“Scan the items!” the robber barked at the clerk, his voice echoing around us. The clerk merely shook his head in refusal, and I clenched my fists, waiting for the robber’s next move.
If that clerk survived this, he’d be lucky if I didn’t break his jaw. The money in that register wasnotworth Tatum’s life.
I wanted to rip the mask from the robber’s face. I wanted my face to be the last one he ever saw.
The gunman didn’t hesitate to press the gun to Tatum’s temple, and her body turned to stone. Lava flowed through my veins, tinting my vision red. Fucking hell.
“Scan them, or I’ll blow her brains out!”
I crouched over to get a clear shot at the light about twenty yards away. If I miss it, we all could die. Time slowed as I imagined I was in a championship game, and it was the ninth inning with bases loaded, seats filled, cameras flashing in all directions. Taking in a big breath and focusing my eyes ahead, I twisted my torso and threw the can with all of my strength.
BANG.
Hundreds of pieces of shattered glass fell to the ground creating the perfect distraction.
The clerk blinked slowly at the robber while I inched closer, swallowing past the lump in my throat.She wasn’t going to die.I wouldn’t let that happen.Not a fucking chance in hell.Her life rested in my hands, and I wouldn’t be the one to fail her.Not again.
“The cops will be here any minute,” the clerk whispered likean idiot. I gritted my teeth, narrowing my eyes at him for a moment before I focused back on who was important—Tatum. But it took a lot of restraint to bite back the urge to strangle the dumb man.
I didn’t hesitate to move when I saw his finger slip over the trigger. He was willing to kill her over a few bills, and I wasn’t allowing that to happen.
Wrapping my hands around Tatum’s wrist, I yanked her backward with all my strength and immediately took up position in front of her. Small hands instantly curled into the fabric of my shirt, her fear seeping into my skin as she shook behind me.
“Shoot me instead.” I looked the robber straight in the eye, daring him. But I could see the wariness in his eyes. I was lean, but I had bulk on my side. Strength. Determination. I wasn’t shaking and afraid.
I was an opponent he didn’t want, and his baser instincts recognized me as a predator. But that didn’t mean he didn’t open his mouth and say something stupid.
“How sweet,” he crooned. “I always love a pathetic hero. How about I just shoot you both?”
Tatum whimpered and tried to pull me back, but I remained steady, glaring the coward down. In this moment, I was an immovable mountain.
“Leave now, or you’ll be leaving on a stretcher!” I yelled, rage boiling inside me.
And I also knew he wasn’t going to shoot. He might’ve shot Tatum, but not me.
“Time to go!” another voice yelled, and the man turned, seeing the red and blue lights flickering in the distance. He glared at me one last time before fleeing the scene like the coward he truly was.
They’d left empty-handed, and no blood had been spilled.
Tatum’sblood hadn’t been spilled.
I turned just as the woman in question started to crumple to the ground. I quickly settled my hands around her slim waist, holding her up as she sobbed, breaking my heart.
The cries tearing from her plump, pink lips tore my soul apart. Pain sliced through my chest as I did my best to console her through her fear. Blinking slowly, she opened her beautiful, vibrant green eyes.
God, I could look into them forever. Her dark lashes were wet from her tears, those lovely, green eyes glassy, and her cheeks were red from fear and crying. Even in such a fragile state, she was the definition of raw beauty.
“I’ve got you. You’re okay now. You’re okay, Tate.” I looked over her face, then her body, checking even though I knew she was okay. My adrenaline faded, and I began to shake as I went over the last five minutes in my head.
“Fin?” she cried, her angelic voice breaking on my name.
“Everything is okay. You’re okay.” I need to reassure her and myself because I could have lost her. The girl I wanted for as long as I could remember was standing in my arms, but she had nearly been shot right in front of me. I was given a second chance—a second chance to win her over the right way. To right the wrongs of the past and prove to her I could be the man she needed me to be this time.
I was no longer a kid. I was a man who knew what he wanted. And I was going to go after it.
I wasn’t going to mess it up this time. I was going to fight. I was going to show her the man I had become in the last four years. I wasn’t a kid afraid of loving a girl anymore.
I was a man looking for the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. And she was standing right in front of me.
