Page 71 of Glad You Exist

I feel Brad's arm tighten around me and I can feel how close he is to his limit.

I look up at him, his jaw is still locked tight, his lips pursed in a thin line.

I pull on his arm and lace my fingers through his. I squeeze his hand until he looks down at me, his eyes blazing with barely controlled anger, but his gaze softens around the edges when he sees the reassurance on my face.

I glance back at Hunter. “I am not interested inyou. Not now. Not ever. I hope you never treat another girl the way you treated me. Now please leave me alone.”

I don’t wait for his response, I tug on Brad’s arm, forcing him to walk away with me.

His head snaps back, feet rooted in place as he continues to glower at Hunter.

“If you want to keep holding my hand, you’re going to look away and not make me drag you down this hall.”

I look over my shoulder and see Hunter dip his head and walk in the opposite direction.

With an exaggerated pull of breath, Brad maneuvers his arm to rest around my shoulder so my hand dangles from it, still gripping his. I’m both amazed and confused as to how he managed to put me under his arm with such finesse. He leads me down a less crowded hallway, and I stop to untangle myself from his hold. I prop a hand on my hip, tapping my foot for dramatic flair.

“What was that? You know better than to act like that Bradley. What’s gotten into you?”

The anger dissipates from him as his shoulders relax and his lips turn up sheepishly.

“I’m sorry. I just flashbacked to last night and saw red. It won’t happen again, El.”

He reaches for the hand on my hip, threading his fingers through mine.

“Can I walk you to class while I convince you to have lunch with me after?”

I bite my lip, overwhelmed with the effortless way he manages to calm me down.

All the anxiety from the confrontation with Hunter has already faded away.

I know for a fact that the only reason I was even able to stand up to Hunter was because Brad was there. He has the innate ability to quiet the voices in my head and still the panic that is constantly rising inside me until it dissolves into nothing. Making me feel more confident with myself.

I feel Brad squeeze my hand. I blink realizing he’s already walking me to Physics.

I hold our hands up, “Feeling handsy today?”

He winks at me, “You said I could hold your hand if I walked away. I intend on taking full advantage of that privilege.”

I bite back another smile, not wanting him to know just yet how much I love the feel of his hand against mine.

Warm, gentle, and safe. Just like him.

“Okay that was cute, I’ll have lunch with you.”

A laugh shoots out of him, “That was easy. I thought for sure you were going to make me work for it.”

I shrug, “Oh, I will. You owe me answers, remember? And I’ve added two things to my list.”

“What two things?”

“Well for starters, what did you tell Dan? Second, I need you to call off the bodyguards.”

We stop just outside the lab. He looks down at me, concern etched on his face.

“It’s just until the rumors die down, okay? Besides after what that di—he just tried to pull right now; I’m even more convinced it won’t be the last time he tries to get you alone again.”

I let go of his hand and squeeze his arm.

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