Free Beyond Repair by Kelly Lincoln

voice that he realized it just as much as I did.
    “This is what I wanted to do for you yesterday. But I didn’t want to scare you.” His words muffled against my neck.
    Pulling me against him when thoughts of Pierce clouded my mind probably would have scared me. “You gave me what I needed yesterday. When you were rubbing my back, it calmed me down a lot.” My voice betrayed me because it was full of emotion. And I didn’t care at all.
    His arms tightened, and I let out a sigh before I could stop myself. Chris’s breathing was uneven, too fast against my neck. I closed my eyes as I let myself enjoy the moment of him pressed against me, his hot breath sending me into a trance.
    But then he brought me back. “Something bad happened to you.”
    That was a good way to put it. “Yeah, it did.” I didn’t get angry at his statement, as I usually would. He proved he could be trusted, but we’d had enough crying for one night. I just wanted to focus on him and not tarnish this moment with thoughts of Pierce.
    I moved my hand higher, so that I was rubbing the top of his head, and smiled as he drew in a breath. “I’ll tell you about it soon, I promise.” I swallowed as I realized that I actually meant those words.
    “Brooke?”
    I was still running my fingers mindlessly through his hair. “Yeah?”
    “Something bad happened to me, too. I don’t get panic attacks, but don’t think that you have problems you have to work through alone.” He held me a little tighter, but after a few seconds, he let out a breath. My arms fell off him as he released my waist and moved away, sitting up straight. I stared at him in shock both from what he’d said and from the suddenness of him letting go of me. Come back.
    He looked down. “I really didn’t want you to see me like this, but you made me feel a lot better. Thanks.” I nodded, staring at his hand as he clenched it into a fist. “I guess I better go.”
    He was done crying, so there was really no reason for him to be with me anymore. “Okay,” I mumbled. My fingers twitched at the thought of touching him more, but I didn’t act on it. There was no point … right?
    Instead, Chris reached out and put his hand under my chin, tilting it up to him. My heart pounded as his eyes moved back and forth across my face. After a few tortured seconds, his tongue slipped out of his mouth and across his lips.
    My stomach dropped as his head tilted, and he slowly leaned toward me. An emotion I couldn’t place blanketed his red-rimmed eyes as he watched my reaction.
    I couldn’t move. I just sat there, taking him in as he leaned closer and closer to me.
    His eyes closed, and I let mine sink shut as well. Finally—
    “Mom! Mom! MOM!”
    My eyes flew open to see Chris barely an inch in front of my face as Mia screamed from upstairs. His hand dropped off me, and he quickly sat back.
    I jumped to my feet. “I have to go. She never wakes up in the middle of the night.”
    “Of course,” he said, standing up as well. “I’ll lock your door behind me. Hope she’s okay.”
    I nodded and charged up the steps.

Chapter Seven
    “H EY, WHAT’S WRONG?” I ASKED , rushing into Mia’s room.
    Mia was sitting up in her bed, her hair sweaty and the purple sheets twisted around her. She gazed around the room with her eyes wide open, stopping when they focused on me. “Mom?”
    “I’m here, my girl.” I plopped down on the bed and pushed her wild hair out of her face. “Did you have a bad dream?”
    She nodded and said in one rushed sentence, “There was a big snake that could talk and everyone was friends with him, but he told me that he was tricking everyone and then he tried to bite me.” She took a deep breath.
    “That does sound scary.” I kept my voice light to relax her. “What did you do when the snake tried to bite you?”
    “I yelled for you. And now I’m awake.”
    I put my arm around her. Unfortunately, I couldn’t protect my daughter from bad dreams. But I could