Page 24 of I Choose You
She nodded a small, quick nod. I took her hand in mine and started walking, but she didn’t budge.
“I…” she started. “I… ah… I think I have to stay. I haven’t given anyone my statement yet. One of the officers told me to wait here.”
My blood was still on fire. I could see that she was safe. Physically, she was unharmed as far as I could see. But thisoverwhelming need to protect her surged in me.
“You’re not staying here a single fucking second longer. They know who I am. If they need your statement tonight, they’ll know where to find you. But they’ll have to get through me first, so they better think twice.”
I pulled off the flannel I was wearing and wrapped Claire up in it. Pulling her along with me, I kept my arm around her the entire way back to the car. On the way out, Officer Neves spotted me leaving with Claire. He took two steps toward us, but he caught on to how this was going to play out and wisely let us go without a word, only a nod of acknowledgment.
Claire sat in the passenger seat of my truck. I hated seeing her so quiet and shaken up.
“Come here.” I reached my arm out behind her to gently cup her shoulder. She leaned into me, tentatively at first, and then she buried her face in my neck. “I’ve got you. You’re safe now, I promise,” I whispered.
The drive home was only a couple of minutes, and when I pulled into my driveway, I wasn’t sure if I should hurry her out of the car or just sit with her here. She hadn’t picked her head up off my chest, so I wasn’t even sure if she knew we were home. Gently, I pulled the hair back from her face, my fingers tangling in her locks.
“Hey,” I called to her quietly, keeping my tone as soothing as possible. “We’re here. Let’s get you inside, okay?”
She pulled back from me, nodding, her eyes red and puffy. I told her to stay there while I went to her door to help her out.
I brought her into the house and sat her on the couch. I had no idea what to do for her, so I rummaged through my cabinets until I found the tea bags that Kayleigh used to drinkwhen she didn’t feel well. The water took forever to heat up on the stove, but eventually, I was able to make Claire a cup of green tea, hoping it would help soothe her a little. I hated feeling so helpless, so clueless about what to do.
“I’m being ridiculous. I know I am. It’s just that was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me,” she said. The steaming mug of tea was in her hands, but her eyes were unfocused and faraway.
“What happened tonight? Do you want to talk about it?” I asked, rushing to add, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“I was just sitting there, minding my own business. Actually, I was thinking about how I needed to get out of there because it was gross and loud and was bringing me down. I only went there because I was in such a good mood after leaving you and your family, and I didn’t want to sit alone in my room.” She paused to blow on her tea. “I should have just stayed in my room.”
I wanted to tell her that she should have stayed out with us, with me. She shouldn’t have gone back to that shithole at all. Hell, she never should have been there in the first place. But I didn’t invite her to hang out with us, so it wouldn’t be fair to tell her that she had other options after the fact.
“That guy, Rusty, was completely trashed when I showed up. And I know he had a few more drinks in the short time I was there.”
Fucking Rusty Burgess.
“He tried to get up, and he could barely even get himself off the stool. The bartender told him to hand over his keys, and… next thing I know, he’s waving a gun around like a lunatic right on the side of me. For a split second, I swear I was looking down the barrel of it.”
Instantly, I saw red. Rusty Fucking Burgess was about to be a dead man.
“The bartender tried to talk him down, but it wasn’t working. Everyone moved to the back of the room, just waiting to see how it would all unfold. Eventually, this old man with a ponytail tried to get the gun from him. He got punched pretty hard in the face, but after that, the bartender was able to tackle him to the ground and knock him out just before the police showed up.”
She finished telling me how the events unfolded from there, but I was stuck on the fact that she was in a dangerous and life-threatening situation today. From some fucking drunk lunatic. In a dirty, sleazy bar. In my town.
A tear trailed down her cheek, followed by another one. I swiped them away with my thumb and held her face in my hand. Her haunted eyes found mine, and the dam broke. I held her shaking body, my hand cupping the back of her head while she cried on my chest.
“I’m sorry. You can tell me to suck it up,” she said through her sniffling, a hint of laughter mixed with embarrassment in her voice.
“Why in the hell would I say that? Claire, look at me.” I held her face in my hands, tilting her head until her eyes found mine. Who would tell this woman that she should “suck it up” after that experience? Who would make her believe that she could only ever exhibit sunshine and rainbows? Her fake smiles—the ones that didn’t quite reach her eyes—and her forced laughter—the kind that clearly stated she didn’t find it amusing but was too polite to be rude—those pissed me off enough. But this? “You do not need to pretend for mysake. This was big, and it was scary, and you’re allowed to feel however you feel. Don’t let anyone tell you to ‘suck it up,’ not ever. Understood?”
Her gaze was locked on mine like it was the first time she was really seeing me. I didn’t let her go until she nodded her understanding.
“You’re being really nice to me,” Claire whispered.
“I’m a nice guy, remember.”
She made a noise that was probably supposed to be a laugh, but it didn’t quite get there. I hated seeing her like this. She had an easy smile, an easy laugh, and that fucker Rusty took it away.
I stood from the couch and pulled Claire with me. “Come on.”
Claire’s hand fit in the palm of mine as I led her into the bathroom.
