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“Where was Derek?” he asked.
“They broke up. It turned into a fight and the asshole kicked her out of the car.”
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Finn muttered.
“Get in line. I’m at the front of that one.”
“What’s wrong with her ankle?”
Landon shrugged. “Dude shoved her down, but she wouldn’t let me take her to the hospital. She says it’s just twisted and that it’ll be fine by morning. She played the ‘I’m a nurse’ card.”
“How much did you see? That guy who grabbed her…?”
Landon saw very little beyond the struggle. “I didn’t get a good look at him. It was dusk. I saw most of it through the dimness outside and the headlights of my cruiser. It happened pretty fast.”
At least, his part did. The guy saw the cop car and panicked, ran off. He didn’t know how long Sunnie had been struggling, and he’d missed seeing the guy hit her.
“You going back to the precinct?” Finn asked.
Landon shook his head. “No, I was at the end of my shift when…” He didn’t finish the sentence, exhaustion kicking in for him too. It had been a long night.
“You headed home?” Finn asked.
Landon nodded slowly, glancing down the hallway toward Sunnie’s room. He didn’t want to go home, wasn’t sure he could leave her alone yet. As long as he was close, he could protect her. Which was ridiculous. There was no threat.
“You wanna stay here?” Finn asked.
“Yeah. I do.”
Finn had an extra bed in his room that belonged to his cousin Fergus when he was home on leave, which was rarely. As a result, Landon always had a place to crash after a few beers in the pub with the Collins clan.
Finn turned on the television, searching for the Orioles game he’d just left. It had gone into extra innings. Then he grabbed them both a beer from the kitchen. “I need a distraction,” Finn said. “If I sit here and think about her wrestling for… Goddammit, the guy could have had a weapon, could have really hurt her!”
“Don’t think about it,” Landon said. He was obsessing over it enough for both of them.
He and Finn sat quietly, watching the game, sipping their beer. Landon was fairly certain neither of them was paying much attention to it, but he was glad for the chance to be near Sunnie.
The game ended, but they still didn’t move, just kept watching the wrap-up sportscast and then the nightly news. It was well after midnight when Finn stood up and announced he was going to bed. Yvonne had come in a few minutes earlier, chatting before heading back to her own room next to Sunnie’s.
Landon wondered if Sunnie had managed to fall asleep, or if, like him, she was struggling to shut her thoughts down.
“Come on, man,” Finn said. “You don’t need to guard the door.”
Landon stood up slowly. He’d debated all night about whether he should tell Finn about the kiss. In the end, he had decided not to. The kiss had been impulsive, ill-timed, and something Sunnie appeared to want to forget.
Landon should probably do the same. But he wasn’t going to. He couldn’t.
“Okay.”
Finn remained at the foot of the stairs that led to the landing outside his attic bedroom. “You saved her.”
Landon shook his head, but Finn wouldn’t let him shrug off what he’d done.
“You were there. You saved her. I’m never going to forget that, brother.”
His peace spoken, Finn climbed the stairs.
Landon was slower to follow.
