Page 4 of Stay With Me

When he turns to me, the dumbass sneers. “Yeah, I’m Lucas. Who the fuck are you?”

“That’s not for you to worry about. But I’m gonna need to get in that room. Now.”

I reach for the door handle and he makes his next mistake, putting his hand on my chest.

“That’s my girlfriend in there. We’re just having a misunderstanding.”

I narrow my eyes at him, then look down at his meaty hand, which is still on my chest. I grab his forearm with one hand and his collar with my other, then slam him against the wall. If he was drunk, I’d be a tiny bit less furious right now. But he’s not—he’s clearly only slightly buzzed—which tells me he knows exactly what he’s doing.

“The kind of misunderstanding where you try to force yourself on a woman?” I growl.

His eyes widen and his face turns even more red, which I didn’t think was possible.

“She’s a fucking tease!”

“Wrong answer, asshole.” I tighten my grip on his forearm and watch him grimace.

“She came up here with me. She knew where this was go?—”

The door next to us swings open and Emily darts out into the hall. Her lips pursed and her eyes squinting in anger.

“I came up here to use the bathroom, you lying sack of shit!”

“Em, go wait at the top of the steps. Please.” I don’t take my eyes off of Lucas and I want to get her as far away from this douchebag as possible.

Fortunately, she listens to my request. When she’s far enough away from us, I pull the guy away from the wall and push him in the opposite direction from Emily. I stare at him for several long seconds before I turn to walk away.

“Fucking slut,” he mutters.

And just like that, all the rage I’ve been holding in explodes as I whip around. My fist connects with his jaw, making a satisfying thud. In the background, Emily gasps as Lucas falls backward into the wall, holding his hand over the side of his face.

I’m about to deliver another blow when Emily’s sweet voice breaks through my anger.

“Charlie, don’t. Please, let’s go. He’s not worth it.”

Without taking my eyes off him, I try to rein in my fury. When her soft hand grips my elbow, I allow her to tug me away.

We head down the stairs and make our way toward the door when my sensibilities come back to me, and I stop.

“Emily, where’s Shayna?” I ask. I’m not about to leave her here. These two are inseparable, so I’m confused about how this happened.

Emily grabs my hand and resumes our trek toward the exit.

“She’s not here. It’s homecoming week at Tom’s school. I was here with another friend, and she ditched me for some guy. I’ll text her I’m leaving.”

I can’t stop the growl that emanates from my chest at that piece of information.

Three minutes later, we’re in the truck and heading toward Trina’s place.

I know Emily comes home almost every weekend since Teddy is here, but she almost always stays at Trina’s house to avoid her parents. If there’s anything I’ve learned from the Flynn sisters, it’s that just because parents have an abundance of money to meet basic needs, it doesn’t mean the kids will come through childhood unscathed. I’ve yet to meet two people as stingy with their love and affection as Trina and Emily’s parents. They almost make my dad seem better by comparison, but not quite.

Those weekends at Trina’s are how I’ve gotten to know Emily better over the last year. True, she flits in and out, very much the social butterfly—or sprite—she is, but she’s around enough that she was comfortable calling me.

And damn, I’m grateful she did. I grip the steering wheel tighter, thinking about what could have happened to her tonight.

“You staying at Trina’s again this weekend?” I ask.

“Yeah,” she whispers. I hate the frightened shakiness resonating through her voice.

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