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It was then that I felt two strong hands around my arms, helping me stand. I didn’t resist, I couldn’t. I didn’t know what to think or what to do. I was humiliated and angry, and all I wanted was to scream. I hated that man for what he’d just done, and I wanted him to pay.
But he was gone now, and there wasn’t anything more that could be done about it.
Gavin was here, and I was safe.
So why was I still crying?
Chapter Ten
Gavin
I stood tall; my arms folded over my chest as I glared at the man who had just attacked Krissy.
I knew there were a lot of shitty people in the world, but a few were the worst of the worst, and anyone who was willing to attack a defenseless woman out in the middle of nowhere was just about the lowest a person could go in my opinion.
If Krissy hadn’t been there, I would have happily started throwing fists. Shit, the guy was probably half my weight, and he didn’t seem to have any muscles on his scrawny frame. Sure, he was stronger than a young woman, but I could have beat the hell out of him and not even broken a sweat.
I didn’t want her to have to watch that, so I let him go, but I stood in place until I made sure he was gone. Entirely gone. The filth.
Once I was certain there was no chance of him coming back, I turned my attention to the sobbing girl in front of me. I knew she was shaken and scared, and I wanted to help her, but I also didn’t want to make things worse at the moment.
After just being nearly attacked or kidnapped by a man or whatever he planned to do, I wasn’t sure if she was receptive to me holding her. But I also wasn’t going to stand there and just let her cry on the ground at my feet, either.
“Hey, easy there,” I told her. “What happened?”
I gently grabbed hold of both her arms, pulling her to her feet. “I’m going to put my arms around you now, just breathe and let it all out. It’s okay, you’re safe now. No one is going to hurt you.”
She sobbed into my chest long and hard for a moment, then she attempted to speak, but her words were interrupted by the sobs wracking her body. I couldn’t understand anything she was saying, so I shushed her.
“It’s okay; you can tell me what happened in just a second,” I said. “Catch your breath for now, and we’ll talk about it in a second.”
My words of comfort brought a fresh wave of emotion from her, and she shook as she tried to regain composure. I had to admit, I felt sorry for her. It had to be rough being so vulnerable when alone. I already knew what it was like to be attacked. I had dealt with it when I was in the military, but then, I also expected it when I was in the military.
I didn’t have any doubt in my mind she had come out here this morning with the intention of just playing her guitar without being bothered by anyone, let alone some creep who wouldn’t leave her alone.
Finally, she caught her breath enough to speak.
“What happened?” I asked.
“I was just trying to play something, and I don’t know, that guy seemed to come out of nowhere. He asked me a few things, but I was uncomfortable with him being here, and he just wouldn’t quit coming toward me. Then I told him I had to go, but he was getting more and more aggressive until he just grabbed me. I don’t know, I panicked. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I just screamed,” she said.
She blurted out everything so fast, her words ran together, and it was still difficult to make out what she was saying with the sobs that continued to interrupt her now and then, but I felt I got the gist of what had happened.
“It’s a good thing you started making noise. I was jogging and heard you, which is why I came in this direction. I wasn’t going to otherwise, and I could have just kept going without any idea that you were out here,” I said.
She sighed. “It was stupid of me to come out here alone. I should have known better than that, especially when it was this early in the morning. But I didn’t sleep well last night, and I didn’t want to bother anyone with my music so early, so I figured I would come out away from the rest of the complex and just play a few things.”
“Don’t you know you should stick to the more populated places?” I asked. “I thought you said you were from the city or something.”
“Right,” she replied, pushing me away a bit. “I am, but I grew up in a place where you didn’t have to always look over your shoulder like that. I got used to taking safety precautions in the city, but I figured this town was such a sweet, small little place that you didn’t have to be scared of creeps coming after you like that. I guess I was wrong.”
She pulled away from me altogether as she spoke, and I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from lecturing her. The last thing I wanted right now was to come off as a father figure. Not when I was just talking to my best friend about wanting to get to know her on a romantic level.
“The world isn’t what it used to be,” I commented, feeling that was the safe route to take. “There are creeps pretty much everywhere these days, and it makes me sick to think that you can’t even take a walk with your guitar this early in the morning without having to worry someone is going to come after you.”
“Anyway,” she said as she angrily wiped her face with her hand, “I should have known better. Or I should have done something to get him away from me when he tried to grab me. There’s no reason why I couldn’t have just, I don’t know, kicked him or something.”
“It’s hard to know what to do when you’re in the heat of the moment,” I told her. “You can train and train and practice and make yourself mentally ready for something and still freeze up or not know what to do when the time comes.”
