Page 35 of Riot

“I wasn’t rude. I asked nicely.” He flashes me that grin again, and there’s something predatory beneath it. “You didn’t think I was bein’ rude, did you, Jensen?”

This time, Jackson doesn’t correct his name. “No.”

“What did I tell you, Vee?” His arm drapes over the back of the bench, settling on my shoulders. My body heats in everyplace he’s touching. “Why don’t you sit? There’s plenty of space now without makin’ itweird.”

Riot gestures to the empty bench next to him, not me. Jackson looks as if he’d rather cut his arm off than sit next to him.

“I’ve got somewhere to be.” He pulls his wallet from his pocket and offers me a card. “My number. Message me about dinner.”

Riot snatches it from his hand before I can blink.

Jackson shoots Riot a dark glare before walking away. I watch until I lose him in a crowd of dog walkers.

Riot stiffens. “Dinner?” His voice is a growl. “That fuck ain’t takin’ you anywhere, Vee.”

“I didn’t say I would go. Why are you so pissed?”

He squeezes his eyes shut, grounding himself. “I turned around for less than a minute and there was a strange guy sittin’ next to you. And you looked so uncomfortable, I wanted to rip his fuckin’ head off his shoulders. I was ready to, but then you say he’s a friend. The problem is your body language tells me somethin’ different from the words comin’ out of your mouth. All things considered, I think I was less pissed than I wanted to be.”

A stunned silence falls over me. Did he really read all of that?

“Heisjust a friend. I’ve known Jackson for a long time, but it’s been a few years since I last saw him. He caught me unaware. And I was uncomfortable?—”

“Fuckin’ prick.” He snarls, standing, as if he’s going after him.

I grab his arm, yanking him back down.

“Would you let me finish before you hurt an innocent person?”

“There’s no such thing as innocent.”

“I was uncomfortable…” I pause, not wanting to admit this, but I need to give him something. This will likely happen again. “I was uncomfortable because I’ll always be wary of men, Riot.”

Because of what happened to me.I don’t say those words, but I don’t need to. He instantly understands what I’m talking about.

His brows come together, not in pity or sympathy but something deeper. “Do you feel uncomfortable around me?”

I swallow the lump in my throat. I don’t know how to answer that without making shit weird between us.

“Do I scare you?” he presses when I don’t answer.

“No.” It’s the truth. “Never.”

You’re the only place I ever feel safe.

He studies every inch of my face, searching. “You just sayin’ that?”

Shit, he’s not going to believe me unless I explain. “He—Link—took so much from me, not just my choices and my dreams. He stole my security, my safety. I didn’t think I’d ever get that back, but I have.” My mouth is suddenly dry.Just say it.Give him this, even if he throws it back in your face.My hands tremble. “But the only time I ever feel safe… is… is when I’m with you.”

I kiss my daughter’s hair, too scared to look at him, too scared of what I’ll see.

“You don’t see the monster everyone else does?”

“No.”

“I’m a criminal, Vee.” He tells me something I already know. “I’ve done shit that would make you sick if you knew about it. How am I any less of a monster than him?”

He has no idea how good he is.

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