Page 61 of Hard To Stay

I’d never felt so safe and so confused at the same time. A few minutes later Sawyer, Lucas and Faith arrived. As soon as they stepped into my tiny apartment, their eyes registered what had just happened.

Faith came running up to me while Brad wasted no time filling everyone in. My back was turned so I couldn’t hear everything they were saying. All I heard was, “Fuck, Morgan. I’m so sorry, man.” That was Lucas.

Faith continued to run her hands down my hair as I dried my tears and then slid onto my brown leather recliner. My apartment was small and with the main room being filled with men as big as mountains, it felt cramped. Still, having them gathered to come to my rescue meant more to me than they could ever imagine.

Sawyer kneeled down in front of me. “What happened?” He asked, with a look of genuine concern.

“When I heard the knock at the door, I thought it was Brad.” I snuck a glance at him, watching him pace the room with his hands on his hips. He was still wired and out of sorts. No, scratch that. He looked like he was about ready to lose his shit. I swallowed and forced my attention back to Sawyer.

“Did he break in?” He asked, with a wary voice.

I shook my head. “No, I let him in.”

All eyes turned to me. “I thought I could reason with him. It started out fine, but then he became more aggressive.” I didn’t want to tell them how scared I was or admit how powerless I felt. That was the last thing Brad needed to hear, so I downplayed it.

Sawyer shot Brad a look and leaned in. “Did he hurt you?” The concern is his voice was evident.

Brad stopped and squeezed his eyes shut like he had a painful migraine. I swallowed the lump in my throat while my mind raced. I wasn’t sure how to answer that.

I straightened my back and exhaled a deep breath. “He tried to kiss me, but I pushed him away. That only agitated him even more.”

Sawyer tried to keep his voice calm and steady “Then what happened?”

“I started screaming at him and that’s when Brad rushed in.”

Sawyer nodded, then his mouth set in a grim line. “What happened when Brad got here?”

Faith squeezed my shoulder as Brad stood off to the side with his arms crossed over his chest. “Colton had grabbed me by the wrist and I was crying. Brad rushed over and threw him up against the wall and started punching him.”

Sawyer’s head popped up. “Did Colton even try to defend himself?”

“No, not at all.” Sawyer knitted his brows together and gave a sharp look towards Brad and Lucas.

He inhaled deeply. “Morgan, this shit isn’t looking good, man.”

Brad made his way over and I moved aside to make room for him in the chair. I ducked my head under his chin and wrapped my arms around his stomach allowing the heat from his body to keep me warm.

Brad leveled his gaze on Sawyer. “I don’t care what it looks like. That fucker entered her apartment without an invite and he started to…” Brad caught his words before he finished his sentence. “I want you to throw whatever charges you can think of at him and make them stick. I’ll be there in the morning. Right now, I just want to get her home to my place. You got me?”

Sawyer pulled on the ends of his hair in frustration. It was clear there was something they weren’t telling me, but Brad didn’t seem to care. “Fine.” Sawyer huffed out, sulking in silence.

Faith stood up and cleared her throat. “I’ll swing by in the morning.” She leaned in to kiss the top of my head.

Lucas took a tentative step towards me. “Lexi, I never should have let you leave by yourself. I’m so sorry.” Regret was written all over his face and I immediately wanted to wipe it off.

I stood up, untangling myself from Brad’s arms. “You have nothing to be sorry about. Please don’t blame yourself.” I pleaded with him, and leaned in giving him a hug.

He held me back examining my face. “I’ll check in with you tomorrow.” He said, as Brad stood and pulled me tight against him. If I ever had a big brother, I would want someone just like Lucas. Finally, he turned to Brad. “I’m sorry I fucked up, brother.”

“The only one who fucked up tonight was me. I’ve got no one to blame but myself.” He replied, leading me to the door.

“Wait, what about…” I slanted my head toward the bathroom where Colton was still locked in.

Lucas waved his hand in the air. “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of him. Just go get some rest.”

I blinked, not sure I wanted to know what “taking care of him” entailed. Frankly, I was too exhausted to even worry about it.

I grabbed my purse off the counter and Brad reached for my hand to lace our fingers together.

“Come on, let’s get you home.”

All I heard was him referring to his place as OUR home. Maybe there was hope for us after all?

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