Unbreakable

by Abby Reynolds

  I was sitting at the breakfast bar drinking a cup of coffee when Keira finally came downstairs. I already hit the gym and took care of my bills before she even opened an eye. She was a sleepyhead.

  She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me. Automatically, she crawled into my lap. She was affectionate with me like she never wanted to let me go. And I loved it.

  “Morning,” she said quietly.

  “Afternoon.”

  “Afternoon?”

  “It’s eleven.”

  “Oh.”

  I laughed. “God, you’re lazy.”

  “No. When you rock my world like that, it takes a lot out of me.”

  “You were the one on top. Baby, you rocked my world.”

  She smiled. “That I did.”

  I loved her playful attitude. She wasn’t scared around me at all anymore. It was the best feeling in the world. I was completely trusted by her.

  She eyed the paper, seeing the job openings I circled. “What’s this?”

  “Looking for a new job.” I kept the sadness out of my voice.

  “Oh.” She looked at my options. One was an office manager, and another was a bookkeeper at a library, both something I didn’t want to do. Fortunately, I had a substantial amount in my savings account, so money wasn’t an issue, but I needed to get a job anyway. “Do you like any of these…?”

  “They are fine.” I wasn’t going to complain.

  She stared at me. “Liam, do you want to keep fighting?”

  Dangerous territory. “I want you in my life.”

  “Do you want both…?”

  Where was this going? She broke up with me when she saw me in action. Now she was accepting of it? That couldn’t be right. “I want you in my life,” I repeated.

  “I just…feel bad making you switch jobs.”

  “Don’t.” I drank my coffee and looked at the paper.

  “It just scares me because—”

  “You don’t need to explain yourself, baby.”

  She looked torn. I knew she wanted me to do what I wanted, but it scared her at the same time. “I’ve never felt safer than I do with you. I know you would never hurt me, and you’ve put my back together. But, I guess I’m still scared of the world. Without you in it, it’s still a scary place. And knowing he’s still alive, even behind bars, is still frightening to me. I don’t know.”

  I studied her face, trying to figure out what she was really saying. She and I both made substantial progress with each other. We’ve become people so different than who we used to be. But perhaps we weren’t done yet. “I could teach you how to fight.”

  “What?”

  “If you empower yourself, you won’t be scared. There will be times when I’m not around. This will give you strength and confidence. Perhaps when you do this, you won’t be opposed to me fighting either. It’s just an idea.”

  She listened to my words and replayed them in her mind. I watched her and waited for a response. My sister’s death would haunt me forever. I replayed those nights in my mind indefinitely. If my sister knew how to defend herself, perhaps things would have been different. If I killed her boyfriend, I would be in jail but she would still be alive. It would be therapeutic for me too, doing something with Keira I should have done with my sister.

  Finally, she spoke. “We could try…”

  The trust behind those words made my heart throb. She would never consider something like that months ago. But now she did. And this was good for me too. We could take our relationship to a new level, and really heal the gap between us.

  The story of Keira and Liam isn’t over. Check out Unshakeable to see how their relationship progresses. Liam will experience his flashbacks, explaining exactly what happened all those years ago. Will Keira agree to train with him, and if she does, will that make her stronger or more frightened? Will they come closer together, being unshakeable together?