“Ummm,” he said, sounding confused. “What?”
“She seems to think that the best course of action is to leave so that I won’t be in harm’s way any longer.” He looked at me out of the corner of one eye. “She said she doesn’t think she can face y’all if something happened to me.”
I gritted my teeth when Loki began to laugh.
He was definitely paying attention now.
“Oh, darlin’,” Loki said. “Don’t you know that’s how the girls always die in horror movies?”
I didn’t find this anywhere near as amusing as the two men that were so much alike that it hurt did.
“Ummm,” I started, but Loki interrupted me.
“My son grew up smart,” Loki started, all of a sudden sounding completely sober. “He’s got a good head on his shoulders. He’s an expert marksman. He has a high IQ, and if there were ever any question of who I would want in a fight if it came down to it, it’d be my son at my back.”
There was a long pause as I digested that news.
“And if anybody fucks with my son,” Loki said, sounding dangerous all of a sudden. “They won’t do it for long.”
I shivered at the tone of his voice.
“Not just because I’d move heaven and earth to make sure that nobody hurt him, but because my son seriously can handle himself.” He paused. “And I trust him to watch over you.” He sounded like he was grinning now. “And, no offense, darlin’, but you can’t even stay on a tube half the time. How the hell are you going to protect yourself in some random town far away from anybody that cares about you.”
I felt my throat tighten.
“We’re coming up next weekend,” Loki said. “You better be there.”
And with that, Loki hung up the phone.
“Justice,” I said. “If you don’t wipe that smile off your face, I’ll do it for you.”
He didn’t say anything for a couple miles.
And it was only when I started to think that maybe I was wrong that he completely obliterated the thought of leaving out of my mind.
“I know that it’s quite early for me to say this,” he said, sounding worried. “But I’m more than a little in love with you. I started falling for you the first time I saw you welding. You were in those dirty overalls. And you were on your knees, and I was leaning against my car watching you. You looked over in my direction, and I swear you looked straight through me.” He grinned. “Then that little gang banger came up to you and started laughing at you. You threw your water bottle at him.”
I bit my lip.
I knew exactly what he was talking about and when.
That day, I’d felt the attention of someone, but I couldn’t pinpoint where the feeling was coming from.
Now I knew.
It was him.
“Justice.” I swallowed hard. “I can’t tell you I love you back.”
Telling him meant him leaving. If he knew…he’d leave. Everybody always did. I couldn’t even tell him why I wasn’t telling him, which was even worse.
He winked. “Honey, I didn’t tell you because I expected reciprocation. I told you because I want you to stay.”
The bad thing was, I did reciprocate. I just couldn’t get the words to leave my mouth.
The one and only person I could trust to never leave me was Jimmy, and even then it was because he needed me.
Which was awful, because that made me feel even worse.
I’d left my brother to fend for himself.
“I don’t think you have any clue about the damage you could do to me,” I informed him, surprised that there were words coming out of my mouth. “I mean, I don’t love my dad. Haven’t ever. But he can hurt me like nobody’s business. I can’t imagine what you could do to me.”
If you knew that I loved you.
He could use that love against me. Or even worse, he could leave.
God, I was a mess.
I wasn’t even making sense in my own head anymore.
He squeezed my hand tightly then. “Honey,” he said. “There’s a difference. People that love you won’t hurt you. At least not intentionally.”
His words stayed on my mind for the majority of the drive home.
What he said was true.
And maybe, just maybe, I wasn’t as irredeemable as my parents and every single boyfriend I ever had made me out to be.Chapter 19
Your boyfriend/girlfriend should never be your first priority. Your first priority should always be Walker Texas Ranger.
-Text from Royal to Justice
Justice
Something woke me the morning after we arrived back at my cabin, and it definitely wasn’t the alarm.
When I turned on my belly and glanced at the clock, it was to see it reading half-past three in the morning.
I frowned and immediately realized something was missing. Royal.
She wasn’t in the bed next to me.
“Royal?” I called.