Just as I go to step away, she turns back to look at me from inside her room before she shuts the door for the night. “Why do you touch me all the time?” Her voice is little more than a whisper.

“Because it’s impossible not to. Good night, beautiful.”

Now that’s a name, surely, she can’t object to.

Moving my feet toward my bedroom is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but deep down, I know it’s the right thing to do.

For now.

Chapter Twelve

HARPER

Forrest’s words keep rotating in my head.

“It’s impossible not to… beautiful.”

I don’t understand how to rationalize it. Every other person in my life knows how I don’t like to be touched, including Forrest. Yet he does it anyway.

And I like it.

I’ve never liked it.

So why is his touch the one that I can’t stop thinking about?

What is he doing to me?

Lying in bed staring at the ceiling, I think about my King’s Guard bear that I stuffed under the bed a few days ago. Hopping up and leaning down, I reach under the bed and pull him out but not to cuddle him.

Instead, I sit on my bed with it in front of me and start talking to my dad.

But not like I used to do when it all happened. That was a lot of yelling and questioning why he did what he did.

This is different. I want to tell him about Forrest. I need to understand why he makes me feel the safest I have felt since my dad left. Which is wild, considering my life has danger hovering around it, yet here in this apartment, with him, I feel peace.

The words are not out loud but in my head. I can’t afford for Forrest to hear any of my ramblings. Of course, there are no answers, just like when I used to yell into the night sky, but for some reason, I feel a little better.

Drifting off to sleep, Forrest’s scent cocoons me again. It’s like he is imprinted on me which makes absolutely no sense. But I love it anyway.

Felisha and I just ate dinner, talking about the guy in our business law class who is a serious jerk, and I’m so glad Professor Claridge put him in his place. There is nothing worse than a guy who thinks he knows everything but really knows nothing. I swear he is compensating for something.