Текст книги "Inked Armour"

Автор книги: Helena Hunting

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Текущая страница: 16 (всего у книги 22 страниц)

My heart stuttered. “I don’t even know when that is.”

“You didn’t miss it while you were gone. It’s not until the end of May.”

“That’s good,” I said softly, pushing his shirt over his shoulders.

How we could be so close to each other but not know something so essential was beyond me. That was a question one usually asked on a first date. When he was fully undressed, I reached behind me and tugged down the zipper of my dress. Letting it fall to the floor, I stepped out of the puddle of fabric.

He exhaled and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me between his legs. He turned his face to the side, resting his cheek against my stomach, and hugged me tightly. “I wish we’d waited until I got you home.”

“We’re home now. You can have me if you want me.”

I could feel his hardness against my thigh but Hayden shook his head. “I just need to be close to you right now.”

“I need that, too, Hayden.”

I ran my hands across his shoulders in soothing, rhythmic circles. He looked up at me, his longing no longer reflective of desire but something deeper.

“This is so pretty,” he said, undoing my garter and rolling down the stocking. He kissed my hip and moved to the opposite side, repeating the action.

Undressing each other was inherently sensual. I wanted so much to lose myself in him after this long, difficult day. But Hayden needed more than that from me right now. I sensed it in the reverent way he touched me, in the unhurried way he removed each article of clothing.

“I like you in this. Better than I like you in black.”

“Why is that?”

He pulled at the loose garter, a half smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. “Because it reflects how I see you—feminine and delicate and pretty.”

I wanted to ask what else he saw in me, but became distracted when he reached behind me and freed the clasp of my bra. His eyes moved over my body in a way that felt more like worship than sex, and his fingers trailed between my breasts. His hand came to rest on my hips, his eyes shifting down from my face. His Adam’s apple bobbed with a heavy swallow and his tongue swept out, wetting his lip.

“You prefer me like this?” I glanced at the pile of pale discarded lace and satin, so different from some of the other lingerie I had.

“Naked? Always.”

He flashed a mischievous grin and threw one leg over the side of the tub, reaching over to turn off the tap. He lowered himself into the water and made room for me between his legs. I sat on the edge and dipped a toe in, testing the temperature. My feet were still half-frozen from having been shoeless for the past hour, and the heat was a relief.

Hayden’s arms came around my waist and he leaned back, taking me with him. I settled against his chest, submerged to my shoulders. The water level rose until it was perilously close to the rim of the tub, but Hayden didn’t seem to care.

My hair fanned out on the surface, darkening as it sank. Hayden gathered it up and pulled it over my shoulder. His lips met my skin, moving from my collarbone to my neck, pausing when he reached the spot just under my ear.

“I left a mark,” he whispered, his lips brushing over the sensitive skin.

“It’s okay. It’ll fade in a few days,” I said, worried about the remorse in his tone.

“I left a lot of them.” His chin came to rest on my shoulder.

“I don’t mind. None of them are permanent.”

“Not on the outside, anyway.” His hand drifted down my arm. “I wish things had gone differently tonight.”

“I’m sorry I lost it at Cassie’s.”

“You don’t have to be sorry, kitten. And I’m not talking about that. I just don’t want you to feel like you have to do things you’re not comfortable with.”

“Are you talking about the sex tonight?” I turned my head so I could see his face. “I made the suggestion.”

“Only because I’ve mentioned it before.”

“I wouldn’t have said anything if I hadn’t wanted it. I needed to be with you. I was the one who started it.”

“I don’t know if I agree with that. You have a history of caving, especially for me.”

“You think so? Who let who into their apartment that first time?”

“I kissed you, though. I made the first move,” he argued.

The flirting had driven me almost insane during the tattoo session. The buzz of attraction had been an aphrodisiac. “I couldn’t have given you any more of an invitation if I tried. Shall I remind you that I’m the one who provided a loophole for your ridiculous rule? I knew exactly what I was doing when I lured you into my bedroom. I wanted you. It’s always been me pushing you, not the other way around.”

He smiled slightly, maybe caught up in the memories, then his expression grew serious as he traced the outline of the wing curling around my shoulder. “I’m not just talking about sex, Tenley. I’m speaking in general terms.”

Water splashed and trickled over the side of the tub as I turned to see him better. “You’re not referring to the tattoo, are you? Because I specifically recall coming to you with it. Not the other way around.”

“No. That’s not what I meant. Although, I’d like to remind you, I asked you to come by the shop more than once, and I’m the one who convinced you to get the cupcake first.” His hand smoothed over my hip, close to the tattoo in question.

“I would have brought the design to you eventually, even without the persuasion. And the cupcake tattoo was a means to an end. The payoff was worth it.”

Hayden laced his fingers through mine. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” I said, concerned by the serious slant of his brow.

“What would happen if Trey came back again?”

The odd question threw me. “He won’t.”

“How do you know that?”

“I don’t have anything he wants anymore.”

“What if he did, though? How do I know you won’t leave again? That wasn’t something you wanted to do, but you went anyway.”

So this was the topic he’d been circling. I thought we’d already dealt with these fears, but in the wake of so much stress, they’d been unearthed again. What he didn’t understand was that Connor had been the expectation for my future. Being with Hayden was a choice.

“I wouldn’t make the same decision this time. I was in a different headspace then. I didn’t know how to deal with how I felt about you. There was so much guilt, and I didn’t know what to do with it.”

Hayden’s arms tightened around me. “I just don’t want you to leave me again. I can’t do this without you anymore.”

His expression made my heart hurt. “Hayden, you are everything I could ever want. You are the place I want to be.”

25
HAYDEN

It was noon before I opened my eyes the next day. Tenley was slow to wake up and even slower to get moving. As she tried to sit up, she cringed and moaned, then flopped back down. She rolled over on her stomach, her face mashed into the pillow.

“What hurts?” The hood of my car was no soft place to get it on.

“My lower back,” she mumbled from under her veil of hair.

I threw the covers off and leaned over. I checked for bruising, then ran my thumbs down her spine. When I reached her tailbone, Tenley made a sound of displeasure.

“Right here?” I asked, putting a little pressure on the spot.

“Mm, and my hips are stiff.” She blew her hair out of her face.

“Let me make it better.” I started rubbing, and little sounds of approval escaped her when I hit a particularly sore spot. TK jumped up on the bed and started sniffing around, her nose bumping up against my leg. Sometimes we had to lock her out of the room when we were having sex because TK sat at the end of the bed and meowed at us otherwise. It was creepy and distracting as hell. Especially when Tenley started laughing.

Now, TK climbed right up on Tenley’s back and started to knead, getting in on the action. Then she head-butted my hand and plunked herself down right where I was massaging.

Tenley peeked over her shoulder. “It looks like your other kitty is jealous.”

“It’s not like she doesn’t get enough attention.”

I picked TK up before she started in with the claws and lay back down beside Tenley, settling TK on my chest. She nuzzled right in, rubbing the top of her head under my chin, purring up a storm. “How’s your back feeling now?”

“Okay. A couple painkillers should take care of it if it’s still bothering me later.” Tenley closed her eyes again.

I had other questions—about her use of medication, about what Cross and Miller had said to her last night, about Chris’s asinine yet brilliant idea for a New Year’s getaway—but all of those could wait.

“Tenley?”

“Hmm?”

I kissed the tip of her nose. “Do you want to open the rest of our presents?”

Her eyes popped open. “Oh my God! Of course!”

She rolled out of bed and sprang to her feet. In the next heartbeat she disappeared, dropping to the floor. I leaned over, not quite sure what had happened. Her hands appeared at the edge of the mattress as she hoisted herself up, coming nose to nose with me.

“Soooo,” she said, “I guess I haven’t fully recovered from that workout last night.”

I swung my legs around and slipped my hands under her arms. She muttered something about being okay, which was a load of crap because she wobbled like a foal, using my shoulders for support.

“We need to try out different positions,” I said to her boobs, which were right in my face.

“Right now?” Tenley’s voice became a sultry whisper.

I looked up. Her eyes were focused on my stupid dick, which couldn’t get with the program and deflate.

“Uh, no, kitten. We should put a hold on that until the staying-upright thing is less of a problem.”

She pouted, but I wasn’t about to cave. It was already after noon on our first Christmas together. I wanted to open presents while drinking coffee and eating the cupcakes I’d found hidden in the fridge last night.

When she no longer needed me for support, I rolled off the bed and rooted around in my dresser, yanking on a pair of festive pajama pants.

Tenley was still living out of an overnight bag when she came over, which needed to change. I’d cleared a section in my closet for her and she had a few things hanging in there, but no comfy lounging gear. I grabbed a pair of boxers for her and my STRYKER hoodie. She covered up all that sexy, bare skin, which made it easier to focus, and we left the bedroom.

After coffee was brewed and poured—Tenley making hers undrinkable with a shitload of sugar and cream—we sat down and exchanged the gifts under the tree. It was the first time in the past seven years that I’d actually looked forward to the holiday.

I passed the first gift to Tenley. She pulled the red-and-white-striped bow off the top and stuck it to her head with a cheeky grin. TK batted at the springy tendrils of ribbon as Tenley removed them from the box as well. Eyes bright with anticipation, with her fingernail she cut through the tape sealing the box. “Did you wrap this?”

“Yeah.”

She paused to kiss me. “You’re pretty incredible, you know that? This is a professional wrap job. You could start a side business.”

“I’ll get right on that.” I smiled as she attempted to unwrap the box without ripping the paper. She gave up halfway through and tore into it. I’d put forth some serious effort to make the presents look good. Every single gift had bows and ribbon and all that frilly crap on it. Even the tiny ones. Her excitement made it worth it.

Tenley tossed the torn wrapping into the wastebasket I’d set up beside the coffee table. She opened the box, folding back the tissue paper. A black hoodie sat inside. Tenley traced the skull-and-crossbones cupcake emblazoned in white over the left side of the chest. She read the lettering that arched above and below in a tattoo-inspired font.

“Does that say . . .” She lift the hoodie out of the box to get a better look.

“It’s supposed to be a joke.” Sort of. Not really. “I like the way mine looks on you and you’re always hijacking it, so I thought I’d get you your own. This one is your size.” I was doing that rambling shit again.

“Oh. So the PROPERTY OF HAYDEN STRYKER inscription is the joke part?”

“You should check out the back,” I replied, avoiding the question because it was not, in fact, the joke part.

She turned it over to find STRYKER in red lettering with gold piping across the back. It was about more than just liking the way my hoodie looked on her. I also liked the way my name looked across her back and chest. I would never admit, not in a million years, that I’d fantasized about inking my name on her somewhere. The crease at the inside of her thigh was definitely a favored option in my imagination. That way I’d see it every time I went down on her.

Until now, I’d never understood why people put someone else’s name on their body. It wasn’t erasable. Even laser was a painful and not-always-effective method of removing such mistakes. Memorial tattoos made sense, though. I’d even put one on Cassie, though we’d argued over the placement for weeks before I folded.

I could respect those guys who came in and had their kid enshrined on their back or chest or biceps. I figured it was a way for them to cement their role as a parent. But tattooing the name of a significant other on my body had always seemed ludicrous. Jamie’s LISA tattoo—across his lower abdomen no less—had baffled the shit out of me. Not so much anymore.

Other than Tenley, I hadn’t been inside anyone whom I wanted to refer to as significant. She’d changed that. After she left, I’d been ready to put a pin-up version of her on my ribs. I still wanted to, but for less desperate reasons. I also wanted it in a much more visible location. It wasn’t much different from putting her name on me.

She traced the perimeter of the S in STRYKER.

“I thought you might like wearing it at school. You know, when you have class and stuff.” That way, those guys she worked with wouldn’t have to question whether we were still together.

“Stuff, as in group meetings?”

“Sure.” I tried to come off as nonchalant.

“So the inscription on the front, would you say it’s more of warning than a joke?”

I gave her a sheepish smile. “I thought you’d prefer it to hickeys.”

I smoothed my thumb across her neck where only a faint pink mark remained from last night. A couple of tiny, almost unnoticeable lines on her bottom lip were the only other reminders of the damage I’d inflicted.

“Aren’t you sweet,” she drawled.

“You don’t like it?” My stomach did a weird flip thing.

“No. I love it. It’s perfect—much better than a hickey.” She leaned in and kissed me. “But there are less conspicuous, more sensitive places for you to suck on than my neck.”

“Is that right?” I nibbled her bottom lip.

“Mm.”

“Maybe later we could perform a thorough exploration of those locations,” I suggested.

“Maybe.”

She extricated herself from my arms and sashayed over to the tree. She got down on her hands and knees, ass in the air, and rooted around until she came up with a handful of presents. We spent the next hour opening gifts and tossing TK’s new catnip mice around. The last present I opened was the third of the three pictures Lisa had taken of Tenley.

This one wasn’t as revealing as the first one I’d opened, but it was the most provocative. Tenley was in profile, her features obscured by shadow, her fingers at her lips. She was wearing a camisole covered in cupcakes, and her pert nipple showed through the tight, sheer fabric. The clincher was the lack of panties, made even sexier by the garterless, lace-edged thigh highs. A slight twist in her torso caused the light to hit the cupcake tattoo but blacked out that perfect slit between her thighs.

My intention had been to thank her by kissing her. That didn’t quite happen, and we didn’t make it to the bedroom. However, I did manage to find a new position that didn’t put as much strain on her hips.

By four in the afternoon we’d finished with presents, a shower, and a meal and were vegging on the couch. My phone had rung half a dozen times already, as had Tenley’s, but we were both avoiding the calls. Until Tenley and I talked about New Year’s options, I wasn’t having the conversation with Lisa.

We were in the middle of watching an action flick when Tenley sighed and shifted around, rubbing her legs together. “I need to do something.”

“Why don’t we go out? We could go for a walk, get some fresh air.”

She hopped off the couch and headed for the bedroom, taking the hoodie with her. I stayed put because seeing her naked would be a deterrent to going out. We needed to do something other than have sex, even though it was a way to keep our minds off the difficult stuff. While I waited, I busied myself with organizing the presents under the tree.

She came back out a few minutes later with her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. She was wearing purple jeans that were so fitted they looked painted on and the STRYKER hoodie.

“You like?” She did a little twirl.

“Yeah. I like.” I nodded dumbly, completely rethinking my previous rationale for leaving the condo.

“Are you planning to go out like that?”

I ran a hand over my chest. “You don’t think I should?” The white T-shirt was so thin, she could see my body art and my nipple rings through it.

“Feel free, but I’m thinking if you get a hard-on, it might be difficult to hide.” Tenley gestured at my pajama pants.

I looked down. I already had an obvious semi. “Point taken.”

I changed quickly. When I came back out, Tenley was sprawled on the floor, and TK was perched on her knees batting at a string with a bell tied to the end.

“I have an idea,” Tenley said.

“What’s that?”

“You said you wanted to work on shading this week, right? What if we started now?” She looked hopeful and a little nervous.

“Are you sure you’re up for something like that today?”

“I think so.” She set TK on the floor and used the coffee table to pull herself up. “Yesterday was difficult for both of us, and I need some kind of . . . release? And I think this might help.”

I weighed the options. If I worked on her shoulders it would be less painful, and we could stop anytime. There’d be no pressure to get through a certain amount of color, and we’d have no interruptions since the shop would be empty. It could be cathartic. But it could go the other way, too. It was hard to tell which was more likely. “I don’t know . . .”

“Please? I promise I’ll tell you if I think it’s too much. We could go down to the shop for a bit. If I feel at all like it’s not going to be okay, we can just go for a walk.”

With no pressure in the request, I gave in. There was no way to know unless I gave it a shot. “We could try.”

“Really?” She threw her arms around my neck, her excitement contagious. I hadn’t worked on her since before she’d left for Arden Hills. Getting her back in my chair might be good for both of us.

“But I say when I think you’ve had enough.”

“Of course. And if I don’t think I can handle it before that, I’ll ask you to stop.”

She kissed me, her tongue pressing forward to tangle with mine, and I wondered if we would ever lose this unquenchable need for each other. I hoped not.

26
HAYDEN

At Inked Armor, Tenley wandered around the private room, inspecting the bottles of ink and plastic-labeled bins of supplies as she waited for me to set up. I drew it out to allow both of us to adjust to the environment and what we were about to do.

When I was done, I pulled her file. I kept it in there after she’d left, rendering and rerendering the color scheme when I got frustrated with my design. I pulled out the newest versions and spread them over the worktable. The tone of the piece had changed over time and revisions. The original design, which had initially drawn me to Tenley’s art, and to her, had been altered considerably.

The blacks and deep blues and purples, along with the bursts of flame, had all been tempered, subdued by an overarching golden glow. The change in color was most concentrated at the shoulders. It gave the allusion that the sun was shining down on the wings, bringing them back to life, the blackened, damaged feathers falling away, newer growth replacing the destruction.

“I’ve made some alterations.” I spun around on my chair, expecting her to be across the room.

She was standing right behind me. “I see that.”

“We can go with the original if you prefer, but I thought I’d give you choices.”

Tenley put her hands on my shoulders and leaned in, looking over the various designs spread out over the table. She moved from left to right, from original to most recently revised. “You’ve made a lot of changes.”

“A lot has changed since we started the tattoo.”

“Mm.” Her fingernails slipped under the hair at the back of my neck and dragged down. “That’s very true. I like these. They’re beautiful.” She skimmed across the last few.

“You want to go with one of them?”

At her nod, I put the others aside, except for the original design we’d started from and the ones she liked the most. Then I pulled her into my lap. We spent another good twenty minutes going over the finer points before she made the final decision. She went with the second-to-last revision, which was my favorite. I loved that we seemed to be on the same page on so many things.

I cranked the heat in the private room. As I picked out the ink and set up the tattoo machine, Tenley stripped from the waist up. When she was half-naked and everything was laid out, she dropped down in the chair, making no attempt at modesty.

“You’re a hundred percent sure you can handle this today?” I asked, keeping my eyes on hers.

“Yes. If it’s too much, I promise to tell you.”

“I’m holding you to that.”

Her broad grin eased some of my anxiety over doing this on such a critical day for her. This was exactly what I had wanted to do during my first holiday without my family. Instead, I went on a bender that nearly killed me. By that time I’d already been introduced to Chris, who’d tried to get in touch with me afterward without any luck. He kicked my ass when I finally showed up at work three days later. The black eye and bruised ribs that resulted marked the official beginning of our friendship. It was the last time I was allowed to be alone during a holiday. Aside from the Thanksgiving that had just passed.

Tenley stretched out in my chair and her hair slipped over the side. It was so long, it almost brushed the floor.

“I’m starting at your shoulders. I’m thinking a couple hours max, but it depends on you.”

“That sounds fair.”

I hit the music, washed my hands, and snapped on a pair of gloves. Next I prepped Tenley’s back, wiping it down with antiseptic spray. The hum of the tattoo machine filtered through the room. As soon as it touched her skin, she relaxed. Her eyes closed and she melted into the chair, a tiny smile playing at the corner of her mouth. I worked in silence for the first few minutes, aware Tenley needed time to acclimate to the sensation.

“How does it feel so far?”

“It’s not bad.”

“It’ll be more irritating because I’m shading instead of outlining, so if you need a break, say the word.”

I started on the scarred side on purpose. Although the ones at her shoulders weren’t bad in comparison to the ones by her hips, they were still sensitive. If I could get the most uncomfortable part out of the way at the beginning of the session, it would make the rest easier to tolerate.

After a few more minutes of quiet, Tenley asked the question I’d been waiting for.

“Will you tell me what happened last night?”

“With Cross?” I dipped the needle in the yellow and brought it back to her skin.

“And Officer Miller.”

“Cross was his usual dick self. I don’t know what his deal is, but he seems to have a penchant for pissing me off.” I made a pass with a fresh, damp cloth. “I know I was an asshole kid, but he’s got one hell of a hate-on for me.”

“I wonder why,” Tenley mused, echoing my thoughts.

I was quiet for a minute, but I couldn’t think of anything beyond my attitude. “I have no idea.”

“What about Officer Miller? The conversation with her seemed okay.”

“She looked into my parents’ case. Like she said before, they need new evidence to have it reopened.”

“What about that painting you mentioned from your parents’ bedroom?”

“Maybe. If it made it to the storage unit.” I stayed focused on her tattoo, switching from yellow to gray ink to add depth.

“We could go this week and have a look while you have time off.”

“It might not even be there,” I said, voicing my predominant fear.

“It wouldn’t hurt to check, though. Unless you don’t want to.”

She was giving me an out. “It’s not that. I mean, I’ve been there before.” I tried to go a bunch of times, but always ended up sitting in the front of the door. The one time I made it past the threshold I ended up on a drug binge that lasted a month and almost cost me more than just my job at Art Addicts.

Tenley glanced at me, her unasked question on her beautiful face.

“It’s just—” I turned off the tattoo machine and put it down. I wanted to find a way to say it without sounding like a huge pussy. “I always believed whoever killed my parents would eventually be caught. Even when they closed the case, I still held on to that hope. If that painting isn’t there, or I’m remembering things wrong, then I’ve got nothing. I’ll be back where I started. I don’t know if I can face the possibility of never having an answer.”

Tenley sat up and crossed her arms over her chest, coming knee to knee with me. “But if you could know either way, wouldn’t that be better? Even if the answer isn’t the one you want?”

I got where she was coming from. Tenley would never have the answers to some of her questions. At least I had the option. I needed to take it so I could move on, regardless of the outcome.

“Okay. We can go sometime this week.”

“Whenever you’re ready.”

If it had been anyone other than Tenley looking at me that way, it would have been emasculating. But she got it in a way no one else ever could.

“Why don’t we take a break?” I suggested.

I had reached her shoulder blades and wanted to switch sides. That way she wouldn’t feel compelled to go for hours, and the color would be balanced.

“Okay.”

I stripped off my gloves and hit the back room for bottled water. When I returned, Tenley was standing in front of the three-way mirror with her hands on her hips, admiring the fresh ink. It was flushed pink around the edges, irritated from the shading, but it looked amazing. The shades of bright and pale yellow, along with white and light gray, gave the illusion that the wings were shimmering.

Seeing my ink on her back along with those damned barbells pierced through her pert nipples made my physical reaction impossible to control.

“Ready for me?” she asked.

“We should probably finish the session first.” My brain had clearly taken a vacation; what was in my head came out of my mouth unfiltered.

“What—” She appeared confused at first, until her eyes drifted from my face to my fly. She smiled coyly as she sauntered back to the chair. “When aren’t you ready for that?”

She settled in, shifting around. I could tell her hip was bothering her by the way she moved, but she wasn’t limping. I waited until she was comfortable before I snapped on a new pair of gloves.

“Can I ask you something?” I wheeled around to her left side and turned on the tattoo machine.

“Sure,” she said with a hint of apprehension.

“How often do you have to take painkillers?”

“You mean because of my hip?”

“Is there other pain?” It hadn’t occurred to me there might be additional issues, although it should have.

“Sometimes I get headaches. At first I had them almost every day, but they’re fairly infrequent now.”

“Are they like migraines?” The needle touched her skin, pigment pushing under the surface, giving dimension to the outline almost immediately.

“I guess that’s the best way to describe them. It used to feel like someone was stabbing me in the head. They’d come on without any warning. One second I’d be in the middle of doing something, and the next I’d be on the floor. It was scary.”

“Did they ever figure out the cause?”

“There was nothing concrete, just lots of hypotheticals. I think it might have had to do more with the trauma. My vision would go white and I’d have vague flashes of what happened. I was in so much pain, I couldn’t hold on to the memories—not that I wanted to anyway. After a few months the headaches started to subside, and I could remember most of what happened.” She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “Sorry, that’s not what you asked about. Now it’s just my hip that causes problems.”

“It’s cool. These are all things I want to know, if you want to tell me.” I kissed her temple.

“It’s easier to talk about than it used to be,” she said softly. “You mean since you came back from Arden Hills?” A few seconds passed before she replied, and I worried that I’d pushed too much.

“Before I left, I was trying so hard to keep my life here separate from what had happened. It’s not like that anymore.”

“I’m glad.”

“Me, too.” She was quiet for a minute. “Anyway, you were asking about my hip.”

“So it’s better now than it was?”

“Most days. The cold seems to be a problem, but fortunately I don’t have to take anything too strong anymore.” She took a deep breath before she continued. “The doctors had me on a morphine drip in the beginning. I was in such a haze, I didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t for the longest time. I couldn’t figure out why Trey was the only person I saw. I’m sure it was better that way.”

I put the tattoo machine down. “You mean you didn’t know everyone was gone?”

She shifted to look at me, her eyes ancient. “Not at first.”

“How long was it before you found out?”

“A week—maybe two at the most? My memories of that time aren’t very clear. I was in and out of consciousness, so I can’t be sure. Trey was the one who told me, obviously. I had a complete breakdown. It was . . . awful. Deep down, I knew the nightmares I was having weren’t just dreams, but I didn’t want to believe it.”

I couldn’t fathom waking up in traction, with broken bones and third-degree burns, only to find out everyone I cared about was dead. Just thinking about it gave me the chills.

“Anyway”—Tenley cleared her throat—“I don’t know if this is the best my hip is going to get or not, but it’s much better than it was.”

“What do the doctors say?”

“As far as they’re concerned, the surgery was a success. I was in bed for weeks before I was allowed to start walking. But I can walk fine most of the time and I have full range of motion, at least for now. There was a lot of damage; the doctors say I’ll need a hip replacement eventually.”