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“Just think about it, Cassie,” I said. “You ought to file a restraining order and there needs to be a record of this attack.”

She was uncertain. “What about you? Isn’t it possible you could get arrested if he says you threatened him?”

“How the hell is he going to spin that? Is he going to play the victim and complain that I stopped him from assaulting the woman he drugged?”

She winced over the imagery. It was still raw and horrifying, the thought that the night might have had a very different outcome.

“So are we going to eat these burritos or what?” I asked, holding up the paper bag.

We found a bench in that same park at the end of Cassie’s street. She probably had a lot of good memories of this park. And one very bad one. I’d try to make up for that at least a little.

“This reminds me of your first day at Scratch,” I said, unwrapping the food.

She giggled. “I know. The case of the infamous discarded burrito. I wondered if you’d pick up on that.”

“I made too big a deal out of it.”

“Yeah, you were kind of a jerk.”

I took a big bite and chewed. It tasted exactly how one might think a gas station burrito would taste. I waited until I swallowed before I asked, “Do you still think I’m a jerk?”

Cassie was in the middle of daintily unwrapping her own burrito in her lap. She poked me in the side. “Sometimes.”

“Like when I’m growling at you to get your coffee cup off the hood of my car or having a temper tantrum because you threw my lunch away?”

“Yes, exactly.” She picked at the edge of the burrito. “But you’re honest, Curtis. I’ve learned to appreciate how rare that is.”

I thought about some of the things I’d done in my life, things that were definitely not on the honest side of the law.

What did that say about me? I suppose I couldn’t be easily classified either.

But it must mean something that I’d lie down in traffic for the people I cared about. Including her.

No, especially her.

She didn’t eat much, just nibbled a few bites and then crumpled everything up in the bag, which I tossed into a nearby dumpster.

“So, Curtis Mulligan, what do you think of me now?” she asked. It wasn’t a flirtatious question. It was a serious one. “I want you to tell me because I know you won’t lie. You always tell me the truth even if it’s harsh.”

I thought for a moment before answering. And I did tell her the truth.

“I think you’re brave,” I said. “You’re smart. You’re kind. You’re loyal and you want to see the good in people. And Cassie, you’re much stronger than you give yourself credit for.” I debated whether I should continue but then decided I wasn’t telling her anything I hadn’t already said before. “Plus you’re so insanely sexy it drives me up the fucking wall every single goddamn day.”

She blushed and tittered but she moved closer to me. When she rested her head on my shoulder I waited for a few minutes before slowly moving my arm and putting it around her. She didn’t stop me. She understood the gesture wasn’t supposed to be romantic. After a hellish night we were just two people sitting on a park bench who understood each other.

A few minutes passed that way in comfortable silence before I checked the time.

“You want to head back to the house?” I asked. It wasn’t that late. I could walk Cassie back home, jog the short miles to get her car and return before eleven.

“Soon,” she said tiredly and let out a soft sigh as I held her closer. “Will you do something for me first?”

“Anything.”

“Just stay here with me for a little while longer.”

“Of course.”

I would stay with her as long as she wanted me here. She didn’t even have to ask.

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