“That’s how you got the bruise on your face?”
“Yes. But I stabbed him with my knife.”
“That’s my good girl,” he told her with satisfaction. “That motherfucking bastard, I’m going to find him and make sure he regrets ever touching you.”
“I dropped my bag with all my stuff. My velvet coat and shoes. My tracksuit. The Purple Pussy Eater.”
“What?” he asked.
“That’s the name of my vibrator.”
“I’m so sorry, baby. We’ll buy you new stuff.”
“I know it’s just stuff. It’s all right. As I was running, I tried to call you.”
He winced. “Fuck. Fuck. And it went to voicemail. Fuck!” Standing, he paced back and forth.
“Gray?”
He turned around, his face so full of torment that it made her suck in a sharp breath.
“I’m so sorry, baby. Fuck. Fuck!”
“It’s not your fault. You didn’t know I was hurt and running.”
“But I should have taken your call. I was in the middle of something . . . but it doesn’t matter. That won’t happen again. Ever. You are the most important thing to me from now on. Nothing else comes before you.”
Whoa.
Did he know how those words affected her? Even if she wondered why. Why her?
“Why didn’t you leave a message or call me again?”
“I tripped and fell,” she explained. “Dropped my phone and it smashed. I was scared if I took too long that he’d catch up to me. So I grabbed Squish and my wallet and kept running until I got on a bus to the bus station. Then I came here.”
“That’s never happening again. Understand me? You are never going to be apart from me. You will always be able to get in contact with me. I promise.”
“S’okay. I’m not your problem.” She was so tired. Exhausted.
“Yes, you are my problem. Fuck, said that wrong. You’re not a problem. You’re my girl.”
“I’m sorry,” she told him, tears dripping down her cheeks. “I was so terrified.”
“Hey . . . hush now. Shh. No tears.” He sat on the bed next to her and awkwardly patted her shoulder. “Baby, don’t cry.”
“You keep calling me baby.”
Okay, that wasn’t exactly what she’d meant to say . . . but it had just popped out.
He gave her a surprised look. “You don’t want me to call you baby?”
“N-no, I do. I just . . . why? Why are you here? Why did you come after me? Why did you tell my friends that you’re my . . . boyfriend? That I’m yours. I thought I was just a casual fuck.”
His face tightened and he glared at her. “Don’t call yourself that.”
Her mouth dropped open. “I don’t understand any of this.”
He sighed, then reached for a tissue and gently wiped her face.