Page 5 of Take My Hand

With one last glare, his mouth curling at the corner in disgust, disgust at me, he strides toward the front of the bus.

“Good luck having a job with no equipment,” he calls out.

My eyes do a quick scan of the area, noting that he grabbed every single bag of equipment, including my own.

“You can’t do that!” I call out, racing after him. “That’s my camera.”

He spins around and tilts his head to the side, looking down at me even though he’s only a couple inches taller. “And whose money did you use to pay for it?”

I clench my jaw, breathing hard through my nose, trying not to spill one more tear in front of him.

“That’s what I thought.” And with that, he slams the bus door behind him. The moment it shuts, my knees give out and I crumble to the floor, curling into a ball and spilling every tear I’ve held back.

I’m not sure if it’s only minutes or hours later, but I pull myself together and stumble out of the bus into the freezing air, letting it cool my skin. Tipping my head back toward the darkening sky, I stand still, looking at the clouds as if they hold the answers of what I’m supposed to do now.

I have no equipment, so therefore no way to do my job. I have no boyfriend, so therefore no business partner. And because his name is one on our lease back in LA, I don’t have a home to return to.

My pulse drums, and I take a deep breath, trying to trick my body into relaxing.

“Are you okay?” A voice startles me, and I snap out of my trance. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Hayden Coleman stands in front of me, hoodie covering his head and hands tucked into the pockets of his black joggers.

“I’m fine,” I lie.

“I wasn’t asking to be polite. I was asking because I genuinely want to know.”

I gnaw on my lip, hesitating for a moment. But what do I have to lose at this point? A little honesty isn’t going to hurt me.

“I’ve had better days.” I attempt to laugh, but it falls flat. “He left me.”

If he’s happy to hear that news, Hayden doesn’t show it. I can’t read his expression at all behind his brown eyes.

“You didn’t need to stick up for me earlier, but I do want to say thank you.” I’m not sure what possessed him to do it. There have been many times before when Daniel’s spoken to me, crowded me up against a wall or a counter at a party, but our friends have sat by and watched silently, not wanting to interfere.

More like his friends.

But Hayden didn’t seem to hesitate because one second, my back was pinned by Daniel, spewing curses into my ear, and in the next, Hayden had him by the collar of his shirt, dragging him away from me. Part of me wants to ask why he did it, but it seems like the type of question that he would blink at. He simply saw something he didn’t like and he took action.

“And for what you did after. For talking me down.” I look toward my boots and roll my ankles, feeling the joints pop. Anything to not look at his face while I thank him for talking me through a panic attack.

It’s not something to be embarrassed about, but I can’t help the rising blush that comes to my face thinking about not only him but the others seeing me in such a heightened emotional state.

“You don’t have to thank me. And look, I’m sorry that you’re hurting, and I know you have a long history with him. But I’m not going to apologize and say I’m not happy he’s gone. After seeing how he constantly talked down to you every chance he got…” Hayden trails off, cracking his neck side to side. “It was a long time coming.”

“You don’t know anything about my relationship with him,” I say, my defenses rising. He only saw snippets of our interactions over the past few months. Not enough for him to make sweeping judgments over the entirety of our relationship.

“You’re right, I don’t,” he amends. “But I saw enough to know that he talked to you the way no man should talk to a woman, let alone the one he’s supposed to love.”

I want to defend Daniel, defend our relationship, but the words get caught in my throat because even if I don’t want to admit it, Hayden’s right. And honestly, what am I doing trying to defend a relationship that is over?

“I just wanted to check in and see if you were alright. And to tell you that I hope you stick around for the rest of the tour. You can do it without him. We all know you were the one doing most of the work anyway.”

I don’t confirm or deny his statement.

You can do it without him…

Can I though?

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