Page 56 of Heartstruck at Dawn
He meant Aaron, of course. I laughed because he was right. There was no way David could stay. Not after what happened.
“I could’ve helped him take the edge off, if you know what I mean.” CJ winked at me and pulled Nina away, where they joined a group of friends who idled near us. I shook my head with a laugh.
CJ really liked David. It was more than evident.
I joined Sophie and Cecile and told them I wanted to leave but offered them to stay if they wanted to. Their night didn’t have to be ruined just because mine was.
“Are you insane?” Sophie said, widening her eyes. “Definitely not. Let’s go,” She looked scared and agitated from having witnessed the fight. I was upset too, but mostly glad Thomas and Nicholas had left.
“We could go back to my place if you still want to hang out,” I proposed. Ren and Sophie turned to look at each other, then nodded my way. Nathan heavily gestured in the distance while talking to Aaron and Caleb. He tapped Aaron’s shoulder twice and turned around to make his way back to us.
“I’m in,” Tobias said, holding Cecile’s hand. She didn’t seem bothered by it. She seemed drunk.
“We’re heading back to the apartment,” I said to Nathan. “I’m just—not in the mood for staying.”
“I can imagine. Let’s go.”
We took our coats and walked out of the party.
Nathan and I stepped in the car with Big Mike as I promised I would. Everyone else rode back in the SUV.
I asked Big Mike to stop at a convenience store to get a new cigarette pack for Caleb. We had cleaned him out. Nathan volunteered to buy them.
“Seeing you fight these guys was impressive,” I said to Nathan once he returned from the store. “Is it some type of martial art?”
“Ah, yes. Krav Maga. It’s an Israeli military self-defense and fighting system.”
“Wow. How did you get into it?” Caleb and I had talked about it. Both Aaron and Caleb were trained in Krav Maga. Caleb insisted on teaching me when we were in Paris. He offered to train me in secret, but we never found the perfect time and place to do so since it had to be done behind my father’s back.
“Let’s say I was a rebellious teen,” Nathan said with a tight-lipped smile. “My parents signed me up when I was thirteen to help channel my—emotions.” His eyes looked sad when he said that. “It served me well.”
“Maybe I should sign up too,” I said in a breath. Whatever helps channel emotions.
“Why?” He weaved his fingers with mine. I shook my head twice, slowly, trying to dismiss my remark. “Don’t worry,” he said. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk.”
“I’m sorry about what happened with Thomas. I didn’t know he was going to show up to the party.” I was embarrassed about it. I also wanted to know what he talked about with Aaron and Caleb after taking a picture of my arm. “You mentioned something about an order of protection? What’s that?”
“Do you want me to take care of it? I can have someone at the office talk to your father’s attorney and fix that for you. That way, Thomas won’t be legally able to get near you or contact you in any way.”
That sounded harsh. It would probably come with inevitable repercussions for Thomas. “I’d like to wait. I don’t want that to affect him at school or something.”
“He physically hurt you and threatened me … ‘your boyfriend.’” He grinned for a second. “There were eye-witnesses. We can file one against Nicholas, too, if you will. It’s easy peasy.”
For Nathan, all of this legal jargon was normal. But I didn’t want to affect Thomas. He would probably get kicked out of the rowing team or worse. I knew he loved rowing crew, and I wasn’t comfortable jumping into a legal conundrum. At least not yet.
Thomas was still hurting from the breakup. He just needed more time to accept it. Besides, I had three guys taking care of me 24/7. Maybe it was only a matter of reinforcing security for a while. I’d prefer to try that out first before affecting his life forever. I wanted to think Thomas wouldn’t dare hurt me. Although, he kind of already had.
“Was that what you were talking about with Aaron and Caleb just now?”
“Yes. And they agreed with me.” I understood now why Caleb thought Nathan “was cool.” They were both equally exaggerated about these matters.
“Could you give it a few weeks or so? Let’s see what happens. I don’t think it will be necessary.”
“Of course. It’s your choice to make. Not mine.” He smiled.
“I think he’s part of the reasons I’m annoyed about—dating,” I confessed.
Nathan squeezed my hand. “And what’s the other part?”
