Page 20 of Protector Next Door
“Well,” she says, “you won’t have to call him because he’shere.”
I don’t say goodbye before I hang up and toss the phone onto the seat beside me. She’ll forgive me. She doesn’t like getting into what she calls “the goodbye game,” anyway. She never wants to be the first to hang up and never wants me to be the first to hang up,either.
I race home and pull into my driveway, slam the door behind me and march over to her house. I don’t even think about knocking. I use mykey.
When I’m inside and closing the door behind me I hear two sets of feet coming towardme.
“You fucking disgust me,” Richard says, pointing at me. I put my hands in the air and shake my head. There’s absolutely no reason for either of us to get hurt today, and I don’t think I’d be able to bear taking Samantha’s dad out in front ofher.
“We did nothing wrong,” I tell him, putting my hands out in front of me. He charges forward, sacking me around the waist and knocking the air out of me. I brace for the impact of his fist but I’m able to dodge hisswing.
“Rich, stop.” Another fist blazes towardme.
“You’re a fucking predator,” he sneers at me. “You. Fucking.Asshole!”
“Dad!” Samantha yells behind him, her feet shuffling. “Stopit!”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I yell, regaining myself and rising to my feet. He surges toward me again and throws another sloppypunch.
“Dad, he didn’t do anything wrong! I had to practically throw myself athim.”
His face grows red as he looks back at his daughter and then tome.
“Hey, this is all happening way too fucking fast,” I yell. “You need to calm the hell down. This isn’t like you. You’re better thanthis.”
His shirt is hanging off his shoulder, rumpled, and he’s breathingheavily.
“Let me just assume for a second that I’m not gonna fucking kill you,” Rich says with resolute calm, “explain thisshit.”
He throws me alook.
“I would be more than happy to explain it to you,” I say, giving him my hand to shake in an offering of peace. “But there’s not much to explain. I am in love withher.”
I look over at Samantha. She walks toward me calmly, throws her arms around my neck, andsqueezes.
“I am never letting this man go, father,” she says, turning to one of my oldest friends. She turns her face to look up at me and takes a deep breath, tucking my hair behind my ear. “He’s myman.”
Rich puts his hands on his hips, but before he’s able to say anything, Samantha stands on her toes to brush a kiss against mylips.
“I just don’t want you to get hurt.” Rich divides a look between us and settles onSamantha.
“She won’t,” I say. “Not with me around. I won’t let ithappen.”
“This is so fucked up, man,” Rich says with a rough shake of his head. “You got this place for her. And then you made a move on her? This is all fuckedup.”
“Do you really believe that? I thought this place would be perfect for her. And it was. I wanted her to know someone here. I never thought this would happen. Ever. Did I like her? Yeah, I liked her. But there’s a big jump from liking someone to loving them, and it surprised me just like it’s surprisedyou.”
I want to tell the whole world how much I love her. But first I have to tellher.
“I love you, Samantha,” I say, turning to her, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “I love everything about you. Your intelligence, your strength, the way you can walk into a room and be a goddamn boss about it. I want to be with you. You’re everything to me. And the way you just told your dad that you’re never letting me go…I think it was the best thing I’ve ever heard yousay.”
“I love you too,Xander.”
“You’re going to have to really work hard to explain this all to me,” Richsays.
“Don’t worry,” I tell him. “I’ll work as hard as you need meto.”
And I will. Even though it’s very, verysimple.
She’shome.
And she’smine.
