Page 10 of Rescuer

I couldn’t.

Even though I had accepted long ago that I was blind, sometimes it still really sucked.

Fear rose alongside my jealousy as I slowly remembered who I was—more like what I was. I was scared of losing Halt. Losing him would mean losing everything I was. I would be back to square one. I couldn’t lose him. But what did I have to offer him to make him stand by my side?

“Halt?”

“Yeah, love?” he asked immediately. I felt his arms wrap around me in a sudden hug. “Are you okay?”

I swallowed thickly. How did he know me so well? He could read me like a book. “I am now,” I whispered, hoping the girl would get my message.

“That will be all,” Halt told the girl. “Don’t worry about wrapping it up. We’re just gonna sit outside and eat them.”

“Is she your girlfriend?” the girl asked. I cringed.

“Yes. Why?” Halt suspiciously asked as my hold on him tightened.

“She’s beautiful.”My body froze. Say what?

“You know she can hear you?” There was a moment of silence before she cleared her throat.

“You don’t have to worry about me stealing your boyfriend,” she told me, surprising me. It wasn’t very often that people spoke directly to me. For some reason, just because I was blind, they seemed to act as if I was deaf, too. “It’s obvious he’s only got eyes for you. I just wanted you to know that I find you extremely beautiful, and if anything, I’m sorry if I came across as flirty. I know where I’m not wanted.” the girl spoke, kind of all at once.

“Thank you.” I licked my suddenly dry lips. “I don’t really know what to say.”

“How about you tell me your name, and maybe we can be friends?” she asked a bit tentatively.

Halt pressed a kiss to my temple, giving me some strength. He was the only friend I’d ever had that had stuck around. Who was to say she wouldn’t run off, too?

“Noalie, and yours?”

I heard her breathe a sigh of relief, though I didn’t think she meant for me to hear it. But I heard so much more than others without my eyesight. My other four senses were heightened. “Angie, but my full name is Angela.”

“If you don’t mind, Halt can help you enter your number into my phone, and we can talk later tonight. You can even text me!” Isuggested, in case she wasn’t up to talking on the phone. It was easier to just talk, but worst-case scenario, my phone could read my messages to me, and I could do talk-to-text.

“No problem.”

An hour later, we had left the small store, eaten our strawberries, and were now driving home. “Angie was really nice. I’m glad we met her.”

“Me, too. I really hope she will stick around; I want to finally have someone I can depend on, who I can tell all my secrets to.”

“So, you don’t tell me all your secrets?” Halt teased, squeezing my hand.

I flushed and laughed. “I do, but I’m talking about all the girly ones, you know? Like how I feel about you, and when we have a fight, I want someone who I can confide in. Also, I wouldn’t mind having someone to talk to about other things,” I confessed, feeling my cheeks burn red at the end.

“What about your sister?” Halt questioned.

I shrugged. “There’s some stuff I can’t tell her because she would hate to keep anything from Ryan, and then, it would end up coming back toyou, which I don’t want to happen.”

“Like what?” Halt questioned. I could hear the smirk forming on his lips.

I giggled, reaching up to tuck my hair behind my ear. “I can’t tell you. That’s the point I’m trying to make here.”

He just laughed, and the rough, deep sound made all my insides tingle.

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