That didn’t appease him, as he didn’t let the man go.
“Please, I’m okay. Let him go.” I should’ve been freaking out. How he went from totally calm to threatening in a handful of seconds was alarming. To say the least.
But also, the guy did shove me and could’ve caused me to fall right off this rock at a spot that was pretty shallow. So yeah, it could have turned out badly.
“Apologize to her,” Brutus ordered with a lethality I’d never heard from anyone before wrapping around each word. I watched as his hand tightened around the man’s throat. “Apologize,” he insisted through gritted teeth.
“I-I don’t think he can speak,” I told Brutus. “Your hand.” I placed a palm against his arm.
His body noticeably relaxed. He loosened his grip on the man, and the color started to return to his face.
“I-I’m sorry,” he stuttered.
“That’s not enough,” Brutus added, still holding onto him by the neck. “Ask her if she’s all right.”
The stranger’s eyes darted from Brutus to me. “A-Are you o-okay?” He looked to Brutus.
“Don’t look at me when you ask.” He shook the man again.
“I’m great.” I injected as much cheer into my voice as I could muster. “Terrific. Don’t worry about it.” I squeezed Brutus’ arm.
Finally, he released the man. “Next time, watch where the fuck you’re going. Dipshit.”
Brutus wrapped his arm around my waist and escorted me around the man and past the few onlookers who watched the scene play out.
“I didn’t scare you, did I?” Brutus inquired once we stopped at the spot we would be jumping from. He took my chin into his hand and turned my head up so that he could look into my eyes.
“That was a little intense,” I admitted.
“You could’ve been hurt,” he responded as if that made his outburst reasonable.
And, crazy as it may sound, to me, it did. It felt nice to have someone defend me.
“Maybe next time instead of immediately going to choking the guy, you just, you know, ask him to apologize nicely?” I offered with a wiggle of my eyebrows.
He planted a kiss on my cheek. “Don’t count on it. Any motherfucker who comes at you wrong is going to get the same or worse than he got.”
I shivered from the lethal tone in his voice. It occurred to me, again, to ask him what he did for a living, but I held back. I reminded myself that talking too much about home and our real lives would make this seem real. Too real.
“Are you ready?” David asked. He rattled off some last-minute instructions, checked our life vests, and allowed us to step up to the edge of the rock.
Brutus took a firm hold on my hand, causing me to look up at him. “Ready for the plunge?” he asked.
Why that moment felt more significant than it should’ve, I couldn’t tell you. We were only jumping about ten feet into a rather secluded portion of the sea. Yet, with his hand over mine and his deep-set eyes peering down at me, it felt like time stood still.
Unable to speak, I nodded and smiled. His hand tightened around mine.
“Three … two …” someone behind us began counting down.
As soon as they said one, we both leapt, hand in hand. I pinched my nose with my free hand and let my body fall into the water. It was jarring at first, but then the warmth of the water surrounded me, and the buoyancy of my body brought me back up to the surface. The entire time, Brutus’ and my hand remained connected.
I turned to him as soon as my head broke through the surface. He was right there, grinning at me, and I laughed out loud.
“We have to do that again,” I insisted. Before he could protest, I started swimming for the rocks to climb up to jump back in. “And you’re coming with me,” I threw over my shoulder.
“As you wish,” he said, right behind me.
Perfect day.
