"Let’s get out of here," one of the guys mutters to his friends.
I hold my breath as what feels like hours pass until Sophie finally takes a step toward me. I have no idea if there really is a God, but if so, I thank him for letting her walk toward me.
Meanwhile, the four bastards make a run for it, which is a wise decision, but I keep my gaze locked on Sophie and almost sigh in relief when she puts her hand in mine. I lead her to the passenger side of the pickup and open the door so she can get in.
When I take a seat behind the steering wheel seconds later, she looks at me with huge eyes. "You have agun?"
That’s all she cares about right now? Is she fucking kidding me?
I run my hands over my face and then glance at her. "What the hell was that about?" I ask gruffly. "You can’t just go along with some fucking random drunk guys, dammit!"
She bites her lower lip but doesn’t avert her gaze. I almost admire her courage, but then I realize that she’s just incredibly unaware.
"Do you have theslightestidea of what they were up to?"
"They wanted to go to Joe’s," she answers. "They said it would be fun."
"Oh my God…" Groaning, I close my eyes while I’m tempted to ram my head against the steering wheel with all my damn might. "Darling… what they were up to would not have been fun.At all. Especially not for you," I say through clenched teeth and open my eyes again.
"How would you know? And what do you even mean by that?" Sophie looks at me defiantly.
"I just can’t believe this," I say to myself. Then I turn my upper body to her and lean forward so my face is mere inches away from hers. "There is no more Joe’s. The place closed two years ago. Theylied. And believe me when I say that you don’t want to know what they were up to."
She opens her mouth but then closes it again and lowers her gaze. When I see her shoulders start to shake, a small part of me wants to lift her out of the seat and put her on my lap to wrap my arms around her and tell her she’s safe. Instead, I back away a little.
"Hey, little darling. Look at me."
A few moments pass before she lifts her head and returns my gaze.
"Everything’s fine. Nothing happened, okay?" I try to calm her down.
"I didn’t know…" Her shaking voice hits something deep inside me.
"You couldn’t have known." Because it’s more than clear that she has no fucking clue about how this world is. She doesn’t seem to know that four guys with alcohol in their blood rarely have good intentions when they pick up a girl.
Admittedly, her unawareness was to my advantage because I don’t think she would have chosen me over them otherwise. I mean… I’m almost six foot six, covered in tattoos, made of 200pounds of pure muscle, and I carry a gun. I’m the embodiment of the guy you cross the street to avoid, and she’s still sitting next to me. Because she just doesn’t know any better.
"They were so nice." Tears gather in her eyes, clearly showing how hard the disappointment hits her.
In the meantime, I have to hold myself back from getting out and showing these assholes exactly what I think of their batshit action. "They were just pretending, Sophie. People do those kinds of things. Especially bad people."
When the first tear spills over, I can’t hold back anymore. I lift my hand to her face and wipe it from her cheek. Her skin is incredibly soft against mine, but I don’t allow myself to let my hand rest there. Instead, I sit up straight again and drive off.
"What happens now?" she asks as we reach the next intersection. "You’re not going to bring me back, are you?"
I just can’t fucking believe it. Regardless of what just happened and the fact that she’s sitting inmytruck, her biggest concern seems to be having to go back to her mother.
At least as bad, however, is that this is really not what I have in mind. Quite the opposite. I kind of feel responsible for her after she got into my pickup, which is why I shake my head. "No. I’m not taking you back. You’re coming to my place for now."
SIX
SOPHIE
Huge raindrops start crashing onto the windshield and roof of the pickup, making the engine barely audible.
After all, my mother was right when she said it would rain.
It feels like years have passed since she spoke these words, but it probably hasn’t been much more than an hour. Yet more has happened in that short span of time than I could ever have imagined.
