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“Do you know what? That sounds good. I’ll grab some sodas, because I don’t think I can even look at alcohol for, at least another twenty-four hours,” Jax jokes. “Coming, Dani?”
I let Xander wrap me in his arms as we walk towards his bike, shutting down the store as we go. Whatever happens, I feel safe with him so close. My ex might think he can terrorize me, but I have better things on my mind than men who can’t understand the word ‘no’.
19
Bri was right. Jax and I needed to cool our heads and take a moment to think about what we were planning. It would have felt so good to have found this asshole and shown him what it felt like to have the shit kicked out of him, but we wouldn’t have come out of it without some form of repercussion.
“I’m sorry if I scared you early,” I tell Bri.
My life’s goal is to make sure she doesn’t get put in that same position again. She should never feel scared around the people she trusts, and if I upset her in any way, or made her feel anything other than safe, I think I might have a hard time forgiving myself.
“You didn’t scare me. Or, rather, I wasn’t scaredof you. I was scared for you. I don’t want my past to fuck up your future.”
Because that’s the fear she’s had for so long, and I know it. She stayed away from her older sister and her children, her parents, even Dani after she first left him.
“Hey, listen. Whatever happens, that’s nothing to do with you. You can’t take responsibility.”
She smiles, something small and private, hidden by ducking her face, but I have no idea what she’s got going on in her head right now.
“What?” I ask, smiling.
“It’s just… what you just said was basically what I told Dani earlier. I didn’t want her to feel bad about him following her here.”
“Well, I guess you’re pretty smart then.”
“Are you complimenting me to compliment yourself?” she laughs.
“Where’s the problem? It’s a win-win!”
She laughs and gets up to put the cans of cola and pizza boxes in the kitchen. I watch her go, mesmerized by the sway of her hips, the way her legs ripple with muscles, visible from the short-shorts she put on the moment Jax and Dani left. She’s a beautiful woman, perfect in every way.
Which begs the question, how thefuckcould someone want to hurt her?
“Hey, I’m going to shower,” she shouts over her shoulder. Then, just before she passes through the doorway, she pauses and smirks. “Care to join me?”
I can’t get off the sofa fast enough.
The shower sex is good, even better when I remember how awful I felt when I woke up. Bri is warm and supple, draping herself over me like a human blanket. We don’t talk, just exist, and it’s everything. Comfortable. No one can hurt her while I’m here by her side.
At least, that’s what I thought.
****
It’s the heat that wakes me up first. It starts with just the stirrings of wakefulness, and all the thoughts I have are that I’m coming down with a fever. Sickness roils in my stomach, my chest aches a little, and my skin prickles with sweat. I hope Bri is as good at dealing with sickness as she is with hangovers. I am, admittedly, a terrible patient.
I roll over onto my front and wipe my forehead. The sweat is pouring off me. I’ve never been this sick before. Is it an extra hangover? Is it what aging does?
Then, I hear a crack, my eyes fly open, and I realize the room is ablaze.
“Fuck!”
What do you do in a fire? Stop drop and roll is only for when you’reonfire, so that’s no use right now. But the room is glowing with the blaze, and it won’t be long until we are.
Close doors. Stay low. Wet towel.
As the fire presses in, licking the walls, reaching the ceiling, I start to throw the blankets on the floor. I have to cover as much ground as possible. The air is thick with smoke, and Bri is still sleeping. I rock her with one hand and pour water over a t-shirt and press it to her face.
“Get out. Get out, now!” I shout.
