Page 62 of Four Times Saved

She turned to her husband and dropped her head before nodding. "Yeah. We both have some shit to work through."

"I'm sorry for bringing it up..." I started.

"Oh, quiet. I know why you did. You need to know that someone understands what you're going through." She reached up to rub my shoulder and I didn't know why, but my eyes stung and the tears came pouring down.

"What the hell did you say to her?" Ryan's voice boomed over my shoulder. He must have run over because he wasn't there a second ago.

"Relax," Tyler hissed.

"It's okay." I turned to look up at their scowls, still directed at Tyler. Seriously, this was not the time for jealousy. "I've just decided that maybe I should book in with a therapist as soon as possible."

Ryan's complexion dulled and he got a hold of himself again. "Oh. That's good news." He stroked my shoulder.

"I have a bunch of therapists, if you're interested," Ethan's hurried fingers tapped against his phone.

"It's okay. I can find my own therapist," I responded, watching him flinch and reeling in my defense. "But I'd love it if you guys came with me."

He nodded.

Ann-Marie looked between the men and me. She must have picked up on tension in my words and well, my once happy-go-lucky men were as stiff as logs.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked, concern furrowing her brow.

Yes, they were acting strange, but I knew what would help them loosen up.

Grinning through the stuffiness of my tears, I gave her a hug. "I'll be fine."

We were accustomed to looking out for each other, but I couldn't help but laugh at her thinking that they would ever hurt me. I couldn't be naive, of course. But on the occasions where I'd seen Eric get angry, he'd controlled his need to lash out at my request.

His friends respected my boundaries just as much. When they faced off with my father in that house, and no one ended up with a bloody nose, I knew I'd found men I'd be able to trust with my life. It was the most impressive and sexy thing I'd seen, knowing that they had so much respect for me, they wouldn't act on their anger.

No man in my life had had that much self-control. Although, looking back, laying into my father might have done some good. If I'd allowed them to knock some sense into him, I'd have avoided that kidnapping. Or it would've made him angrier and more determined.

I found myself wishing someone would teach him a lesson, but quickly dismissed that. Because I had my father's anger in my veins and the thought of being anything like him was a fate worse than death. That's why I chose to handle things the way I did, not because I was a saint and a stickler for doing the right thing, but because being anything like that piece of shit revolted me. I was looking forward to being there when he was being judged though, and when they threw away the key. I'd take pleasure in that.

Ann-Marie leaned in, taking her voice down to a whisper. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." I nodded, returning her whisper with a smile. "Thank you for stopping by."

"I'm sorry it was such a short visit. I thought you'd rather be on your own, in your space, right now, but I selfishly just had to see you." She got up and I stood with her.

"I'll always want to see you." I hugged her. "Thanks for coming."

I caught the warning she gave the guys over my shoulder as we broke the hug and I grinned, waving her and Tyler goodbye before turning on my heels.

"So..." I crossed my arms over my breasts. "Do any of you want to tell me what that was about?"

"What?" Matt mimicked my stance.

"Oh, come on. You guys were staring daggers at Tyler all night." I gave them a pointed stare.

Eric scratched his head. "What? We were not."

"Ha!" I took slow steps toward them. "That's convincing."

"It was nothing," Ryan started. Ethan found the ground interesting all of a sudden.

"Look, it's okay if you were jealous, but I didn't mean anything by that hug. Seriously, I'm going through a tough time right now, the last thing I'm thinking about is other men." I sighed, dropping my arms in frustration.

---