“No . . . just scared.”
Son of a bitch. “Tell me where you are right now, Ari.”
She sniffled again, and it about made me throw up. I tossed my bag onto the passenger seat and started my truck up.
“I’m in my car. In the parking lot of the shelter.”
“Don’t move. I’m on my way, okay?”
“I didn’t mean to bother you. I thought . . . I thought . . . maybe you . . . you were h—here.”
Fucking hell. She was crying harder. I’ll kill the person who hurt her.
“I’m on my way, sweetheart. Just don’t leave, okay?”
“I w—won’t.”
How I didn’t get a speeding ticket I’ll never know. I made it to the animal shelter ten minutes later. When I pulled into the parking lot, I saw Ari’s jeep. Pulling in next to it, I jumped out of my truck and made my way over to her. She had her face buried in her hands, and I had to keep myself from punching something.
I lightly tapped on her window, and when she unlocked the door, I opened it and reached in for her. She was unbuckled so I pulled her out of the jeep. She instantly wrapped her arms around me and buried her face in my chest. Her body shook as she sobbed.
Running my hand over her hair, I softly talked to her. “Shh, it’s okay. Tell me what happened, Ari. Please tell me what happened.”
She drew back and looked up at me. Her beautiful hazel eyes were filled with tears and bloodshot from crying. I pushed a piece of hair that was stuck to her tear-soaked cheek away and behind her ear.
Fucking hell. Even upset she was achingly beautiful.
“What happened?”
“I . . . I took the dogs out for a walk on the trail. And this guy started talking to me about them. He . . . he kept telling me how pretty I was and how he wanted my number. I politely told him no and started immediately back to the shelter. He followed me h—here and wouldn’t leave.”
“Did you tell anyone here?”
She nodded. “Bryce went out and told the guy he needed to leave, and he did. But—but when I got to my jeep, I saw him pull in and park in front of the door. I crawled into the back seat of my jeep and hid. I didn’t w—want him to see me.”
I pulled her back to me. “Baby, why didn’t you call the police?”
She started crying again. “I don’t know. The only person I could think of to help me was you. I thought maybe you were on your way here and you could make the guy leave.”
My heart felt like it slammed against the wall of my chest. Ari thought of me. I was the one she wanted to help her. Was it because she had feelings for me, or was it simply because I was like an older brother? Right now none of that mattered. Only she mattered.
“Is he still here?”
“No. Um . . . he left a few minutes ago. I think he thou
ght I had already left.”
Resting my chin on her head, I closed my eyes. If anything would have happened to her, I would have hunted the guy down and killed him.
“Fucking asshole,” I whispered.
Ari was clutching on to my shirt like her life depended on it. I hated that she was scared, but I loved having her in my arms. It was the first time in I didn’t know how long, we hadn’t exchanged heated words.
“I think you need to take a break from volunteering here, sweetheart.”
She nodded. “Probably.”
I pushed her out some and stared into her eyes. Cupping her face in my hands, I smiled. “Are you okay to drive? I’ll follow you home if you want.”