"Did he hurt you?"
His eyes drop to my arm where Wes grabbed me, and before I can answer, he's gently taking my arm in his hands, examining it. His touch is so careful, so tender compared to the violence he was barely holding back moments ago, that it makes my throat tight.
"I'm fine," I say, but my voice comes out shakier than I intended.
I watch him force himself to breathe. To let go of the anger.
"If he ever touches you again?—"
"He won't." I put my hand over his where it's still holding my arm. "You made that pretty clear."
He looks down at where our hands are touching, then back up at me, and something in his expression shifts.
Softens.
"I'm sorry," he says quietly. "For getting in the middle of that. I know you could have handled it yourself. But when I saw him grab you?—"
He stops, swallows hard.
"I couldn't just stand there."
"I'm glad you didn't."
The words come out before I can think them through, but I mean them.
"Thank you. For making him leave."
"Always," he says simply, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "I'll always stand between you and anything that tries to hurt you."
And standing there on the porch, my arm still in his gentle grip, the ghost of Wes's anger still hanging in the air, I realize this is what safety feels like.
Not being protected because I can't protect myself, but having someone who chooses to stand beside me. Who respects my strength but refuses to let me face everything alone.
This is what it feels like to be chosen.
And god help me, I don't know how I'm supposed to walk away from this again.
CHAPTER 31
HI, SON
NATE
He touched her.
No—he fuckinggrabbedher.
And the second his hand closed around her arm, everything went white-hot.
Pure, blinding rage.
I've never wanted to destroy someone the way I wanted to destroy Wesley Grant in that moment.
Not hurt. Not fight.Destroy.
The rage is still there—simmering under my skin, coiling in my chest, demanding release—as I head into the studio.
My jaw aches from clenching it and my hands won't stop shaking. I have to consciously force myself to loosen my grip on the door handle.
