Never Far Away (The Never #2)(67)
With those parting words, she felt him move away from her quickly and before she could gain stable ground she tumbled to the floor. She watched the back of him as he walked away from her, not looking back once.
She was on her hands and knees, her wet shirt clinging to her, and all she could feel was her heartbeat pounding through her body, radiating in her brain. She heard crying and knew the cries were hers, but she couldn’t register what was going on around her. She felt the concrete beneath her hands, the flat surface providing no comfort to her knees. She tipped over so she was sitting on her hip, her head hanging with her chin to her chest, breathing at a frantic pace trying to expel all the fear from her body with sobs. She must have been sitting there long enough for the other’s to start to worry because she eventually heard her sister’s voice over the music.
“She’s over here!” Megan yelled to someone. “Shit. Shit. Shit. Ella? Are you ok?”
Suddenly big, rough hands were on her face, pulling her up to look into the eyes that usually made everything better. Her heart dropped when she realized that right now, she felt the urge to push him away. She was tainted. Poison. She didn’t want him to get hurt because of her.
“Baby, what the hell happened? Are you hurt?” He ran a finger over her cheek that had been pressed against the wall and she cringed at the stinging. She couldn’t speak; she could only plead with her eyes for him to understand that she needed equally for him to hold her tight and walk away. The words she couldn’t say made their way out of her in the form of more cries and sobs.
He lifted her up by her arms and placed her back on her unsteady feet.
“What the hell, Ella?” He looked down at her shirt. She lowered her head and noticed that the drink had caused her shirt to become practically transparent. She watched Porter unbutton his shirt and place it over her shoulders. In the back of her mind, she thought about how good he looked in just the plain white tee shirt he was now wearing and how when they walked back through the bar all the women would begin to ogle him for it.
“Are you ok?” He asked, bringing her face up to look at him.
She said nothing.
He bent over and wrapped an arm under her legs and caught her upper body in his other arm, carrying her through the club. She let him take her and she rested her head against his chest. He passed Patrick on his way to the door.
“Patrick, make sure Kalli gets home safely, ok?”
“No problem. We’ll take her home.”
“No!” Ella screamed, all of a sudden coming to life. “You have to take Kalli home with you and Megan tonight. Please. Make sure she stays with you,” Ella pleaded, panicked to think that no one would be with Kalli. “Where’s Megan?” Ella asked as she tried to wriggle free from Porter’s hold.
“I’m right here, Ella.”
“Megan,” she said as she managed to get her feet on the floor. “Please, take Kalli back to your place tonight. Don’t let her go home alone or with anyone but you.”
“Ella, what’s going on?” Porter asked. Ella looked at him, but couldn’t bring herself to say anything to him.
“Promise me,” she begged Megan.
“I promise. But Ella, you’re scaring me.”
“Patrick,” Ella said, turning to him. “Take them home, now.”
Megan’s eyes darted back and forth between Ella and Porter. She looked just as confused as he did.
“I’ll go get her,” Megan finally resigned.
“I’m taking you home,” Porter said firmly. Ella wanted to run away, to make sure that everyone was safe, but that she was nowhere near them. She had brought on all the terrible things that had happened to them and now Kyle had threatened all of them. How could she trust that he would keep his word? How could she trust herself to do what he asked? Staying away from Porter would be an impossibility; even if she could manage to tear herself away from him, she was sure he’d never allow it.
“Maybe,” she began to say to Porter, trying to resist the urge to fall apart. “Maybe you should go home with them too.”
She’d seen a lot of things in Porter’s eyes before. Mostly she’d seen unyielding love, warmth, and affection. A lot of the time his eyes went chocolaty with lust and desire, swirling with passion. A few times she’d seen his eyes fill with annoyance or irritation. But she’d never seen the angry blackness that filled his eyes at her words.
“We are going home, Ella. Let’s go.” He grabbed her arms and started leading her out of the club. She could have resisted, but she didn’t. She wanted to leave but she wasn’t sure she wanted him to be with her, for his own good. As soon as they made it out of the building and on to the sidewalk, she pulled her arm from his grasp.
“Porter, I’m serious. Go with Patrick. Or go back to Lincoln City. I’m fine. I’ll be fine,” she said through hiccups that were a leftover symptom from the crying. He moved so fast, she almost didn’t see him, but he was so close to her she had no room to breathe her own air. His face was nearly touching hers.
“Get. In. The. Truck. Now.” He demanded.
“No,” she whispered as she shook her head, still looking him directly in the eyes. He turned around and rested his hands flat on the hood of his truck. She could see his chest heaving in and out, trying to reign in his anger. She flinched at the loud bang that came when he slammed one of his balled fists against the hood, denting the very center of it. Her nerves were shot to hell and the loud noise immediately cause her yelp. She started crying again. He moved with superhuman speed again and her face was in his hands, his forehead pressed against hers.