“Let’s get you some water,” he said.
I followed with a nod, letting him take care of me. When I had water and a soft blanket, he finally spoke.
“We need to get packing.”
“Packing?”
“To leave.”
Shit.He was still on that. “I’m not leaving.”
“What?” Joey’s voice went hard. “No way. Why would you want to stay here?”
“I owe it to Th—” I paused. With the way Joey stared at me, maybe it was better that I didn’t say who it was. “I need to make sure I didn’t overreact.”
“You don’t overreact.”
“I absolutely do.”
He sighed and pinched his nose. “Judging by how your past is? You’re justified. Something happened here, and I’m not letting it happen again.”
My jaw tightened. I knew Joey cared about me, but I deserved to be able to handle this in the way that was best for me.
“This is a part of life.”
“It’s not. And it won’t happen again when I’m involved.”
“And what does that mean?”
“It means that I’m putting my foot down. You’ve had two panic attacks since coming here, and that’s not okay. You say you’re doing well, but you’re not. So, you’re coming with me.”
My entire body tensed. I didn’t want to fight with Joey because I knew he cared about me.
But this was over the top.
“I’m not leaving right now.”
“Obviously. We need to pack first. We can get it all done and have you home by tomorrow.”
“No, I’m not leaving tomorrow either.”
“You said you needed to go.”
“That was in a moment of panic. I’m better now.”
“And what happens if I leave and it comes back?”
Some of the fight left my body. “How about we compromise? What if you stayed the night and we can see how I feel? If I panic again, we can talk.”
I really hoped I didn’t.
“Piper, I—this is a bad idea. You said you weren’t safe here.”
“I need to pause and think. Scarlett supports it.”
Joey groaned. “Seriously? Why does she?—”
“Can we not fight over my therapist? Are you trying to get me to panic?”
