Page 75 of Let It Breathe
“What happened? Are you hurt?”
Larissa shook her head and a tear slid down her cheek. “He tried to grab me and he wouldn’t stop and I said no, but he kept coming at me and?—”
“Clay? Clay tried to grab you?”
Larissa reeled back as though struck. She blinked hard, then shook her head. “What are you talking about?”
“You said he tried to grab you. Clay, you mean?”
Larissa shook her head, a bewildered expression on her face. “Of course Clay didn’t hurt me. Clay’s the one who saved me.”
“Saved you?”
Larissa stared at her, confusion giving way to something darker. “Is that really how you see him?”
The door beside the cop flew open and Clay walked through with another man behind him. They both froze when they saw Reese kneeling on the floor.
“Reese,” Clay said flatly. “What are you doing here?”
Reese blinked up at him, still trying to figure out what was happening. “Larissa called me. I heard there was trouble.”
Clay nodded once, his expression steely. “It’s over.”
“You’re not in jail?”
“No.” He glanced at the other man, then back at her. “They brought me in for questioning because of my past arrest history and the alcohol clause in my probation, but no. I’m not in trouble.”
“And he wasn’t drinking,” added the guy at Clay’s side, folding his tattooed arms over his chest. “I can vouch for that.”
Clay nodded at the guy, then at Reese. “Patrick, this is Reese. Reese, this is Patrick. My sponsor.”
She bit her lip and held out her hand, a little taken aback Clay was bothering with pleasantries like introductions.
“Where’s Derek?” Larissa sniffed.
Reese saw a muscle clench in Clay’s jaw. “Derek may be tied up awhile.”
Patrick snorted. “They’re hauling his ass to the county jail in McMinnville. Guy already had an outstanding warrant for his arrest.”
“Good!” Larissa snapped. “God, Clay, I didn’t mean for you to get dragged into that, and I’m sorry?—”
“Stop it,” Clay interrupted. “It’s not your fault he hurt you.”
Reese felt her heart constrict and she grabbed Larissa’s knee. “Your date hurt you?”
Larissa bit her lip. “Clay stopped him. It’s okay now.”
Reese looked up at Clay, noticing for the first time that he had a tiny, flesh-colored butterfly bandage over one eye. She glanced at his hands, noticing the tightly clenched fists at his sides. His knuckles looked red and raw on his right hand, and he had another bandage there, too. She looked back up at his face. Her heart squeezed tighter in her chest, and she felt tears gathering at the edges of her eyes.
“Did you get hurt?” she whispered.
Clay shook his head and moved his hands behind his back. “No. I’m fine. The bartender jumped in before it got bad.”
“Finnigan’s?” she asked, trying not to think about that night.
He nodded but said nothing.
“Derek had already been kicked out of the place twice before for fighting,” Larissa added, slurring her words enough to give Reese an idea of how much she’d probably had to drink. “I’m done with bad boys. I mean it. I’m dating chess players from now on.”
