Page 52 of Whispers of You
Chris’s gaze shifted to Holt. “And you decided to play bodyguard.”
He shrugged. “Just wanted to make sure she was okay.”
“That was good of you,” Chris said but didn’t sound all that convincing. “Wren, why don’t you pack a bag and stay with me for a while? Just until Lawson figures out what’s going on.”
The anger from behind me hit me like a blast. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I appreciate the help—all of you. But what I need right now is to get ready for work in peace. I’m not staying with anyone. I’m not installing some NASA security system in my house. None of it.”
I strode to the living room and grabbed Holt’s duffel. “Thank you for looking out for me, but I’m good.”
“Wren—”
“Please. Can you all just go?”
Jude sent me a sympathetic look and grabbed the back of Chris’s jacket. “Come on. We need to get to work.”
“But—” Chris started.
“No buts,” Jude cut him off. “Let’s leave the lady in peace.”
Holt didn’t say a word. He simply waited for Chris and Jude to leave and then followed them out. His steps faltered, and he turned to look at me. His mouth opened as if he were about to say something, but he simply shook his head.
The snick of my door shutting echoed around the space, reverberating off my bones. And all I could think about was how easy it had been for Holt to walk out that door.
17
HOLT
I sucked in a breath,and the air trembled with the force of me trying to keep my temper in check. I glared at Chris. “What’s going on with you and Wren?”
“None of your damn business.”
My nostrils flared. “She will always be my business. And you know that.”
Chris huffed out a breath, his gaze straying to the lake.
It was Jude who spoke. “We’re friends. That’s it.”
Maybe that was true of Jude, but Chris looked at Wren like a man dying of thirst looked at a glass of water.
“Someone had to step in when you bailed,” Chris muttered. “She needed someone. Her parents were checked out, and she was a wreck. She wasdying.Not because of some bullet, but because ofyou.”
Each word was a carefully placed blow designed to inflict maximum damage.
Jude clamped a hand on Chris’s shoulder. “C’mon, man.”
Chris shrugged him off. “It’s true. We might be able to get over the fact that he bailed on us, but Holt destroyed her, and he shouldn’t get the chance to do it again.”
Chris stormed toward his truck as I stared after him. Wren’s words echoed in my ears.“I don’t give a damn about the five minutes you missed that night. I give a damn about the last ten years you threw away.”
I’d thought I was doing the right thing. But all I’d done was inflict more damage on everyone around me.
“Give him some time,” Jude said. “He’s protective of Wren, but it’s more than that. He was hurt when you left.”
Because leaving before I told a soul was the only way I could’ve done it. “I’m sorry. If I’d been stronger, I would’ve kept in touch. I just knew that if I kept hearing about home, abouther, I wouldn’t have been strong enough to stay away. And I thought staying away was the right thing.”
Jude nodded. “I get that. It’s still gonna take some time to mend fences.”
Understatement of the century. But if I didn’t try, I would keep living this half-life that was slowly eating me alive as memories tortured me. I had to make things right and heal what I could—as people would let me.
