Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 137(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 137(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Ash steps up beside me. We watch as he lies there, bloody from having his ass kicked and gasping for breath, getting weaker and weaker until eventually, he passes out.
It’s an out-of-body experience after that. Ash directs me to grab both his and my things, and I do. She tries to drag him farther into the woods.
“I don’t want you to have to do this,” she says.
“He attacked me. He wanted to kill me. I’m…no.” I shake my head. “I’m in this.”
I take his other arm, and we drag him away, deeper into the trees, my heart racing the whole time. Ash immediately calls Tiernan.
She’s talking in a low voice to him, but I know they’re coming, and from what I can make of the conversation, Dean is staying behind to do his thing if there’s any camera footage.
The second the call ends, Ash is holding me tightly again. “I’m scared, but I’m not. It’s like I can’t cry. I can’t feel anything. I could have died tonight and—”
“It’s the adrenaline. When it wears off, you’ll crash. I was so fucking scared,” she says.
“How did you know?”
“When you said what time you were leaving, I was going to meet you. I got there and couldn’t find you. I looked at our location app and saw where you were.”
I remember fighting it a little when she first asked me about the app, but now I’m so fucking glad I did it.
“It was him.”
“Who is he?” she asks.
We look at the bloody, passed-out man a couple of feet away from us. “A guy I went out with last year. He’s…” Everything that’s wrong with the world. He’s one of thousands of men who are getting radicalized online to hate women—or at least, I’m assuming that’s what happened.
“Shh. We’ll talk about it later.”
We take the water bottle from my bag and rinse our hands.
I tense when I hear footsteps, but relax when Tiernan, Cillian, Rory, and Shai arrive.
Tiernan doesn’t say anything to us at first, pulling his foot back and kicking Curtis in the face.
When he turns and straightens his clothes, the look in his eyes is the coldest I’ve ever seen another person look.
I take a step back, but then his gaze lands on us, and every one of his features softens. “You both did good. I swear, it’s always one of the women around us saving the day.”
“No shit,” Cillian says. “Fucking badass.”
“I get to kill him, though, right?” Rory asks. “He touched my Ash and her Zuri.”
Aislin turns and looks at me, silently asking the question.
I don’t want to be responsible for someone’s death, but if we let him go, how many other women will he do this to? How many girls has he possibly already done it to?
“Do whatever you want. Just don’t…tell me about it.”
“Wait,” Ash says. “We’ll be okay?” she asks.
“We’ll always be okay,” I reply. I love her too fucking much for anything else.
I know who she is.
I know who they all are.
“Ollie is in the parking lot, waiting to take the two of you home. We’ll take care of the rest,” Cillian says. “I tried to get him to stay home, but he wouldn’t.”
“I’m not surprised,” Ash says, then to me, “Come on, baby. Let’s go home.”
I nod, knowing there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.
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.