Page 4 of Off-Limits to the Grizzly

“Aggh!” Adrian screams, and immediately releases me. There’s a crash as his knees hit the floor.

Go!I sprint for the door.

“Blair, go up to the apartment, grab your stuff. My truck’s parked right outside.”

I freeze, goggling at the guy.

He knows my name.

He looks hella familiar.

Because I know him.

Mr Johnson.

The father of my ex-best friend.

Suddenly my legs don’t feel strong enough to hold me up.

I haven’t seen him for a long, long time. Not since he yelled at me, and told me to stay away from Kayla. He scared the hell out of me. He’s changed a lot. The hair, the beard, the little creases at the corners of his eyes. That’s why I didn’t recognize him at first. But now I take in those piercing blue eyes, and that hard, uncompromising jaw hiding behind his beard. Of course, it’s him. And he’s only gotten more handsome over the years.

“Go on, I’m taking you home,” he says in a softer voice.

Home?

The big city has chewed me up and spat me out. I don’t have a home. Not the small town I was raised in. Not anywhere.

“You’re safe now,” he continues.

I take a deep breath, give him one final look, andbolt.

2

Zachary

Iclose my eyes for a beat, tune my ears in, and listen to the sound of Blair’s feet running up the stairs overhead. Good.

Then I return my attention to the quivering heap of crap at my feet.

“What are we going to do with you?”

His lips are pulled back from his teeth like a cornered animal. “I didn’t do anything to her.”

“Like hell you didn’t.”

“I-it wasn’t a big deal. All the chicks love working here. All the tips and the attention from the guys.”

I work my jaw. I’m a step away from busting out of my skin, but I’m gonna do my best to contain my beast. “But she said no. And you were about to take away her right to decide what she does with her own body.”

He narrows his eyes. “You her father or something?”

I take a breath, as memories of Blair crash over me like a thunderstorm. “As good as,” I say at last.

He raises his hands. “Look, I overstepped, alright. I won’t do it again.”

I shrug off my jacket and take a step toward him. “No, you won’t.”

* * *

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