I leaned up and looked him in his beautiful blue eyes hooded over with exhaustion. I placed a soft, lingering kiss on his lips and he sighed when I pulled away. "I love you, too." I whispered against his lips before laying my head back down against his solid chest. My own exhaustion set in as I cuddled against him, my body drained from the emotional and physical stress of the last twelve hours.
"Wes?" I whispered.
"Mmm?" he replied, his voice slow and sleepy.
"You took a bullet for me," I stated, my heart swelling in my chest acknowledging the truth of my words. Wes was silent for a beat and I figured he had fallen asleep.
"I would do anything for you, Brookelyn," he told me tenderly, his voice filled with promise. Tightening his good arm around me, he pulled me even closer against him. "Anything at all … "
I smiled and placed a gentle kiss to his chest, closing my eyes and drifting into sleep.
EPILOGUE
Two months later
A thick sheet of snow covered the ground as I made my way through groups of partygoers scattered outside of the fraternity house. I flicked the last of my cigarette to the ground and stomped on it, climbing the stairs that led back into the house. Girls were dressed in short dresses with low necklines despite the frosty weather, desperate to catch guys' attention. I rolled my eyes and shook my head as a petite brunette stumbled in front of me and pushed her breasts out at me, batting her fake eyelashes up at me. She stuck out her bottom lip in a pout when I moved around her and continued scanning the mass of faces until I landed on the one that I was looking for. I smiled as I watched her laugh with her friends in the kitchen, her long golden hair streaming down her back in the sexy waves that I loved. Her hazel eyes were bright while she talked animatedly with Elle, Jade, and Savanna and I just stood there watching her, grateful to see that smile back on her beautiful face. It had been a long two months since everything had happened with Jesse but with every day we were able to put more of the past behind us and move onto our future together.
I no longer was trapped with the burden of a sling but there were times when I would move too quickly and I'd feel pain from where the bullet had lodged into my shoulder. I had to attend physical therapy twice a week and I was finally getting most of my strength and full function of my arm back. Therapy had been a bitch for the first month following my release from the hospital, but I pushed through the soreness, desperate to get back to normal. Brookelyn constantly worried over me like I was a small child and basically moved into the apartment with me, refusing to leave me alone while I was recovering. I think her motives also had to do with her own fear of the memories that still lingered in her own apartment. I wasn't complaining, though. I loved having her with me all of the time, even if she did think she'd break me anytime she touched me.
I would never forget the thoughts that rushed through my head when Emmy, of all people, had called my phone to tell me that something was wrong. She had seen Brookelyn across the quad as she took the phone call from Elle's number before running to the parking lot, frantic and horrified. I figured Emmy was starting trouble like usual but with each moment that Brookelyn didn't show up to meet me at Starbucks like we had planned, I started to freak out. I had called her phone but it rung and rung before her voice greeted me for her voicemail. I broke every traffic law possible getting to her apartment and praying she was there. Elle's car was parked crookedly up against the curb leading up to the apartment and in that moment I knew that something really was wrong. I peered into the car window and saw her phone on the passenger side seat as well as her purse. I tried to calm myself down before bursting through the door to her apartment, praying that it was all a misunderstanding.
The closer I got to the door the better I could hear inside of the apartment. At the sound of muffled cries and a loud male voice I flew the door open and froze in the doorway. Every muscle in my body tensed as I took in the scene before me: Elle tied up and helpless behind Jesse, who held a gun. Brookelyn was gripping a large kitchen knife like her life depended on it, and her lip was swollen, dry blood surrounding her mouth. I had wanted to do nothing more in that moment than kill the bastard who had hurt her, and as soon as he pointed that gun at her, all rational thoughts left me as I lunged towards him to grab the gun before he pulled the trigger at the woman I loved more than life itself.
Unfortunately, Jesse didn't bleed to death from the bullet wound that Brookelyn had inflicted to his groin. Fortunately, however, the fucker would never be able to get it up every again in his long, incarcerated life. Jesse had wisely pled guilty to all of the nine charges that the district attorney slapped against him, and he'd be spending the rest of his life locked up in a maximum-security prison. Not only had he been charged with contempt of court for violating the restraining order that Brookelyn had placed against him, but he was also charged with aggravated assault and battery, kidnapping, harassment, possession of illegal drugs, unlawful possession of a weapon, assault with a deadly weapon, and two counts of attempted murder. I was impressed by my girl's strength throughout the whole process and I was proud of the way that she held herself together in front of people, even if she did fall apart in my arms when it was just she and I. I fell more in love with her every time I looked into her eyes, and as cheesy as that sounds, it's the truth. I also fell harder each time I thought of how badass she must've looked shooting that gun off at that bastard's junk.
"What are you smiling about?" Brookelyn asked me playfully, nudging me with her hip as she came and stood beside me. I turned to her and she smacked me lightly on my chest when my smile widened, knowing what I was smiling about without me having to tell her. "I don't know why you find that so funny, Wes. I didn't even mean to aim … there."
I laughed aloud and wrapped good arm around her shoulders, pulling her against me as we walked towards our friends. "That's the best part, baby. Karma's a bitch."
"Yes it is," she laughed, threading her fingers through mine above her right shoulder.
"Wes!" Elle exclaimed loudly, slurring her words as she came over and threw an arm around me in a hug. "Let's do a shot! A survivor shot!"
"Babe, you're cut off for the rest of the night," Colin told her with a laugh, pulling her back against him and sliding an arm around her stomach as he whispered something in her ear that made her giggle.
"That's not a bad idea, actually," Jade said, smiling wickedly at Brookelyn and me. Savanna was pouring tequila into a shot glass while Luke sliced up a lime and grabbed the salt.
"We're not taking survivor shots, Jade." Brookelyn told her with a frown.
"No, no! Not survivor shots." Jade explained, "body shots!"
Elle hooted a cheer and Savanna followed suit while Luke lightly shoved me towards the kitchen table forcing me to lie back onto it. It was like déjà vu of that first night at the frat house with Brookelyn. The night that she doesn't even remember.
"C'mon man, don't pussy out on me!" Luke said and I laughed, looking over to Brookelyn who raised her eyebrows and licked her lips, gesturing me to remove my shirt. The scar from my surgery when they removed the bullet had started to heal but it was still apparent. I pulled off my shirt slowly, not for show, but rather to make sure I didn't screw up my shoulder, and tossed it beside me. Savanna handed the liquid filled glass and the salt to Brookelyn while Jade sauntered over and handed me a slice of lime to place between my lips.
Brookelyn made her way over to me and placed the shot glass beside where I lie, dipping a finger into the liquid and swirling it around my chest in a heart shape. She smiled at me as she picked up the salt and sprinkled it across the trail she had made with her finger and bent her head down, looking up at me through her lashes. She stuck her tongue out and slowly licked up the salt-designed heart across my chest, and licked all the way up to my shoulder. When she got to my scar she placed a gentle kiss against it. I was tortured by the assault of her mouth as she ran her tongue across me, her lips brushing softly against my skin. All of my will power from the last two months was diminishing and I was about to take her right here on this table if she kept it up. Brookelyn had been too afraid to touch me ever since I was shot, and we were back at square one despite her sleeping in my bed every night.