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and cranked on the hot water. I undressed and pulled myself into the scalding water and pulled my knees to my chest. I cried more than I had cried in years. I shook as sobs racked my body and my heart slammed against my ribs. Images of the hands sticking out the burning train burned into my mind. Maybe I needed to move on. Cole Bradley was tearing me apart little by little and breaking down every bit of my defense. The water soothed my aching muscles as I worked so hard on calming the panic that flowed through me. “Breathe….” I whispered shakily.
                  The dream had unnerved me more than I wanted to admit. Even though it didn’t contain much it was enough to slam against its mark. Despite the warm water I was still trembling the slightest bit. Once the water started to cool I finally climbed out. My breath was coming in shallow hiccups as I pulled a t-shirt over my head and climbed back into bed.
                  I lay under the blankets trembling. Maybe talking to Cole was a bad idea. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t rid my mind of the images from the dream. My heart ached and I sucked in a shaky breath. My head was spinning with thoughts. Should I leave? Am I really a danger to these people? I didn’t want to pin them in the middle of this. I finally drifted off into a fitful sleep just before the sun came up.
                  The next morning I was groggy to say the least. I was still wiping sleep out of my eyes when the insistent banging on my door forced me to move. I was not a morning person nor would I ever claim to be. Whoever was on the other side of the door was going to get a nasty ear full. I yanked it open with a growl, ready to pounce but stopped in shock when I saw him standing there. “Coffee?” Cole baffled me. He cleared his throat, bringing me out of my trance. “May I come in?” I nodded and halfheartedly wondered if my hair looked like a rat’s nest. “I wanted to come with you out of town to get the parts, if that’s okay?” I nodded and sipped the coffee, still not ready to talk. “I’ll go get dressed.” My throat was scratchy which told me I had screamed out a few times last night.
                  Without looking back I made my way to my room and blindly got dressed. Hopefully I matched. If not, oh well. Looking down I had pulled on a pair of overall shorts and a light purple t-shirt. Quickly I threw my hair up and slipped my boots onto my feet. Once I was ready I made my way back out to the living room and nodded m head towards the door. “Shall we oh mighty one?” Cole smirked and nodded following me out. We drove silently out of town for about an hour before we came to the next town, “Turn here.” Cole pointed to my left anxiously with a wide smile on his face. “Jesus, you’re like a puppy” I mumbled after he removed his arm from in front of my face. He laughed and shook his head. I didn’t think I’d ever understand this man. I made the left, away from our original destination and down a small town looking main road. “Right there.” He pointed happily at a hole in the wall diner. “We couldn’t just go to the diner back in Oliver?” I asked as I angled up to the curb. He shook his head causing his hair to flutter around his face. “Nope. This place has the best milkshakes in over a hundred miles.” Cole climbed out of the car before I could even say another word. I sat in the car contemplating on leaving him there. Of course I didn’t and I eventually crawled out of the car grumbling.
                  Cole was already inside the diner with two vanilla milkshakes topped with rainbow sprinkles and a single bright red cherry. “How do you know I’m not lactose?” I asked as I sat next to him. He shrugged and took a long sip from his red straw, groaning with delight. “Easy enough. You drink coffee…lots of it. But even if you were, you’d break because who can turn down a