Honestly, it soundedinsane—as insan

Honestly, it sounded
insane—as insane as someone breaking into my apartment and taking a picture of me.
I opened my eyes just in time to see a brown bunny rabbit bounce across the lawn below, into the tree line. Well, I guessed it was a rabbit. It was kind of a brown blur. Could’ve been an opossum for all I knew.
Criminy, I couldn’t believe I was at Reece’s place. I just couldn’t let myself read too much into it. Tucking my hair back, I blew out a tired sigh. Even in the silence, surrounded by bouncing bunnies and pretty flowers, it was hard to really grasp what I felt for Reece. My feelings for him were tangled into a web of our past and our present. Lust cultivated over years and . . .
I couldn’t even think it.
Where I could admit I cared for him strongly—I had for a long time—love was scary. I learned that with Charlie. I loved that boy more than anything, and seeing him hurt had killed a part of me when I was sixteen and still was killing me. I couldn’t fall for Reece, not fall that deeply. Not when going to work every day could mean he could be harmed or worse. I flinched, but that was the truth. God, these thoughts were freaking pointless, because—
The French doors opened and Reece stepped out onto the balcony, his sleepy blue gaze finding me. My tummy tumbled as I drank him in. Goodness, he was cute in the morning. Hair all messy and a shadow of brush along his jaw, he was total pinup material.
“Hey,” he said, and one side of his lips quirked up in a lopsided grin.
My own lips responded. It was clear he was still half asleep. “Hey you. I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“I don’t think so.” Lifting an arm, he dragged his fingers through his hair. My eyes got hung up on his bicep and the muscles along the side of his chest. I shifted in the chair, surprised that I could be so visibly aroused by a guy scratching his head. He moved to the seat beside me. “I mean, I woke up and you were gone.” He leaned back in the chair, spreading his thighs as he tipped his head toward me. “I was worried when you weren’t there. You okay?”
My lips parted as his words hummed through me. “Yeah, I just woke up and didn’t want to wake you. You couldn’t have been sleeping for that long.”
His broad shoulders rose in a lazy roll. “I don’t really sleep that much. Just a couple of hours here and there, especially when I’m working.”
I thought about the night on the couch where it had seemed like a nightmare had shaken him awake. “You have to be so tired, though.”
Casting the heavy-hooded eyes to me, he shrugged again. “It’s the same with you, babe. You work crazy-ass hours just like me. You manage. I manage.”
“True,” I murmured, looking out over the lawn. “I like this—the balcony, I mean.” Flushing, I mentally kicked myself. “It’s very private and quiet.”
“I like it, too. Try to come out here at least once a day, drink my coffee.” Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw him raise his arms above his head and stretch. I had to look. I was only human, and goodness gracious, I was so glad I did. His back bowed as bones cracked. The man was pure sin. “It’s a good place to think,” he finished, dropping his arms.
My gaze coasted over the expanse of his chest and taut stomach, down to the fine trail of darker hair that disappeared under the band of his bottoms. “I can . . . um, understand that.”
There was a pause. “I talked to Colton this morning. He’s going to come by soon. I’ll be here while he talks to you.”
A shiver crawled along the nape of my neck, and I pulled the sweater closer. I nodded. “Does he know what happened?”
“Yes.”
I watched a bird flutter past the balcony. “Does he think it’s related to the other stuff?”
“I don’t know. I think he wants to talk to you first before he makes that jump.” He sighed softly. “Seriously, Roxy, you hanging in there?”
That wasn’t an easy question to answer. So much was going on and hanging between us, and everything we needed to talk about I wasn’t ready for. “Charlie’s on a feeding tube,” I said finally, raising my gaze to the blue, cloudless sky. The color was much like Reece’s eyes. “He hated being on that before, so they have had to restrain him, and it’s so hard to see him like that.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Genuine sympathy radiated from his voice.
I nodded. “The last time he wouldn’t eat, he ended up having a seizure.”
“I remember that,” he said quietly.
Surprised, I looked at him. “You do?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I remember you talking about it, and I know how close you came to losing him.”
Pain rose as I leaned back in the chair. “I’m so afraid.”
“For Charlie?”
“Yeah,” I whispered, and I bit down on my lip as he reached between us, curving his hand around my arm. It felt like my heart doubled in size. “I’m afraid I’m going to lose him. I really am.”
He squeezed my arm gently. “I wish there was something I could say.”
“I know.” I swallowed the knot in my throat.
His gaze held mine for a moment and then he moved his hand. I wanted to climb into his lap and wrap myself around him like an octopus,