Damn, this guy.
“Coco. Did they hurt you?” He turns before I reply and kicks at one of the guys who’s trying to get up. “Should I take you to the ER?”
“I’m fine,” I finally manage. “They didn’t hurt me.”
“Good.” Relief fills his green gaze. “I was coming to check on you, after the incident with that insolent asshole who tried to touch you earlier.”
“It wasn’t... like that. But I’m glad you came to check on me.” I shudder. “God, I’m so glad.”
“Me, too.” Then he shouts, “They’re making a run for it. Don’t let them go. Call the police and arrest these two.” He turns around, clutching me to his broad chest. “Erik! Get over here and grab those guys.”
But the two assholes have already disappeared in the crowd.
“Fuck,” he breathes. “Fucking hell.”
I’m suddenly exhausted and I swallow back unshed tears. “Put me down.”
He gives me a long, hard look, then nods and lets me slide down his tall body. At any other time, I’d have gotten such a thrill from this, the feel of this powerful male body against mine, but now I’m starting to shake.
“I want to go home,” I whisper.
“I’ll take you home,” he says, frowning. “Coco?—”
“No, my friends are here. I only need to find them.”
“Then I’ll go find them with you.”
8
COCO
“It’s them, right there.” I point at the bar where the girls are gathered. “My friends.”
He nods. “Do they have a car?”
“We came on foot. We don’t live far.”
“I’d very much like to drive you home,” he says firmly. “If you’d allow me.”
Right then, June turns and sees me and her eyes grow wide. “Coco. There you are. We’ve been looking for you.”
I open my mouth to tell her what happened, but nothing comes out. The shaking is getting worse.
Atticus steps closer and slides a strong arm around me. “Two men tried to take her out of the bar by force. She’s shaken.”
“Oh my God, Coco! Are you okay?” June jumps to her feet. “How did that happen?”
“Are we calling the police?” Gigi blinks, slowly climbing off her barstool. “Do you need a doctor?”
God, what a way to end the night.
“I’m fine,” I whisper. “And I just want to go home.”
It’s a mantra by now, my only tether. I’m spiraling. Nothing like this has ever happened to me. I felt safe in the crowd. Safe here. I’m not sure I’ll ever feel safe again. The roaring in my ears? It’s the sound of my safe little world crumbling.
“I’ll find those bastards on the cameras and make sure they never step foot in here again,” Atticus says, his voice like steel, and I wonder if I spoke my fears out loud.
“But you can’t accuse them unless you have proof,” I say slowly, “and there is no proof.”
