“I know,” he says immediately. “I get how it sounds.”
“Then why?” I ask. “You don’t even know me.”
He scrubs a hand over his jaw, frustration flickering across his face. As if he’s wrestling with an answer that will somehow justify his actions.
“I can’t really explain it,” he admits. “There’s just… something about you.”
That doesn’t help. If anything, it makes my nerves hum even louder.
“If I hadn’t known you lived above the bar,” he continues, “I probably wouldn’t have followed. But once you told me, I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep unless I knew you made it home okay.”
That hits somewhere deeper than I expect.
He exhales, taking a single step toward me before stopping himself. “And yeah, I’m pissed that Sasha left before she saw you made it inside safely.”
I don’t know what to say to that. To any of it, honestly.
“I wasn’t planning on sticking around,” he adds quickly. “I just wanted to make sure you both were safe. That’s it, and then I was going to leave.”
“But you didn’t,” I say quietly.
His gaze meets mine. “Because you never made it inside, and he was already there… waiting for you.”
My stomach twists again, the image of him shoving me against the wall flashing through my mind.
“When I saw him push you,” Cooper says, his voice lower now, “I didn’t even think. I just moved.”
Something about the conviction in his tone makes my throat burn.
“I’ve seen people freeze before,” he continues. “And I’ve seen what happens when no one steps in.”
The implication hangs heavy between us.
I wrap my arms around myself, trying to stop the tremors still wracking through me. “I didn’t even scream,” I admit, the words scraping out of me. “I don’t know why. I just, I couldn’t.”
“That’s normal,” he says immediately. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
I let out a shaky breath. “He didn’t take anything. I’m not hurt.”
I look at him again, really look at him this time. He stands slightly angled, giving me space. There’s tension still coiled in his shoulders, like he hasn’t come down from the situation either.
“You didn’t have to stay,” I say.
“I know,” he answers. “I didn’t want you to be alone.”
For the first time since we walked through the door, my breathing starts to slow. Not because the fear is gone, but because I don’t feel like I’m handling it on my own anymore.
That alone scares me almost as much as what happened in the alley did.
Because it means I’m letting my guard down more than I ever expected I would.
And I don’t know what to do with that yet.
Silence stretches between us. I keep my arms wrapped around myself, suddenly aware of how close he is and how his presence fills the room, grounding me.
“I couldn’t see his face,” I say finally. “He kept it covered, away from the streetlights. I didn’t recognize his voice either.”
“That’s okay. You don’t know many people around here anyway. It’s understandable if they are a stranger to you.”
