He shakes his head, his dark brown hair swaying with the movement. “Claire, I’m…so sorry. I shouldn’t have put you in that position.”
I cut him off. “You didn’t. I did, remember? It was my plan, not yours.”
Johnny stops completely, turning to face me. “Did he hurt you?” He places both hands gently on my cheeks and studies me over intently.
“No.” He scared the shit out of me though, but I won’t dare admit that. “I had the situation under control. If you recall, I kneed him in the nuts.”
Johnny sighs. “Yeah, you did.” He still doesn’t seem convinced, which I don’t blame him.
“You promised you wouldn’t treat me differently,” I remind him.
“Claire…no man in their right mind wouldn’t be freaking out in this same scenario. That guy was triple your size. He could have…”
“But he didn’t. I stopped him.Youstopped him.” I have to start taking care of myself. I can’t rely on the Johnny’s of the world to always come to my rescue. I will learn to stand up and stop people from pushing me around and trying to take advantage of me.
The days of the weak Claire are a thing of the past.
Johnny runs his thumb along my cheek, something he does often. It sends a chill down my spine every time, but in the best of ways.
It’s strange to think that we only met a few weeks ago, and now we stare into each other’s eyes like we’ve known each other our whole lives.
There’s this sense of familiarity, of home.
I feel something with Johnny I’ve never felt before…safety.
With him, there’s security—a safe haven I didn't realize I was longing for until he gave it to me. And with that, it gives me strength. Courage to be a stronger and more capable version of myself. I’ve always been weighed down by others, but with Johnny, it’s a completely different story. He feels like the strong foundation I’ve always needed to stand on my own.
“I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you.” His emerald gaze melts into mine. “That’s what I’ve been trying to avoid all along.”
"What do you mean?" Although, I think I have an inkling to what he's going to say next.
“Since I met you, I’ve been…”
“Pushing me away,” I answer for him.
“Yeah…I couldn’t put you in any danger.” He tucks my hair behind my ear. “But it’s sort of impossible to stay away from you.”
“The feeling is mutual.” I recall how difficult it was to avoid him—how no matter what I did, I couldn’t get him off my mind.
“I wanted you to hate me so it would be easier for you to stay away.”
A loud group of boys cross the street and pass behind us.
Johnny continues once they’ve gone. “I just didn’t realize how badly that would suck. And no matter what I did, whether I thought it was for the good or bad, I still kept hurting you. I thought I was protecting you from me, from trouble, but it seems like you’re a magnet for it anyway.”
“What about what I want?”
He lowers his voice. “You shouldn’t want me, Claire. I’m no good for you.”
And yet, if anyone asked me what the best part of my life was right now, I’d say him.
“You’re wrong.”
Johnny gently grazes his fingers along my covered forearm. “This, this is my fault.”
I pull my hand from his grasp. “No. Not in a million years. That was going to happen with or without you, and honestly…” I stumble on the thought of my next words. “I’m not sure I’d be alive if you hadn’t stepped in.”
The depth of which Griffin was willing to take things had crossed my mind a few times, but I had always shoved it aside, given him the benefit of the doubt. Someone who was once kind and thoughtful could never be capable of such destruction, right? But I was wrong.