Page 81 of Jersey

She's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of woman, and the idea of that scared the ever-living fuck out of me, and instead of being a grown-ass man about it and trying to figure out why she seemed so important to me, I cut her deep.

I devalued her,offering only something physical, and probably from her past abuse, made her think that was all she was worth.

She told me she deserved better, and even though I readily agreed with her, she still sat on my bed the other night waiting for me to show up. She still took from me the only thing I told her I could offer, and it cut her even deeper than the conversation about it had.

A horn blares and I barely have time to swerve before ramming my bike in to the side of a pickup truck.

My hands are shaking as I manage to pull over on the side of the road. I'm so distracted that I just ran a red light. I wasn't going too fast, but it could've ended very badly with me on the bike.

I'm going to get myself killed before I can make the five-hour drive back to Gatlinburg.

I pull in several deep breaths and allow my mind to run through all the things that concern Caitlyn before shoving it all aside, if only long enough to make it back home.

The drive is brutal, and by the time I pull up in front of the cabin, my entire body feels like a block of fucking ice.

It's mid-morning, and I shouldn't be surprised to see Caitlyn's car parked out front, but I hasten my steps to get inside, worried that something might have happened while I was gone.

She's been meeting with Eli four times a week for several months now, so it makes sense for her to be here, but my head is running through a litany of awful things that might've gone wrong considering what she has been going through recently.

I freeze in the middle of the living room, drawing the eyes of everyone inside when I spot her sitting on the floor and smiling as she and Eli talk softly to each other.

Relief washes over me like a calming wave at the sight of her, and I don't let it affect me when she glances up, notices me, and then immediately pulls her attention back to Eli.

I swallow as I take another step forward, but now isn't the time nor the place to have a conversation with her.

I walk out of the room, my hackles going up when the sound of another pair of boots follows me from the room.

I know it's Jericho hot on my tail without having to look over my shoulder, but instead of turning to face him, I hit the stairs, taking them up two at a time, needing to put some distance between Caitlyn and myself, if only so she doesn't witness the man punching me in the fucking face for being such a colossal asshole to her.

Surprisingly, he follows me into my room, and although we've all lived here for months now, no other Cerberus member has been in here. Sticking their head inside to remind me of a meeting or to ask me if I want to take a hike through the woods is as far as they've come.

The two of us inside make the adequate room feel so much smaller than it really is.

He's seething when I turn to face him, and I know the man is allowed his feelings, but having anyone else worried about Caitlyn makes me want to punch him in the face and claim her safety and well-being for myself.

"What did you do to her?" he snaps.

"What's wrong?" I ask, concerned that I was right about something happening while I was gone. "Did that motherfucker go to her house last night?"

"She didn't have any trouble at her house," he says, and sudden relief hits me again, much the same way it did when I saw her in the living room a few minutes ago. "So her planning to move out of town has nothing to do with you?"

"What?" I growl. "She's moving?"

"Yes, and I have no doubt it has everything to do with you," he snaps, taking a step closer.

Ideserve everything he has to offer, but I don't have fucking time right now to take an ass beating from him.

"She has that stalker," I say, but it's a weak excuse at best.

Moving to a different place makes sense, leaving the area entirely seems a bit extreme.

"What the fuck am I supposed to do about Eli?" he growls. "I told you to stay the fuck away from her."

"I'll fix it," I say, but my tone lacks the confidence I'm trying to force myself to feel.

"You fucking better," he says before turning and leaving my room.

I drop down to my bed, exhaustion running over my entire body, and I know it has more to do with that than having ridden over ten hours recently on my bike. The idea of losing her makes my skin crawl, the fear of her being gone and in a place where we can't protect her is stronger than any misgivings I had about getting too close to her.

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