“No bottled water, and I wasn’t sure the tap water was clean, so I poured milk. I’ve seen you drink it at lunch, so I thought that was a safe choice.”

Rock was once again filling up my small bedroom with his presence, making everything seem less scary. Less hopeless. And he knew that I drank milk at lunch. My heart did a silly flutter.

“Milk is good,” I told him. There weren’t any other options but beer in the fridge. But he didn’t point that out. I was also not supposed to drink the milk, but with Rock here I felt safe. Fandora couldn’t get to me if Rock was standing between us.

He opened the two bottles of pills and shook my dosage out into his palm. “Always thought it was cute that you drank milk at lunch,” he said, flashing me a grin that made me forget that my eye was swollen shut, my wrist was broken, and my ribs were fractured.

I drank milk at school because it was healthy, and I didn’t get much of that at home. It was supposed to make your bones stronger, and I needed strong bones living in this house. I wasn’t telling him that, though.

“Thanks,” I said as he held the glass of milk and pills out to me. I quickly took my pills, being careful with my split lip. It had stopped bleeding and I wanted to keep it that way.

“Drink all the milk if you can,” he instructed me.

I didn’t argue with him.

Once the milk was gone, he took the glass from me and set it beside my bed. “Lay back,” he said, and like with everything else, I did exactly as he said.

Rock then proceeded to tuck me in and make sure my wrist was propped up and my ribs were okay. Watching him work over me with a serious expression kept me from speaking.

When he was satisfied that I was comfortable, he stepped back. “I’ve got a beach towel in the truck and a duffel with a change of clothes. I’m going to grab those and get changed, and then tonight I’m sleeping on the floor in here. I won’t get any sleep if you don’t let me. So please don’t tell me I can’t.”

The pleading look in his eyes combined with all that he had done tonight for Krit and me—I knew I couldn’t tell him no about anything right now. The idea of Rock being in my room gave me peace. I never felt at peace in this trailer. Or anywhere. But Rock was giving me that. I wouldn’t freak out now. I would just embrace it. I needed it right now.

“Okay,” I whispered, and he smiled at me.

I wanted to smile back, but it would hurt my lip. He winked at me as if he knew that, and then he turned and left my room.

Krit had a comforter on his bed he didn’t use. I’d get him to let Rock sleep on it so he didn’t have to sleep on the worn carpet.

As if on cue, Krit’s bedroom door opened and my little brother stepped into my room with a frown. “He coming back?” he asked.

“He’s getting a towel and a change of clothes from his truck,” I assured him.

Krit let out a noticeable sigh of relief. He wasn’t up for dealing with his mother again. Rock had taken that weight off Krit’s shoulders, which I always tried so hard to do.

“He’s sleeping on the floor in here. Bring him that comforter you never use so he can sleep on it.”

Krit nodded. “Yeah, I’ll bring him a pillow, too. And he can have my blanket as well. I’ll go grab a quilt out of Mom’s room.”

The door to the trailer closed as Rock came back inside. Krit walked into the hall, and I heard him speaking in low tones to Rock. I knew they were talking about me and Krit was needing reassurance from Rock. I didn’t want Rock to make any promises to my brother that he couldn’t keep. Krit didn’t need that kind of disappointment in his life. He had enough.

Krit walked back into the room a few minutes later with a pillow, his comforter, and his blanket. “He said he didn’t need anything and he was just going to sleep on his beach towel, but I ignored him. He’s getting changed in the bathroom.”

He was trying to make it easy on Rock so he would stay. But Rock couldn’t stay forever. He was a kid too, with a football career in his future. He didn’t have time to save us. “He can’t stay forever, you know. He has a life and a future. We will be okay when he walks away. We have each other,” I reminded him.

Krit didn’t respond. He kept making Rock a bed on the floor beside my bed.

“You know that, right?” I asked again, needing Krit to acknowledge that this wasn’t something he should get used to.

When Krit dropped his pillow on the makeshift bed, he turned his gaze to me. “No, Trisha, I don’t know that. I think . . . I think you may be more important to him than football.” Then he walked over and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “You’re special. The kind of girl a guy does crazy shit for.”

I started to say something, but Krit left my room before I could think of what to say.

Moments later Rock walked back in, wearing a pair of what looked like board shorts and a Sea Breeze Football T-shirt. His gaze landed on the spot Krit had made for him on the floor, and a small grin tugged at his lips. Then he turned his attention to me. “I think he likes me,” he quipped.

I didn’t smile. Not because my lip was hurt but because Rock didn’t understand the truth in his comment. I had to protect Krit. Letting him trust in Rock was a bad idea.

“He thinks you’re going to save us. I don’t need you to encourage that idea. He’s been let down too many times. I won’t let you do that to him too.”

Rock stared at me for a moment, and then he walked over to the bed. His finger traced the side of my head gently. “You’re worried about me letting him down. What about you?”

What about me? I was sure it would break my heart when Rock walked away from this. But I was tough. I could deal with it. My brother had emotional issues that I didn’t have. He lost it and became uncontrollable crazy when things were too much for him.

“I know you’ll leave. I don’t have any grand illusions. In real life there are no heroes.”

Rock didn’t reply at first. He continued to trace the side of my head and rub his thumb and forefinger over my ear in a caress that felt soothing. “One day, Trisha Corbin, you will call me your hero. And that day will be the most important moment in my life.”

Rock

She hadn’t woken up all night. Several times I had watched her chest to make sure she was breathing. Fandora hadn’t come home, and Krit had already stuck his head in here once this morning to check on her.

Lying on my back, I had both my hands tucked under my head as I watched her sleep. Three hours ago I had heard Dewayne and his dad come get my dad’s truck to take it back to the house. I had called Dewayne when I had gone out to my truck last night. I hadn’t wanted Trisha to hear me.

Dewayne’s dad had left me one of his work trucks he didn’t use every day. The keys were hidden under the backseat. He wanted me to have some way to get around in case we needed to get Trisha back to the doctor or needed to escape. I hated telling Dewayne the truth, but I knew he’d help me.

Trisha’s eyes began to flutter, and I was mesmerized. Slowly her one good eye opened. She focused on me and a smile touched her lips. It was a small smile. One that wouldn’t hurt her split lip. I sat up and reached for the salve the doctor had suggested for her lip. “Your need some more of this,” I told her as I stayed on my knees so I’d be at eye level with her.

“I can do it,” she replied in a sleepy voice.

“I know you can. But I can see it better.” It wasn’t the best excuse, but I wanted to do this.

She lay there as I applied the soothing cream over her battered lip.

Last night after I’d told her she’d call me her hero one day she hadn’t said anything else. The room had gone silent until the soft sounds of her sleeping met my ears. I’d watched her sleep and reassured myself she was okay. I had found her, and everything was going to be okay now.

No more letting her push me away. She could push all she wanted, but I wasn’t letting my damn ego and pride get in the way. Trisha wasn’t trying to make me prove anything to her. She wasn’t moved by jealousy. Those weren’t games she played.

If I wanted her, and I did, I would have to do this on her terms. She didn’t trust me. She was cautious and expected nothing from anyone. Being treated poorly was what she expected. So if I acted like a jackass, she accepted it as fate. All the stupid shit I’d done trying to get her to give in had only pushed her further away from me.

“Is Krit awake?” she asked.

“Yeah, he’s in the living room watching television,” I told her.

She frowned. “Fandora?”

“Not here. Never came home last night.”

She let out a sigh of relief. “Good. Do you have a way to get home?”

Here we go. She was now ready to kick me out. She was protecting Krit. I understood her now. “I have a truck that Dewayne left me. But I don’t need it. I’m not leaving.”

She didn’t say anything at first, so I stood up and started folding up the comforter and blanket I’d used last night.

“Fandora will come home today. She will expect you to be gone, so she’ll return,” she said as if she were warning me away from something I didn’t already know.

“It’s her trailer. I expect she’ll come back,” I agreed.

I put my bedding in the corner neatly.

“She won’t like you being here.”

She’d be pissed. I expected that. But I wasn’t scared of a crazy-ass evil bitch. “I’m sure she won’t. But she’ll have to get over it.” I didn’t wait for her to argue. “I got a Gatorade out of my truck last night and put it in the fridge. I’m going to go get that and let you take your pills. Then I’ll fix you something to eat. What sounds good? You want something soft?”

“Uh, yeah,” she replied, frowning at me.

“I’ll see what I can find. You like eggs?”

“Fandora doesn’t buy eggs. Toast and butter or cereal.”

She wasn’t arguing with me. I felt like I had won a prize.

“I’ll bring both. We will see which one works best.”

I left her in there before she could decide she needed to kick me out again.

Krit looked up at me when I walked into the living room. “She awake?” he asked.

“Yeah. She needs to eat. What’s her favorite?”

Krit shrugged. “She doesn’t have a favorite. We don’t have a large selection. She’s just happy when we get food. Lunch at school is the highlight of her day.”

The kid didn’t mean to say shit that sliced a f**king hole in my stomach, but goddamn, that was hard to swallow. Trisha liked the damn cafeteria food because she was hungry. Shit, that made me furious. What girl doesn’t have a favorite food?

Preston getting excited about Mrs. T’s cookies made a helluva lot more sense now. He always took some home to the boys and Daisy May now that she had teeth. He had this life too. But he had us. Trisha didn’t have anyone.

She hadn’t had anyone. She did now.

“We both like cereal. She won’t admit it, but sugar flakes are her favorite. They’re mine, too, but I lie and eat the cinnamon squares and leave the flakes for her. I know she likes them best.”

I was wrong. She had Krit.

Trisha

Present day . . .

Leaning against the door frame, I watched as Rock read a chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone with Daisy May. It was their nightly ritual. Daisy May had come a long way since she became ours, but her reading level was still lower than most of the kids in her class. Each night Rock read a chapter with her from the book that she had checked out from the library. It was helping her tremendously.

Tonight watching them together reminded me of the moment I’d realized Rock Taylor was my hero. I had fought him every step of the way, not wanting to trust anyone but my brother. I was afraid of being hurt or rejected.