Give Me This

Declan Kelly has spent his entire adult life saving people, all the while avoiding any real connections or emotions. He's already been destroyed once, and after she ruined him, he knows he'll never love again.

Amie Dotson knew from the moment she lied that Dec wouldn't forgive her... but she didn't want him to. Lying was easier than the truth because he would have stayed for her, and she didn't want him to miss out on his dreams because of her.

Harboring more than one secret, Amie tries to avoid Declan when she discovers he's back in town, but when he sees the evidence marring her body, she knows he'll do whatever it takes to remove the fear from her eyes.

“There’s so much”—she fiddles with the blanket—“so much we haven’t talked about.”

“I know.” I sit on the side of her bed and hold her cold hands in mine. “But we can fix it, okay?”

“I’m sorry,” she whispers.

My index finger slides under her chin, and I tilt her head up so her watery eyes are looking at me. “Right now, you need to heal. We’ll focus on that, and when you’re better, we can have the discussion we should have had years ago, okay?”

“I can just go to my apartment.”

“Absolutely not. I’m not leaving you alone, and I’m definitely not leaving you at your parents’ place where they wouldn’t be able to help you in and out of bed.”

She starts to argue, but I shut her up by putting my finger over her soft lips. “You have three broken ribs; it’s gonna hurt for a while.”

Her fingers wrap around my wrist, and she pulls my hand down. “Speaking from experience?”

“Yeah.”

“How’d you break yours?”

“On a rescue.”

“Oh.” I hear the hesitation in her voice and wait for her to ask what she’s afraid to. “Dec?”


“Yeah?”

“Why do you want me to stay with you? I mean, don’t you hate me?”

Before I answer her, I take a deep breath to collect myself so I make sure to say the right thing. “I care about you, Amie. Nothing could ever change that.” What I leave out is that I never stopped loving her.