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“Looks like you have someone waiting for you outside,” he said, a sharpness to his voice.
I slowly lowered my gaze, trying to focus on my breathing as I used one hand to swipe away the tears. He was right, there was someone waiting for me, and he looked fucking pissed off as he leaned against his bike, his arms folded across his chest and his legs crossed at the ankle.
Wrench.
Something clicked in my brain, and suddenly I needed to get to him.
He was comfort.
He knew what I needed.
“Get Wrench,” I rasped. “Please.” I looked over at Eric, his brow furrowed and I could see the apprehension. It wasn’t a secret that Eric’s firm and the Brothers by Blood weren’t exactly friends. Like I said, Eric was firm in his beliefs about the law, and the brothers, well, they like to put their own twist on it.
Unable to hold myself up any longer, I dropped to my knees.
Eric stepped back, clenching his teeth. “All right, I’ll get him. But only because I hate seeing you like this.” He dashed out of the room, and I twisted my body, pressing my back against the wall beside the window and curling my arms around my knees. The room was starting to shrink and I was finding it harder and harder to inhale a deep breath. I wanted to escape, but I knew I couldn’t. I knew there would be no point because I wouldn’t make it very far.
I’d fought so long, struggling to work through this shit on my own and get better on my own, but I wasn’t at home and I didn’t have the things I needed to help me. He was here, though, and I just needed him. I needed to feel him in the room, then I’d be safe from the shadows.
“She’s in here,” I heard Eric say with an obvious tightness to his voice.
“Swear to fucking God, if you’ve done anything to her…”
Wrench appeared in the doorway and took one look at me curled up on the floor and his face softened. He turned back to look out the door. “Stay out here. Don’t fucking come inside.”
“That’s my office.”
“Don’t give a fuck,” Wrench snapped before slamming the door closed.
I jumped, and he cringed. “Sorry, sugar pop,” he said quietly as he moved toward me. The closer he got, the easier I could breathe, sucking long deep breaths into my lungs.
He took a seat on the floor and then said two words that soaked into my body and allowed my muscles to relax finally. “I’m here.”
Not ‘you’ll be okay.’
Not ‘you need to calm down.”
Just… I’m here.
We sat in silence, the sounds of birds chirping in the trees outside the only noise between us. Wrench simply watched me as over time I slowly began to unwind my body and stretch myself out. He didn’t push or encourage me to do anything or even touch me.
He knew.
I looked up at the clock that hung over the doorway.
An hour. That’s how long it had taken. My body ached, my muscles crying out to be stretched into a different position. But Wrench stayed the same, his knees bent, his hands hanging over them casually.
Just watching me.
“I want to go home,” I whispered finally.
He nodded and pushed off the floor, climbing to his feet. Then he came toward me and held out his hand. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet. “Let’s go find that bath.”
I nodded. “Yes, please.”
