lukas
I shook out my hand,and stared at the asshole on the ground.
I felt a little bad that his girlfriend was sprawled out as well, but she wasn’t some innocent bystander in this either. Her friend was trying to help her up, while Hunter’s buddy was looking between his friend bleeding and me—clearly trying to decide what his next action would be.
I glanced back at Aimee for a second to make sure she was okay, and that’s when Tweedle Dumb decided to make his move. I moved, but his fist clipped my shoulder and I winced. But I managed to shove him off balance, also sending him to the ground.
“What the fuck?” the girl who was the only one left standing, asked. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Oh shit, it’s Lukas Fraiser,” the guy mumbled from behind his hand.
Everyone was clambering to their feet, and I braced for whatever would come next.
Hunter smacked his friend on the chest with the back of his hand.
“Dude, we’re like huge fans. We skied when we were in college, totally could have gone pro like you.”
I took a step back, crossing my arms over my chest and drew myself to my full height.
“Find someone else to be a fan of. I don’t need or want you rooting for me,” I snapped.
“Aw man, come on. I’m sure you thought about it, too. I mean, look at her,” Hunter said.
I flexed my hand. I didn’t typically make it a habit of punching people—but I’d punched a few in my life, and I always was left with guilt and regret. Right now? With how Aimee was curled in on herself, I couldn’t envision there being any regret in my future.
“I mean, look at her. She’s clearly full of guilt, like obviously she did it on purpose.”
My hand snapped out again, catching Hunter in the face, again. I knew—truly—that violence was never the option and hitting these dumbasses could come back to haunt me. But truly? I wasn’t sure I cared all that much. Out here, running their mouths, bringing up past traumas…fuck them.
Hunter wasn’t so quick to get up this time. His friend held his hands up to ward me off. His girlfriend and her friend looked scared, maybe even pissed off that they’d gone on and on about howfunAimee would be.
My lip curled in disgust.
“This is going to be the last warning I give. Stay the fuck away from Aimee. Keep her name out of your mouths. Stay the fuck away from me. And if I see any footage from today on the internet, you will be speaking with my lawyer.”
“Look, I deleted it,” The first girl said, showing me her phone.
“You saw her, and instead of minding your own business, you decided to shove your phone in her face and bring up the worst day of your life. So, sorry—I don’t really care that you deleted the video, photo, or whatever you did. You still chose to do it,so fucking own it. Maybe think the next time you decide to be a bunch of assholes.”
I turned away, completely uninterested in anything else that they might say.
I walked over to Aimee. Her head was leaning against the wall, her eyes unfocused, arms clasped around her legs. I waited until I heard the crunch of their departing footfalls before crouching down in front of her.
Tears slipped silently down her cheeks and my chest ached at the sight. I ran my hand over her head, cupping the back of it.
“Aimee?” I asked, my voice soft.
She didn’t respond, but her eyelashes fluttered. I sat down, gently prying her arms loose, and pulled her into the space between my legs. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tightly. My cheek resting on the top of her head. For a few moments she was tense, but with each exhale, she relaxed into me—my body taking the weight she was carrying.
“They were assholes,” I mumbled. “Not even worth the time or consideration.”
I could only imagine what was racing through her mind right now. I readjusted my grip, holding her more firmly. Her breaths were finally starting to slow. I don’t know how long we stayed like that, but I would have gladly stayed here forever in this moment. Holding her, protecting her, offering her a place to recoup.
She shifted in my arms, and I loosened my grip. I watched as she brought a hand up and wiped at her red rimmed eyes, and drew the cuff of her hoodie across her pink nose. I wondered if she knew that she had her entire weight against me, that she’d completely settled in. When she finally turned her head and brought her eyes to mine, I wanted to find those guys again. I’d never seen someone look so defeated. Everything about her at this moment was exhausted—emotionally spent.
“Hey,” I said softly. “Look at me.”
I gently tipped her chin up, but I could tell that she wasn’t truly seeing me. Her eyes just sort of blankly stared past—every part of her undoubtedly feeling too much. Swiping my thumb over her cheeks, I wiped away rogue tears that continued to slowly drip from her eyes.
