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“Take a breath.” Jesse pulled me away from my twin. It quickly turned into a grappling match, albeit an unfair one.
“Get off me!” I struggled as Jesse held me.
Fighting against Jesse’s strength was useless, but I had been keeping everything inside, and it came out in an explosion of emotions. I had lied to myself, thinking everything would be fine. I had done nothing wrong, but I saw things no one should be witness to. Plus, I hadn’t been sleeping at all since the one nap with Tanner and the exhaustion made it difficult to handle anything.
Jesse pinned me to the floor in a bear-hug, his arms caging mine across my chest while I clawed and bucked. Trying to get away from him, I yelled, cursing out everyone I knew. Unable to break free, I screamed louder. “I’m fucking worthless! All I do is rely on other people to get me out of my own crappy situations.”
“It’s going to be all right,” he assured me.
“I’m awful! How any of you could just welcome me back is just ridiculous,” I spat angrily. “You all suck!”
Jesse whispered words of understanding without raising his voice. His unwavering support struck a chord deep inside of me, adding more layers of guilt.
“Shut up, Jesse!”
He ignored my nasty tone and continued soothing my frazzled nerves, offering words of comfort. Looking down, I saw scratch marks on his arm. Marks I had left from my nails. I reacted unacceptably because I couldn’t control my emotions. Looking at the damage I’d done to someone who always had my back gutted me. “Oh my god. I hurt you.”
“I’ll be fine,” he said like it was nothing.
“But I clawed up your arms!”
“Are you done fighting me yet, buttercup?”
My body trembled and my hands were shaking. “Yeah, I don’t want to fight anybody, especially not you or Tater.”
Jesse brought us to the floor with me in his lap. “Deep breaths. In through your nose and out through your mouth.”
“I’ve never yelled at anyone like that.” I took a few breaths as instructed. “Tate is the only person in this entire world who understands me. I just didn’t want anyone involved in my shitstorm. I’m really sorry.”
Tatum joined us, looping an arm around my shoulder. He handed me an open water bottle. “I wish you had told me everything. Jesse had your photo waiting for him at work this morning.”
“Shit. Shit.” I drank a few sips of water. “I didn’t do anything. You can’t arrest me.”
“No, darling. It’s not a warrant,” Jesse confirmed. “Some asshat named Chet Reyes escaped from California State Prison. He’s got a chip on his shoulder.”
“I didn’t rat him out,” I protested. “I know why he thinks I did, but it wasn’t me. I’m telling the truth!”
“Regardless, if my department was alerted, then it’s serious. It’s not a stretch to believe that Reyes will travel out here.”
“I don’t have some beefed up security fortress I can stay at until this blows over.”
“Yes, you do,” Tatum replied. “Dane has more security than anyone in Falcon Creek. His house is also closer to civilization in case someone needs to get to you.”
“Absolutely not.” I spread my hands out. “I don’t want him or Tanner involved. No one else needs to know how badly I fucked up.”
Jesse loosened his hold. “I came over here to inform you as courtesy, but the recommendation is to place you in a safe house until they take Reyes into custody. I’ve read his dossier, darling. It’s not pretty.”
“I amnotgoing to a safe house, Jesse.”
His lips drew into a straight line. “This isn’t open for discussion.”
“You can’t make me go.”
He stared at me for a moment, and I practically saw the wheels turning. That wasn’t a good sign.
“So, you wouldn’t care if you’re at home eating dinner and Chet rolls up. He attacks your parents in front of you. Collateral damage is nothing to a hardened criminal like him.” Jesse grabbed my chin, tilting it up, forcing me to hear his words. “Tate and Marissa stop by afterward. Chet hurts them next.”
Shaking like a leaf, I wanted the terrible pictures in my head to end. “That’s not going to happen.”
