Another loud boom, and she flinched again, and I could see she was getting weak. I rushed over to her when her knees slowly gave out.
“Shit! Blair!” I shouted, catching her before she hit the ground.
She stood back up on trembling legs and looked at me. “Dre… Drea.”
“Shh. It’s okay, I’ve got you.” I didn’t say anything else as I held onto her and walked her to the back room, away from the storm.
I sat her down on the couch and covered her with the blanket, keeping her warm. I put some earmuffs on her to block out the thundering sounds, and sat next to her. I didn’t know what I was doing: I just wanted to make it better. She was still hyperventilating and shaking, so I wrapped my arms around her and held tight until everything settled.
It felt awkward, holding her so intimately. We might have kissed in heated moments, but we were nothing more than colleagues. But at the same time, it felt right. It felt… good. It had been a long time since I’d held someone like that.
I couldn’t help myself. I had to draw circles on her back. I wanted to comfort her, and a part of me wanted her to comfort me. This was her time to be taken care of, but I admit, I was a little selfish and wanted to feel needed in some way, and I wanted to feel her.
I inhaled deeply, which was a mistake. I was trying to center myself, and not think of Blair in any way, but all I could think about now was how she smelled.
God,did she smell fucking delicious! I was trying desperately to not think any impure thoughts about her, which was a challenge.
Feeling her skin on mine as her hands rested on my bare legs. Breathing in her vanilla perfume. I was so totally fucked.
What I did seemed to have worked. After a few minutes, her breathing had slowed to almost normal, and the shaking subsided.
“Drea, I’m so?—”
“Don’t you dare apologize. You can sit here as long as you need to. Come get me when you’re ready.” I stood up to go, but she caught my wrist.
“Wait!” I stopped and turned to look at her. “Please don’t go. I… I don’t want to be alone.”
Being alone with Blair in the back room of the empty store was not what I should have been doing. I should have left her alone. I should have called Cara and told her to come deal with her best friend. This moment seemed too intimate, and our relationship wasn’t that.
Instead of doing any of the things I should’ve, I sat back down next to her. She shifted on the couch, and I wondered if I’d made a mistake.
“So, you aren’t a fan of storms, then?” I teased, but my smile fell when she looked down and didn’t have a witty comeback or insult. “I’m sorry, Blair. Do you want to talk about it?”
She sat, not making a sound for a good while, until she finally shifted in her seat and looked at me. “I was thirteen, and we were on our way home from my grandmother’s. We went there every Sunday for family dinner. My parents, cousins, aunts, and uncles, all of us. It’s been that way since I can remember. Well, it used to be.”
I put my hand on her thigh reassuringly. I wasn’t sure what compelled me to do so; I just felt the need. The need for her to know someone was there, and she wasn’t alone. I was expecting her to scowl at me or throw my hand off her, but she only sat there, barely acknowledging the contact.
“We had just left dinner when the storm hit. It was raining hard, and visibility was low. The road was slick, and our car was sliding across it.” Her eyes started to fill with tears, and I wanted to hold her until it stopped.
“It all happened so fast. One minute we were singing in the car, and the next, a drunk driver behind the wheel of a truck ran a red light and smashed into the passenger-sidedoor. It killed my mother instantly, and my father died shortly after. He passed away in the ambulance heading toward the hospital. I had a nasty concussion and a few broken ribs, but nothing else. I walked out of the hospital as an orphan. Anytime there is a storm, I have a flashback to the accident, and I can’t breathe, I can’t move. That’s why I don’t drive. If it happened while I was driving…” She shook her head and wiped the tears away.
I was still touching her leg, but she didn’t back away. “I’m so sorry that happened to you, Blair. No one should ever have to go through that. I shouldn’t have asked you to drive the weekend of the literary festival.”
Without thinking, I reached out and gently wiped away a stray tear. She sat there unmoving as I did so, and I wasn’t sure what to make of that.
I wasn’t sure what possessed me to do such a thing to begin with. It wasn’t like we were friends, or anything close to it. I just… I felt like it was something I had to do. I had to comfort her in some way.
Seeing her upset was unacceptable. I shook my head at myself. When did I start caring about Blair?
“It’s okay, you didn’t know. Thank you for staying with me. I know you’re not my biggest fan, but it still means a lot.” She started caressing my wrist and I was afraid to move and ruin the moment.
“Drea?” She was quiet, and there was something in her eyes I couldn’t place.
Her fingers were still circling my wrist when I responded. “Yeah?”
She looked deep into my eyes, searching for something. Did she want me to back away? Did she want me to pull her close? I wanted to do it all.
She started to inch closer and I didn’t even think about protesting as I felt her breath on my lips.
