Page 8 of Saving Trinity
He rolled his eyes. “Go fuck yourself, Jimmie.”
I held two fingers up, then shoved them in his mouth, cackling when he gagged and shoved my hand away. “What the fuck!” he barked at me.
“What? If you want me to go fuck myself, you could at least slick them up for me,” I laughed.
He shoved me away with a scowl. “You’re fucking gross. Go away.”
My laughter followed him into the house.
Chapter Seven
Trinity
The house was too fucking quiet, so when even the slightest noise, like something as simple as the air conditioning kicking on, reached my ears, my heart rate went into overdrive and I felt like I was going to throw up the little bit of pizza I’d managed to eat that evening.
I was so tired. I wanted to sleep. But I couldn’t. I was states away from Zac, yet I was terrified he was going to jump out of some dark corner, pin me to the bed, and rape me all over again. Anytime I shut my eyes, I thought I was hearing the front door creak open or his footsteps coming down the hallway. Realistically, I knew no one was getting into this house, but my imagination—and my fear—were running wild.
Sleep was going to be impossible. And fuck, I needed to sleep. I had to be a mom to a little boy who needed me, regardless of what I was going through. Rest was vital to taking care of him. But how was I meant to sleep when my body and mind were still stuck on survival mode?
The couple of hours of sleep I’d managed to get in Jimmie’s truck hadn’t been nearly enough since I’d been up the entire night before. And now, I wasn’t going to get sleep tonight either.
Huffing, I switched on my bedside lamp, then sat up, rubbing at my burning, aching eyes. Tears built, and my throat grew tight. I sucked in a shuddering breath, willing myself not to cry. I couldn’t keep crying about what happened to me. I was a big girl, and I needed to be strong. I couldn’t afford to fall apart at the seams.
But there was no denying that I was fucking unraveling.
I jumped, barely biting back a shriek when a light knock sounded on my door. Gripping my shirt in my fist over my chest, I forced myself to breathe. It wasn’t Wyatt because he would’ve just shoved my bedroom door open, which meant it had to be Jimmie. But tell that to my rapidly beating heart and my churning gut.
“Come in,” I croaked.
The door opened, and Jimmie’s broad-shouldered frame filled the doorway, a frown tugging at his lips. His brows were pulled low over his hazel eyes as he ran his eyes over me, clearly concerned. “It’s after two in the morning,” he said, his voice thick with sleep.
“Yeah, so why are you up?” I asked, wanting to take the attention off of me.
“Woke up to check on Wyatt like I always do when he’s here,” he explained. “Why are you up? Have you even been to sleep yet?”
My lips trembled at the concern in his voice, and my chest ached something fierce. If I had just given Jimmie a chance back then instead of deciding us being so many states away was a no-go, would this have happened to me? I already knew it wouldn’t have, but I couldn’t stop myself from wondering where my life would be right now if I hadn’t decided Jimmie was too immature for anything serious.
I’d been a fool. Because the moment he found out I was pregnant, he stopped his fuckboy ways, and he became serious about manning up and doing right by me and Wyatt. I just hadn’t given him the chance he’d deserved because I’d been too afraid to have my heart broken.
And now look at me.
“Trinity…”
My tears flooded down my cheeks. I dropped my face into my hands, a sob bubbling in my throat. Immediately, the bed dipped, and then, Jimmie was pulling me into his arms, holding me tightly. I sobbed into his chest. “I’m so scared,” I cried. “I can’t sleep because I’m scared, Jimmie.”
He began a very gentle rocking motion as his hands ran up and down my back. “He can’t touch you here, baby,” he promised. “I’ll never let him.”
I sniffled. “I know that,” I croaked. “Logically, I know that. But my body and the fear response in my brain doesn’t know that. I can’t sleep because I’m terrified he’s going to walk through that door and r-rape me all over again.”
Jimmie made a wounded noise in the back of his throat as he clutched me tighter. “I’ll kill him before he touches you again.” Gripping my chin, he tilted my head back, forcing me to look up at him through my tears. “Remember these words, baby. I will fucking kill him before he ever touches you again.”
Believing him, I nodded and tucked my head beneath his chin, wrapping my arms around his torso. He held me tightly again, neither of us saying a word, but we didn’t need to. Because his promise to me and the conviction behind that promise had my heart rate slowing and my eyelids drooping.
Right there in Jimmie’s arms was the safest I’d felt since my ex had brutally attacked and violated me. And I was going to take every bit of comfort and safety Jimmie was offering me and wrap myself up in it.
Chapter Eight
Jimmie
