“He would treat you well. He’s a good soul, Grace. Does that mean he’s the right one? That’s only for you to decide. But Brian won’t break that bro code with Duke.”
“Sounds like a challenge to me,” I said with a laugh, albeit a nervous one.
“Always the fighter,” Dillon added. “That’s what I love about you. But be careful. Your heart is more sensitive than a fist to the face. And when was the last time you let someone in?”
“Never. But didn’t you have a thing for Maggie as a teenager? Look how that turned out. You two are happily married.”
“I’m not saying don’t try. I’m just saying to protect your heart in the process.”
“I’m so happy I can talk to you. I could never have a conversation like this with Duke or Denim. for different reasons of course.”
He chuckled. “Duke is a stone wall and sees nothing but his guilt over you. Denim, well, he would say the same as me.”
“Yeah, but Denim doesn’t like to talk about feely things.”
Dillon let out a hearty laugh. “He doesn’t, does he?”
I shuddered in a comfortable way, feeling less stressed, which I always did after talking to Dillon. “Not to change the subject, but how’s Andie?”
“Shaken up. She doesn’t remember much. Don’t you have that nail polish I gave you that detects if a drink has been roofied?”
Dillon kept a large supply of the nail polish and sent girls home with it when they were discharged from the shelter.
“I gave it to Andie and a few other girls in our dorm,” I said. “Andie has worn it, but I can’t remember if she had it on this time.”
“She didn’t.”
The creak of a door made me perk up.
Sela, a short, demure woman with a serious look on her pretty made-up face, eyed Dillon and me as she came out of Andie’s room, smoothing hands down her pencil-style skirt. “Andie needs rest, but she’s been asking for you, Grace.”
I brushed past Sela as she asked Dillon if they could chat.
Andie’s blue eyes were drowning in tears when I walked in. Her skin was ashen, and she appeared as though she’d been through a windstorm, with her red hair wild around her face.
I wanted to squeeze her into the tightest hug I could but was afraid that I would shatter alongside her into a million pieces. It was bad enough my heart felt like it was racing and not beating at the same time.
Instead, I inched over to the empty twin bed, words escaping me for the moment.
Silence dropped like a heavy blanket as Andie gazed at her lap.
“I’m here for you,” I said in a low voice.
She flew off her bed and into my arms, nearly tackling me. “I’m so grateful for you. Thank you.”
I wrapped my arms around her trembling body. “I’m so fucking sorry you went through that.”
She cried as I rubbed her back.
“I got you,” I said.
She sniffled against my neck. “I owe you my life.”
“No, you don’t.”
She regarded me as though I’d lost my mind. “You shot him for me.”
“I would do it again.”
