What the hell?
I was out my front door before I could reconsider. The grass felt damp beneath my feet, the asphalt gritty when I made it to the desolate road. I quickly traveled across the sidewalk, my eyes narrowed as the figure moved farther down the side of thehouse. It was probably some pervert who’d seen her at school. Someone who was a fucking coward to sneak up on a woman in the dead of night.
The figure wore a black hoodie, slowly moving among the shadows of the trees in the yard.
I picked up my pace, breaking into a jog as I rounded the corner fully.
“Hey!” I barked just as the figure stumbled back from the house.
I didn’t think. I just dove forward, my body colliding with the black-hooded figure.
A scream pierced the air, the body beneath me not feeling as large as it should have been. We tumbled to the ground, a grunt expelling from my chest as the body below me yelped.
I blinked in confusion when a wave of vanilla filtered through my nose.
Bracing my arms in the grass, I managed to prop myself above the intruder when the sudden jar of a solid knee hit me right between the legs.
“Fuck,” I gritted out as I dropped down to my elbows.
“Get off of me!!!” a voice shouted.
A familiar voice. A feminine voice.
I rolled over, my palms cupping my balls that would most likely never get the chance to reproduce.
Spots blurred my vision as a face came into view. One with pretty green eyes and a furrowed brow.
Trinity.
“What the hell, Preston?” she shrilled. “Are you trying to kill me?”
I winced as I shifted up to my knees. “What the fuck are you doing out here at this time of night?”
My stomach rolled with nausea as I stood to my feet. Part of me felt proud that she could drop a grown man, but the otherpart really liked having a dick that worked and I was irrationally angry at her in this moment.
“Me? This is my house. What are you doing creeping around the neighborhood at night?” She crossed her arms with a scowl.
She wore a black hoodie, paired with what appeared to be the tiniest sleep shorts on the planet. They were black, and not even close to being long enough to keep my thoughts from drifting to a dangerous place.
“I wasn’t creeping. I was protecting you from an intruder.”
“There is no intruder,” she deadpanned.
“I’m very aware,” I mumbled as I adjusted myself. “You still didn’t answer my question.”
Her hand reached down in the grass and swiped up her glasses that must have fallen off in the scuffle.
“Well, before you tackled me like a linebacker…”
“Shit.” The memory flashed. Guilt swiftly punched me in the gut that I didn’t even think about whether I’d hurt her. “Are you okay?” I stepped to her, my hands reaching out on instinct. One hand cupped her jaw, while the other trailed down her arm. “Did I hurt you?”
She sucked in a sharp breath at the contact.
“No.” She shook her head. “If anyone got hurt, I would say it’s you.”
Relief washed through me. “You scared the shit out of me. I thought someone was trying to break in. To hurt you.”
Her eyes softened as I stared at her. My thumb involuntarily stroked her cheek, the touch tender and intimate, but the moment wasn’t lasting.
