She was right. He sure as hell would have been there, from start to finish. Maybe it shouldn't have been so surprising to him that she was willing to stick her neck out for him like that. Still, it was an odd aspect, even for him. Sure, he had his family, and they'd always looked out for one another. This, however, was different. She was coming into this on her own. She had no obligations, she could turn back whenever she damn well pleased. He had told her that time and time again, back before they had gotten as serious as they were now. But Heather had failed to back down. She stuck it out. She got close. Heather was the one who got to him when no one else in the world could after he had shut everyone out. He sure as hell trusted her. That was saying a lot, too.
"You're a good person, Heather," Sam told her honestly, "you don't need to do anything to deserve having someone love you."
He shrugged and took a bite out of his food. Not bad. "Well, I just wanted to get it out there anyway. I don't want you feeling like I'm out to get you or anything like that." He couldn't help the amused look that followed. "At least not in that way."