Chapter 82

Watching him sleep this uncomfortably just so he can hold onto my hand as I sleep, to be assured of my safety, I feel my heart swell with so much love for him. So much. It bubbles to the brim for him. I want to wake him up and yell it into his ears. To scream it from the top of a mountain. I want the whole world to know I am in love with this stunning man.

I want it so much, I ache with the intensity of it. But I have to remind myself that the world wouldn't want to hear it.

They would persecute me for it. Just like Tyler did. They would judge and hate me for it. He is my late mother's husband. Or he was. They separated, though privately. Nobody would care about the details. He was Kathryn's and would always be. He is my stepfather. My legal guardian. He is two decades older than me. How much more taboo can a situation get?

But I love him. So much. My heart beats hard and true for him. How can this be wrong when it feels so right?

When I sunk so low in that warehous