Page 10 of The Hero I Can't Resist
She nods. “Yes, I do. What were you even thinking? This is my job. This is my livelihood.”
I stand up. “I know that. I wasn’t trying to hurt you, you have to know that. I saw the comments, and I don’t know what went through me. I wanted to?—”
I stop myself before I say too much.
She starts to laugh. “What? You wanted to do what? Embarrass me? Pay me back for the stupid naïve twelve-year-old I was? Or maybe you just want to see?—”
“Stop.” I move across the room to her. “Stop it.”
She’s breathing hard, and I put my hands on her shoulders to try and calm her. “Sky, listen, I wasn’t thinking. You want the truth? I saw what he posted, and it went all through me. It wasn’t professional what I did, but in that moment, I had to let him know that you weren’t here alone, that you had me by your side.”
She holds her hand up. “By my side? You didn’t just show him you were by my side. You claimed me, you asked me to be your girlfriend!” She blows out a breath, and her voice is strained. “I don’t know if you realize it or not, but fans love this kind of stuff. My viewership just exploded.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” I’m quick to jump in. Dang, something good has to come from my choices.
“Good?” she asks. “Yeah, sure, until you break up with me and people lose their minds, blaming me. There are already people commenting that there’s no way I’m pretty enough for you. Some of these people are brutal.”
I shrug. “First of all, that’s ridiculous. You’re beautiful. And second of all, we just won’t break up.”
She stares wide-eyed at me. She goes to her tiptoes, lifts her hand, and touches my forehead. “I’m sorry, did you hit your head or something? We’re not even together.”
I’m going crazy. That’s all I can think because to me, we’re together. Yeah, I haven’t seen her since she was a kid. Yeah, I took one look at her in a video on my phone and thought,mine. I’m so royally fucked right now.
I release my hold on her and back up. “Look, my job is to protect you, and that’s what I’m going to do. And that’s in all things. I’ll protect you, your reputation, all of it.”
Her phone rings, and her eyes widen as she looks at the caller ID. “It’s my sister-in-law, Aria.”
She answers it, and I wish I could hear the other side of the conversation because it’s obvious Skyler is freaked out.
“Shit” is all she says.
I hold out my hand. “Here, let me talk to her.”
Skyler must be freaked out because she just hands over her phone without argument. “Hey, Aria. This is Zach. Is everything okay?”
Instantly, she asks, “Yeah, are you packing?”
“Excuse me?” I ask her.
She huffs in frustration. “Do you have a gun?”
“Yes. Do I need it?”
I’m not sure if we’re talking in code or what, but I’m on high alert.
“No!” she screeches. “Miller and Penn are on their way over there. They’re pissed, and I really don’t want you to shoot my husband or my brother-in-law.”
I blow out a breath. “They saw thestreaming?”
She laughs. “Oh, they saw it, and they’re not happy.”
“Okay. I’ll take care of it.”
I’m about to hand the phone back to Sky when Aria demands, “Don’t hurt her, Zach. If anyone can, it’s you.” She blows out a breath. “And if you do, you won’t have to worry about the Brody brothers because I’ll get to you first.”
I look into Sky’s big blue eyes. I’m not sure if she can hear Aria or not, but there’s a vulnerability on her face that makes me want to reassure her. “Aria, the last thing I’ll do is hurt Sky. I promise you, she’s safe with me.”
Sky’s eyes get even bigger, and she looks at me as if she’s trying to figure me out. I hand the phone back to her, and she walks from the room to finish the conversation.
