Chapter Thirteen
Aislin
“Oh my God. I’m so glad you’re both okay!” Ollie pulls both Zuri and me into a hug, which we both melt into. He brings a dose of normality to all of us that we need, a calming presence after the storm.
“I love you,” I tell him.
Ollie pulls back and looks at me. “I love you, too,” he says, then turns to Zuri. “I love you both. Come on. Let’s go home.”
Ollie opens the back door, somehow knowing that we’ll want to sit together. Zuri and I climb into the back seat, holding hands and sitting close.
Ollie doesn’t ask us questions on the short drive, just letting us be. He seems to know exactly what we need.
Zuri and I don’t speak either, just cling to each other. When we get home, I tell Ollie, “We’re going to my room. I know Tiernan will take care of everything. We’ll get an update in the morning.”
“Of course.” He pushes his glasses up his nose.
“I need to take a shower,” Zuri says, the second we’re upstairs in my room.
“Yeah. Whatever you need. Do you want to be alone, or do you want me to take one with you?” I ask her. Whatever she needs, I’ll do. I can’t imagine what she’s been through tonight. I know it will hit us both later, a wave of emotion once our brains come out of protection mode.
“With me.” She takes my hand and leads me to the bathroom. We strip and get into the shower, but there’s nothing sexual about the moment. It’s just about taking care of each other and being close.
I wash Zuri, and she washes me.
I dry her off, and she dries me.
When she tries to put her bonnet on, and her hands shake, I take it and do that for her, too. Then we’re in bed, the room mostly dark, other than the lamp on the nightstand beside us, arms locked tightly around one another as though someone will try to take us away from each other.
“That was so scary,” she finally says.
“I’m here to talk, or we don’t have to. Whatever is best for you.”
“I know. It’s why I love you. And I want to talk to you about it.”
I nod, kiss her throat, breathe her in. I can’t believe I’m so lucky to call her my girlfriend, that this beautiful, strong woman loves me.
“Did he try…” I let the words hang in the air, both of us knowing what I mean.
“Shit. Do you need to go to the hospital for anything? I didn’t even think about that. We have a doctor in Boston who—”
“Shh. I’m fine. He didn’t try that. I don’t think he even cared about anything sexual with me. He just thinks he’s better than us. He hates women. Hates me. He felt like I owed him something, so he didn’t like that I’d told him I wasn’t interested. I think…I think he just wanted me to suffer.”
“I’m so fucking sorry. God, I want to kill him myself.”
We’re both quiet for a moment, making me realize what I said and what it means. There’s no doubt in my mind she already knew. She understood what the conversation tonight meant and what she’d basically given them permission to do.
“Will they really kill him?” Zuri asks after a moment.
“Yes, which means he can never try to hurt anyone again.”
“What if they get into trouble?” She sits up in bed. “Oh my God. What if I get into trouble? I was seen with him. I fought him. There has to be evidence of me and—” Zuri’s breathing speeds up.
I sit up, too, so I’m facing her. “Shh, baby. It’ll be okay. We’ll make it okay. Dean will take care of the video… We already blackmail the dean. We have people to clean up messes like this and dirty cops who do what we need them to do. Everything will be okay. I promise.”
I press my forehead to hers, each of us breathing in each other’s air.
“Tonight wasn’t about you,” she finally says, after what feels like a hundred years.
“What do you mean?”
“You were worried about me being with you. What could happen to me because of your family, and all I know is how your family protected me. Curtis came after me because he’s an incel, a toxic man who couldn’t handle being told no.
He didn’t like me being with a woman, but he wouldn’t have liked me with any woman.
It didn’t have to be you. There’s danger everywhere, all the time, Ash.
Every time either of us walks out the door or, hell, wakes up in the morning, anything can happen.
And all I can think about is how I want to spend every moment I can with you, no matter how long we get, no matter what the consequences are, or who your family is.
I knew it before, and I know it even more now. ”
I’d said something similar to Ollie not that long ago. It’s funny how easy it is to give advice to others, but we don’t see the truth ourselves. My eyes well with tears as I reach up and grab her face.
We kiss slowly, like we have all the time in the world, and hell, maybe we do.
We kiss like nothing else matters except the two of us, kiss like we need each other’s mouths for air.
She could have died tonight. I could have lost her, but she’s here, and she’s shown me over and over for weeks that she’s chosen me.
Chosen us.
Zuri pulls me down until we’re each on our sides, facing each other. “We’ll always have each other’s backs.”
“Yes,” I answer. I’m devoted to her, and I know how devoted she is to me, too. “Will you come home to Boston with me this weekend? I’d like you to meet my mom, and hopefully Conan and Rian too, but I can’t promise that.”
Her smile lights up the room. “I’d like that.”
“Good. It’s a date.” Zuri’s in our world now, my world, her world, and as imperfect and messy as our lives are, I know Zuri and I will be great together, that we’ll do good things, put good into the world, and we’ll love each other so fucking well.
“I don’t know if I can sleep tonight. I’m afraid I’ll close my eyes and see him.”
“Then we’ll stay up all night talking. And if you’re tired and want to go to sleep, I’ll stay awake and watch over you.”
She reaches up, pushing a lock of hair behind my ear. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” I kiss her. “My mom is going to be so excited to meet you. She’s the best cook. Oh, and she does a lot of charity work, like your mom did.”
Zuri listens while I talk—talk about anything and everything I can think of. She shares some stories, too, but mostly she listens, strokes my hair, lets her eyes flutter closed, but then forces them open again.
When hours pass, dawn teasing behind the window, she finally gives in and goes to sleep, and just like I promised, I watch her, ready to wake her if she has a nightmare, willing to slay any demons that face her, just like I know she will always do for me.
*
It’s almost lunchtime before Zuri and I make it downstairs. The house is quiet, but we find Tiernan and Dean in Tiernan’s office.
“Hey,” Tiernan says. “Are you both good?”
“Yes.” I squeeze Zuri’s hand. “Everything’s good. We just wanted to check and make sure everything was sorted out last night.” I don’t really need the details. There’s no doubt in my mind that they took care of everything, but I know it’s important for Zuri to hear.
It’s Dean who answers first. “Yeah. I dealt with the school’s cameras and security system.
Cillian went and saw the dean in the middle of the night.
Rory and Shai took care of that piece of fucking shit who put his hands on Zuri.
I went through his laptop. He’s been looking up some fucked-up shit.
He definitely got lost down those rabbit holes full of weak fucking men who hate women and think they owe him something.
He wrote some disturbing stuff…not just about Zuri, but women in general. ”
“I can’t—” She shakes her head. “I thought he was a nice guy. A little weird, but that’s it.”
“They want us to think they’re nice guys.
It’s how they get away with what they do,” Tiernan says.
“But the world is a better place with him where he is. I called Rian, too. We brought some guys in. Everyone is doing their jobs, and none of this will come back to us.” He looks at Zuri. “You’re safe…in every way.”
“Thank you. I don’t know what I can do to pay you all back for this.”
“You don’t owe us anything,” my brother tells her. “Just be good to Ash.”
She turns and looks at me, biting her bottom lip sweetly, and I have to admit, I’m a little jealous. I’d like to be the one biting it. “I will,” she says.
“You guys wanna go out for lunch?” Tiernan asks.
“Wow. This is a once-in-a-lifetime offer. Tiernan usually doesn’t want to be around anyone. We should take him up on it,” I joke.
“No shit,” Dean confirms.
“I’d like that,” Zuri says, so that’s what we do. The girl I love and I, along with my brother and my best friend, head out together to share a meal, and for a little while, the things that happened last night are behind us.
I know how it works, know that these things never really go away. I haven’t dealt with it, and Zuri hasn’t either, but we will. We’ll deal with the emotional aspects together, the way we’ll do everything from now on.
Me and my girl.