Right as her fingers stretched out to tap my car, I grabbed her around the middle and whirled her backward, stopping when my ass rested on the bumper. “I win.”
“Let go of me.”
Her voice was low and stern.
I stood from my perch and put her on her feet, turning her by the shoulders to face me.
Her face was pale, her chin quivering.
“Oh, fuck, Vi, I’m sorry.”
I had grabbed her from behind. I did the one thing that I absolutely, under no circumstances, was supposed to do.
“Don’t touch me,” she whimpered.
I moved my hands to press over my mouth. “Violet, I am so, so sorry. I really didn’t mean to. I wasn’t even thinking. Are you okay?”
She drew a choppy breath. “I’ll be fine.”
“You don’t have to be fine. We were playing around and?—”
“I know,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest and lifting her thumb to nibble on the nail. “It’s my fault.”
“Violet,” I dipped to get in her line of sight. “No. It’s mine. I knew better and I got carried away. I’m so sorry.”
She nodded feebly and swallowed hard. “I know. I know you didn’t mean to. I know you’re not the bad guy. But it’s going to take me a minute to calm down.”
“I’m here. Take as much time as you need.”
She chewed the inside of her bottom lip and held her eyes shut.
“Can I do anything to help you right now? Do you want to sit?” I tapped the back door of my SUV, and the door lifted.
“You sit,” she said.
“Vi—”
“Would you just sit?” she barked. “God, you ask what you can do and I tell you, and you don’t believe me?”
Consider me more than adequately chastised. My ass was pinned to that trunk at lightning speed. She stood there, wringing her hands.
“Sorry. I don’t mean to snap at you. I’m just . . .”
“It’s alright. You don’t have to explain.”
Her face crumpled and she sniffed hard. “I hate that you’re so nice about it.”
I stuckmy lip out. “Why?”
She rubbed under her nose. “I just hate that I get like this at all.”
“I get it.” I leaned to get in her line of vision. “But you should be nicer to yourself.”
She sighed with a sad chuckle. “Working on it.” Violet looked up and chewed her lip. “Can I sit with you?”
I patted my thighs. “C’mere.”
Vi placed her hands next to me and hoisted herself up into the back, then she crawled to sit sideways on my lap. “I assumed you meant I should sit on your lap.”
