She’s too young, she’s not for me. I’ve never done anything this stupid in my entire life. I’m better than this, and she deserves to find someone better than me.
A man she can trust. A man who can take care of her. Who can protect her. Who deserves her.
I am not that man now, nor will I ever be.
Before I can change my mind, I grab her hand, spin on my heels and move away from the dance floor, pulling her with me. She follows willingly as we head toward the exit.
“Wait!” She tugs at my hand. “My bag.”
“Where is it?” I stop and turn to her.
She points toward the bar, and I gesture to her to take the lead. There’s a joyful sprint in her step. It’s new, and it looks peculiar. Not wrong. Not right either. Just… out of character.
You don’t know her character, asshole.
When we reach the bar, she gets the attention of the bartender who nods before turning and heading out of sight.
“Oh, my drink!” she exclaims and reaches over to a glass of some pink liquid.
She grabs it quickly, and in a split second, I smack my hand over it, pushing it back on the bar top.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” I raise my tone, unapologetically.
“It’s—um… my drink.”
“That you left unattended for God knows for how fucking long. Literally anyone could have spiked it. Do you understand how much danger you could be in? Jesus Christ, Evelyn! Anyone could take advantage of you!”
She opens her mouth probably to protest, but I can see the exact moment she acknowledges my words, and as her gaze softens, I feel a tinge of guilt at my outburst.
“I didn’t think. I’ve never… this is my first time.” Her brows draw together as her eyes lower.
“No, you didn’t think. Wait. First time out?”
She nods.
“Well, you shouldn’t have been. I should kick the bartender’s teeth in for even serving you.”
She frowns for a few moments, and then her expression shifts to a realization she doesn’t share with me. Just on cue the bartender shows up, sliding a small bag toward her. Before I can grab the guy by the collar, she swipes the bag from him and pushes me away from the bar until we’re too far away for me to do anything.
“Where are you going to take me?” she asks, an expectant expression on her face, but her hand doesn’t leave my chest.
“I’m putting you in a car and sending you home.”
“What? You’re joking, right? After all of… that?!” She gestures wildly to the dance floor.
The glassiness over her eyes seems to dissipate, replaced by pure annoyance.
“Goddamn it, you’re doing it again. There’s nothing here, there can’t be anything between us. Do you understand? You’re fucking jail-bait, Evelyn!”
She throws her head back, laughing hard enough that she attracts attention.
“That’s what bothers you? My age? You can stop feeling so guilty because I’m officially eighteen today. Well, according to that clock on the wall it’s past midnight, so technically it happened yesterday.”
Oh, fuck…
My mind is spinning with the flurry of thoughts assaulting me. Too many voices argue inside my head, throwing arguments that shouldn’t matter right now. I strain to focus and the first emotion I grasp is sadness. This creature has had so much taken away from her, and now this pivotal moment in her life might have passed without proper celebration. We should have known. We should have tried to make her feel special.
Am I overthinking it? She was out with Morri and Lulu today, after all. She probably celebrated.