I felt.

What a hell of a wakeup call.

“None of this was your fault,” I told him. “Please tell me you understand that, because I cannot deal with you blaming yourself when you had nothing to do with this.”

His brows furrowed together. “You were hurt—­you are hurt.”

“But you didn’t hurt me. You saved me. So did Henry.” The last words were something I never thought I’d ever utter in my entire life. “And you’ve been here for me. You’ve been there for me when Charlie passed away and before that. And if I’d given you the chance, you would’ve been there for me a hell of a lot longer.” Tears pricked at my eyes, stinging my right one. “You did what you needed to do, Reece.”

A moment passed and then he exhaled roughly. Slipping his hands free from mine, he cupped my cheeks, drawing my face down toward his. “I’m going to be real with you, Roxy. I would not know what to do if something happened to you,” he said, his voice thick. “The very thought of losing you kills me. And knowing how close I came to doing just that isn’t something I can easily forget.”

“I know,” I whispered, blinking back tears.

He let out another raw, shaky-­sounding breath. “But I’m going to try, because that’s what I asked you to do with everything, and I know that’s what you’re going to do.”

My smile was wobbly but wide and then he lifted his head off the pillow, kissing me gently, mindful of the cut in my lip. “I love you,” he said against my mouth, his words barely above a whisper but packing an emotional punch. “Baby, I love you.”

I could spend the rest of my life hearing those words over and over again, and never grow tired of hearing them. Not only that, I wanted to feel them. I wanted to be wrapped around Reece until we didn’t know where each of us began or ended.