Page 138 of Torn

I touch her cheek affectionately. “I was hoping you would.”

“I can kiss all your boo-boos better.”

“I have a lot.”

“That’s okay.”

I cup my hand behind her neck and pull her up to my lips. “I really want to spend as much time with you as possible. I missed you like fuckin’ crazy.”

“Then I’ll be here every day. I can’t stay overnight, though, even though I want to more than anything. Sleeping here without you was like torture. Now that my dad knows you’re home, I can’t.”

“I know.” I sigh. “And I’ll deal with it. I’ll take what I can get.”

CHAPTER 32

Kenzi—age ten

Tor—age twenty-five

“Uncle Tor?” She’s standing next to the couch, gently pulling on the sleeve of my shirt.

“Yes, love?”

“Can you read to me?”

I lower the volume on the movie I’m watching and turn to face her. She’s wearing her pajamas and holding on to an old book I used to read to her when she was little.

“You know how to read, Kenzi. You don’t need me to read to you anymore.”

“But I like to hear your voice when I fall asleep.”

That puts an instant smile on my face, and now I want nothing more than to read to her. Smiling, I take the old worn book from her hands, which I have memorized from reading it to her so many times.

“I can’t argue with that, now, can I?” I reply, winking at her.

She shakes her head and smiles. “Nope.”

KENZI

Tor’s been going a bit stir-crazy in the house, so today I drove him to the beach so we could walk around and get some fresh air andsun. We hold hands and walk along the edge of the water with our shoes off and watch the seagulls.

“I love having you at my house every day,” he says, squeezing my hand. “Now I don’t want it to stop.”

My heart soars. I can’t even put into words how much I’ve enjoyed being with him every day. “I don’t want it to stop, either. I never want to leave.”

“Someday you won’t have to. That’s the goal, right? To live together?” He glances down at me.

“That’s definitely my goal. Can I start working at the shop when you go back?”

“Of course. Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”

“I’m positive.”

“Then you can. Gretchen can spend a few days training you before she leaves.”

“That would be great.”

Something catches my eye along the water, and I let go of his hand to step forward to grab it. It’s an old glass bottle.