Safe Word by Teresa Mummert

was unbearable and I think she finally accepted that I may have been a lot of things, but rapist wasn’t one of them.
    “How is the room?” I asked as I dumped my bowl into the sink. She glanced up at me through her eyelashes and I knew she was struggling not to come back with a sarcastic remark. She simply nodded and took another bite.
    “I know it’s not the Hilton.” I reached above my head and gripped the top of the cabinets over the island. Lily’s eyes danced over my abdomen before reaching my eyes. The joke was not lost on her. Danny had texted me her name from her license she had in her purse. Rose Chathom had become Lily Hilton.
    “I didn’t think you would have so many tattoos,” she said before dropping her gaze.
    “A lot’s changed.” I looked down at the ink that flowed over my chest and down to my ribs. I dropped my arm and held it out in front of her so she could inspect the mishmash of books and toys. “This is for my mother. It has all of my favorite memories of her.” I pointed to my other arm covered in intricate crosses. “This is for all of the people who have hurt those that I cared about.”
    “What about that?” She motioned to my rib cage where the grim reaper held a withered rose.
    “You.” My eyes locked on hers. I wanted to say so much but I couldn’t speak. Rose cleared her throat and picked up her bowl.
    “I’m done. Thank you.” She held out her bowl and I took it with a nod.
    “You can find something to watch, if you want.”
    Rose smiled and made her way into the living room, settling down on the couch in the center.
    “You’re being awfully…compliant today.” I leaned against the counter and folded my arms over my chest as I gazed up at the ceiling.
    “I’m just happy to be out of that room.” She sighed as she flipped through the channels.
    “I’m glad you learned your lesson.” I walked across the living room and sat down next to her.
    “You read all those?” she asked, looking at the mess of books behind the couch; it was one of the stacks I’d knocked over and scattered across the floor.
    “I don’t use them as decoration.”
    “You can use this room until you get on your feet.” I pushed open the door to the spare bedroom. Amber leaned in and smiled. There was no bed or dresser, only stacks of books along the wall.
    “Wow. I would have never pegged you for a bookworm,” she said, joking. She stepped inside the room, pulling open the door to the tiny bathroom inside.
    “I was gonna use this as a library one day when I had some time to fix it up. Maybe build my own shelves.”
    Amber turned back to me and smiled as she leaned over a pile of books, scanning the titles.
    “Thank you for letting me stay. It should only be a few weeks until I can find a place of my own.”
    “You’re welcome here as long as you need. It will be nice not being alone for a while. I’ll try to pick up a mattress or something after my shift.”
    “That’ll be great. Thanks, Colt.”
    “You used to hate reading in high school.”
    “Nah. I just loved the sound of your voice when you read to me.”
    She smiled genuinely and my heart stuttered.
    “Tell me what happened after you left.” I kept my eyes locked on the television.
    “Nothing, really. My stepdad went to prison after my mom caught him…in the act. A few years later she drowned herself in guilt and booze. I have been on my own ever since.”
    “If I’d known where you were…”
    “You would have what? Kidnapped me and held me against my will?” She cut her eyes at me. There was that fire.
    “Fair enough. Not like you wanted me to find you anyway. You never married? Had a family?”
    “No.” She clicked the Off button on the remote and sat it down on the coffee table before standing. “I’m still kind of tired. I think I’ll go lie back down, if that’s okay with you.”
    I didn’t know how to respond. I had held out hope that everything had changed for Rose. That she had moved on in her