Chapter 24 #2
Within two seconds, I’m in Benjamin’s arms. His familiar scent makes something inside me break, but I swallow hard, forcing myself to keep it together. He pulls me to his chest, like he’s afraid I’ll fall apart if he doesn’t, pressing his lips to my hair.
“You okay?” he whispers.
I nod.
“Did he hurt you?”
I shake my head.
“I’m gonna fucking kill him.”
I shake my head again.
“If he ever comes near you again . . .”
He holds me still for another minute before releasing me.
“I’m so sorry, June,” Iris whispers with tears in her eyes. “I didn’t notice what was going on. It was when Benjamin showed up and asked for you that I realized how long you’d been gone. I’m so sorry.” She looks absolutely devastated as the tears start streaming down her face.
I manage to smile. “It’s not your fault.”
“But I’m your friend. I should’ve paid more attention.”
“You couldn’t. He came up from nowhere. And we were kind of invisible from here.”
In my periphery, I notice Benjamin’s jaw clenching and his hands forming into fists again. Iris throws her arms around me, quietly sobbing against my shoulder. I stroke her back softly. All I want to do is leave. I want to get out of here. People are watching, and my legs are shaking.
“I’m taking June home. Do you want a ride, Iris?” Benjamin asks. He looks impatient.
“I’ll give Iris a ride home,” Jake says, back from kicking out the creep and his friends. He stretches his left hand a couple of times before he exchanges a look with Benjamin, and I don’t think I want to know what that look means.
Benjamin dips his chin. “Okay.” Without hesitation, he takes my hand and leads us through the bar.
Everyone’s eyes are on us, but he doesn’t seem to care.
I walk without meeting anyone’s gaze—not in the mood to explain what just happened.
I feel their stares burning holes in my back when Benjamin pushes the door open.
As soon as we get out and are alone, Benjamin turns. Our eyes lock for one second before I can’t hold it together anymore. Hot tears well up in my eyes, and my knees wobble under me. He’s around me immediately, his arms wrapping around me like a safety net. My safety net.
“Baby,” he whispers against my ear. I let him catch me, finally free to drop my guard and reveal just how shaken I am.
I cry quietly as he holds me.
“You’re safe. I’ll never let anything happen to you. I’ll always keep you safe.” His voice is low, and right at this moment I believe him.
Without another word, he scoops me up in his arms, holding me tight as he walks me to his car.
I rest my head against his chest. Carefully, he opens the passenger door and gently puts me down and buckles my seatbelt.
He doesn’t close the door immediately. Instead, he moves my hair behind my ear and catches my tears before giving me the softest of kisses.
All our kisses have always been good, but there’s something different about this one. It’s tender.
He closes the door and soon slides in behind the wheel. He turns on my seat warmer, placing a possessive hand on my thigh before steering us out onto the street.
I don’t have to ask—I know where we’re going, and that’s the only place I want to be right now. But my heart sinks to my feet when I remember something.
“I promised Margot I’d turn on the porch light. It’s for her to know that I’m home and safe.”
“We’ll stop by your house and light it then,” he says shortly and makes a U-turn.
He looks tense. His shoulders are squared, and the hand around the wheel is hugging it so hard the knuckles are turning white.
“I like how she’s keeping an eye on you,” he adds, staring out the windshield with a clenched jaw.
We drive in silence for a couple of minutes.
He looks thoughtful. And angry. I, on the other hand, can finally relax.
I know I’m safe. I’ve never felt safer in my life.
The seat warms my trembling body and eventually, I stop shaking.
I lean my head back against the headrest, releasing all the air in my lungs.
“I need to show you how to defend yourself. If I’m not there, I need to know that you know how to protect yourself.”
“I’ll kick his groin the next time,” I mutter, half joking, half meaning it.
“I’m serious, June. I won’t be able to fucking sleep if I don’t know you’re safe.”
I turn to look at him in the darkness of the car. His profile is hard and as tense as the rest of his body. There’s not a trace of sarcasm or irony anywhere.
“I’ll take some defense classes,” I say finally.
“No. I’ll teach you myself. I don’t trust another damn soul with you.”
My first impulse is to joke about it—about his confidence—but I decide not to. This is clearly not a joke to him. So, this time, instead of teasing him, I just nod slowly. “Okay.” A quiet minute passes where neither of us speaks. “How come you know self-defense? Did you practice it growing up?”
He doesn’t respond right away. His eyes are glued to the road on the other side of the windshield, and his jawline is set tight.
“Yeah, something like that,” he mumbles, more to himself than to me.
I watch him quietly for a moment before I look away.
I won’t ask any more about it, there’s something in the silence that tells me not to.
He’s more vulnerable than you think. He’s been through shit. I swallow.
My small street is dark and empty. All the windows are black, everyone is asleep. Benjamin kills the engine in front of the mailbox. “Do you need anything else in there?”
Yes. My moisturizer, my hairbrush, my toothbrush, my Gua Sha stone, and my eye patches. “No, I’m okay.”
He narrows his eyes. “You sure?”
“Yeah.” I’m sure I don’t want him going in and finding my vibrator, which isn’t impossible since I don’t remember where I left it.
He nods before leaving the car. I follow his broad, dark silhouette as he walks up the path to my front door and disappears. The night is thick outside, and though I rarely fear the dark, I can’t stop a shiver traveling along my cold limbs.
I let out a breath when the light over the porch finally comes on. And I can’t hold back the flutter in my heart when I see him walking back to me.