Lead Me Home (Fight for Me #3)(12)

The girl’s mouth tipped in a small smile. “Okay.”

Sydney struggled to look around Ollie as they climbed up the bus steps and moved down the narrow aisle between the rows of seats, his little sister trying to get a good peek at the girl. “What’s your name?”

“Nikki.”

“Hi, Nikki! My name’s Sydney. This is my Ollie. You wanna be our best friend?”

“I don’t have a best friend,” Nikki said.

Nikki looked a little bit scared. Like the way Ollie’s dad said Sydney might be because she didn’t know her way around.

Ollie puffed out his chest. “Well, you got two now.”





6





Nikki





The powerful engine of Ollie’s car roared as we sped down the road. Night passed us by in a blur of city lights that poured in from above, and the silence had its own distinct vibe as it filled the cab of his car.

Hot and heavy and confused with a dash of anger thrown in for good measure.

Seemed fitting considering that was the way this boy always made me feel.

Angry and hot and on edge.

What the hell had I agreed to? I knew so much better than to bend to his will. So much better than giving in.

But how could I not? The truth was, I was scared.

Terrified, really.

I could feel the note I’d stuffed into my bag burning a hole in the bottom of it, flames of fear and worry and dread. They’d ignited the second we’d mounted the steps at my apartment, sure it had to be Brenna’s boyfriend Caleb who was responsible for it all.

Should I just say it? Put my theory out there without an ounce of proof?

The hardest part was I didn’t know if that would be betraying Brenna’s trust. Disrespecting everything she’d offered me in her fragile state.

God . . . I just, couldn’t do it. Not with the way Ollie was vibrating beside me like a lunatic.

I’d seen it in his eyes. Felt it radiating from his body.

He wanted to hunt and destroy.

I blew out a relieved breath when my phone finally buzzed with a return text.

Brenna: I’m fine. Is something wrong?





Me: No. I just wanted to check on you to make sure he was leaving you alone. Please text me if you need anything. I’ll be there.





I wondered if my demeanor came across as some kind of dirty confession as I tapped out the reply.

Or maybe it was just the way Ollie was looking at me as if he wanted all my secrets. Because the daggers he was shooting were so intense, I could feel them penetrating the side of my face.

Fiery darts.

I thought he might have the power to flay me wide open with the pass of one. See everything hidden inside.

Brenna: Thank you so much for being here for me.





I hugged my phone to my chest as if it might send her a hedge of protection. Send her my hope and belief in her. For her.

Maybe I really had gotten in too deep.

“Who is that?” Ollie finally demanded, shaking me from my thoughts.

I turned to him, taking him in. He barely fit in the space of the seat, his long legs bent and tucked up under the wheel, seat pushed so far back he might as well have been sitting in the back seat.

Bigger than life.

Always, always filling my sight, eyes unable to look anywhere but at him.

He was squeezing the wheel with those massive hands, the muscles in his arms bulging and flexing with uncontainable strength.

I squirmed, and my tongue suddenly felt thick where it stuck to the roof of my mouth.

I didn’t know if it was from looking at him or from the fact my gut told me not to let him in on the note. Not to tell him about the day Brenna had called me right after she’d called the police, and I’d run there to support her.

Caleb had called me the very thing that was painted on my door as he was being hauled away.

Bitch.

“No one,” I told him.

His eyes darted to my phone. “No one? It’s after midnight, Nikki. Don’t tell me that’s no one. And you refused to call any of our friends. That a guy?”

I almost laughed.

Was he serious? He was jealous I might be texting a man?

That was exactly what I should have been doing.

Texting a guy.

Someone who was totally Ollie’s opposite.

Sweet and stable and harmless.

Not a man who could rip me to shreds with nothing but a glance. Not a man who would use me up and toss me aside then turn around and act as if I owed him something.

“What if it is?” I defended, not even trying to keep the outrage out of my words. He deserved it. “Why do you think it’s any concern of yours?”

“Everything you do is my concern. I thought we already established that earlier.”

“Right.” It dripped with sarcasm, and I jerked my attention forward, my jaw working hard, propelled by a surge of fury.

I stared out the windshield. “You’ve sidelined every single one of my relationships. Convinced me they weren’t good enough, or you decided it for me and took it upon yourself to scare them away. I told you, you don’t get to do that anymore.”

Not after last year.

Over the years, I’d dated.

Never seriously. I’d never fully allowed myself to fall because I’d been waiting on him to come to his senses. To see me. To feel me the way I felt him.