Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 97337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97337 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
I was very aware that if I did too much there’d soon be questions about the closeness between us. So to protect her I had to keep my distance when all I wanted was to hold her, reassure her, comfort her.
One of the cops just barely spared me a glance when I brought her in, but said nothing. I didn’t expect her to be there long so I sat outside in the hallway and waited. I’d never been to the police station before, had only seen one on TV, so I was surprised that I was able to see and hear her from where I sat.
I overheard some of what she was saying to the cops and the anger I’d felt before paled in comparison to what I felt listening to her words. I’d been talking to her for more than a month, followed her home every school night and spent the weekends on the phone with her for hours and didn’t know any of the things she was saying.
The guy was someone she’d met when she first moved here and had gone out with twice. She was looking for friendship but he wanted something more. When she realized that she put the brakes on and went on with her life thinking he was cool with it.
Her innocence made my heart ache. No doubt that prick had seen the same sweet innocence in her that I had, knew she was on her own and had treated her like prey.
Apparently he’d been calling her on and off ever since she turned him down and it had been going on for a few months already. We might live in a small town but we’re in no way cut off from the rest of the world, so I knew what all this shit added up to. He’d been stalking her.
That word sounds so benign, until you learn the ramifications of someone like him and the shit they can get up to. I’ve dealt with my fair share of that horror in the past, granted not to this extent, but still. I know how that shit can screw up your life if you don’t get a handle on it.
Me, I had my friends and family for support, and the girls were all young and well, girls. But that didn’t stop the shit from being an inconvenient nuisance. But she’s not me, and he’s not a fourteen or fifteen year old girl. And from what I know, these freaks don’t just stop because you want them to.
Instead of freaking me out and making me want to take a step back, it had the complete opposite effect. Now I really wanted to take care of her, protect her. And it was then I really started worrying.
I worried about the fact that she lived all the way over here alone, too far for me to get to her in time if something else happened. I worried that she might still be afraid, and the thought of her sitting alone in her little house, shrouded in fear was too much for me to bear.
It was then I decided I wasn’t leaving her tonight. It no longer mattered what anyone would say, I’d do what I have to-to keep our relationship private, but I’m not about to put her life in danger to keep people’s tongues from wagging.
It was a bit soon, a bit rash and not at all what I’d had planned for us, but it couldn’t be helped. I’m sure I’m the only one she has here and even if I’m not, because of what she’s come to mean to me there’s no way I’m leaving her to face this shit alone.
So while I waited for her to finish up I called mom and told her I wasn’t coming home, leaving her with the impression that I was staying with one of the guys which I’ve done countless times before.
I got to my feet when she stood, still looking shaken as she made her way over to me. I knew she was still shook because she just stood in front of me with her head down, fixing her glasses in place. She looked so small and wounded that something soft and sweet shifted in my chest and I barely restrained myself from reaching for her.
“You sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?” She’d declined the ambulance at the scene, and even though there were no bruises, I’d still feel better if she got looked over. But I kind of knew the answer before she gave me one.
At the shake of her head I decided to drop it for now, but told myself that if I still felt this strongly about it in an hour or two, I’ll take her to get looked at. I took her hand and she jumped and remained tense all the way to the truck.