I’m safe.
I step back as he climbs through the window. A sudden urge to laugh pushes up inside me at the thought of this huge hulk of a man, all muscles and height, squeezing himself through a window to rescue me. He stands to full height, and my tiny apartment feels instantly smaller. Then his arms wrap around me. A full-body hug that pulls me into him. I breathe in the woody, sweet scent of his aftershave. My hands grip the back of his tee, feeling the heat of his skin, the power of his muscles.
I can feel the tension coiled inside him, like a predator poised to attack, but his voice when he speaks is soft. “Are you OK?” he murmurs against my hair.
“I am now. Ryan is still?—”
The next bang of fists on wood steals the words from my mouth. It’s followed by a hard, jarring thud, then another. The door holds but something in the wood gives. There’s a loud crack that makes me yelp in surprise, despite Chase’s arms around me.
“Stay back,” he says as he steps out of my arms, and in long, fierce strides, he’s at my door, throwing it open in one swift move.
Ryan must not expect it, because he stumbles back, almost falling on his ass. His eyes bug out as he takes in Chase and the crackling fury rolling off him in waves. Gone is the easy-going, always-joking man everyone knows. In his place stands someone terrifying in his stillness—shoulders squared, jaw clenched, eyes lit with a cold, focused rage. This isn’t the golden retriever boyfriend people expect. This isn’t Chase the quarterback, either. This is Chase the protector, and he looks ready to dismantle anything that threatens me.
“Leave.” Chase’s voice is gravel and command. He doesn’t step forward. He doesn’t need to. His presence alone makes the hallway drop ten degrees. Watching him like this, all power and quiet wrath, I’ve never felt safer. Like nothing could touch me with him here.
Ryan’s eyes flick to me. “You got me fired,” he hisses.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I reply.
Chase moves, just one step, but it sends Ryan retreating. “If you don’t leave right now, I’m gonna call the police, and you’re gonna find yourself in more trouble than losing your job.”
I watch Ryan deflate. He’s still angry, but something in him recognizes the end of the road. “I didn’t want to lose you, Serena,” he calls to me. “That’s all.”
Chase cuts in, “Don’t you dare speak to her.”
“I know I went about it the wrong way,” he replies to Chase now, “but everything I did was for her.”
“Goodbye, Ryan,” Chase replies, calm and final. “Don’t come near Serena again. Next time, I won’t be this nice.”
Ryan opens his mouth, and I can see the retort forming in his thoughts, then dying on his lips as somewhere beneath the haze of alcohol, he knows Chase isn’t bluffing. Without a word, he turns and stumbles his way down the stairs. Chase remains in the doorway, his back to me, hand gripping the frame until he hears the entrance door open then shut. Only then does he turn to face me, and I let out a breath that turns into a shaky laugh.
“Should we add fire-escape rescues to your résumé?” I say, trying to joke, but the sob catches in my throat and I cover my face with my hands. Chase is by my side instantly, wrapping me in his arms and his body like he could shield me from the whole world.
He presses a kiss to my forehead, and despite the adrenaline and what’s just happened, a zap of electricity shoots to my core. “He won’t come back.”
I let myself be held for another minute before I step to the door and open it, inspecting the wood. “It’s not too bad,” I say. “The top hinge has come away from the wood a little. I’ll call the landlord tomorrow.” The practicality grounds me. I’m not sure I’ll sleep tonight without jumping at every little sound, but I’m no longer terrified.
Chase shakes his head as though he knows what I’m thinking. “I’m calling a repair guy I know first thing tomorrow. But you’re not staying here tonight.”
“I’ll be OK,” I say, voice too high, giving me away.
Chase shoots me a look that dares me to argue. “Pack a bag. You’re coming with me. I don’t want Ryan deciding to try againtonight here or at my apartment across town. We’re going to Oakwood.”
I’m about to protest. To remind Chase that he has training tomorrow, and I have work, and it would make so much more sense to stay in the city, but then he folds his arms across his chest and raises one eyebrow.“Don’t make me throw you over my shoulder, princess.”
I crack a smile. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Wouldn’t I?” There’s something dangerous in Chase’s voice. Something I don’t recognize that has me heading to my bedroom to pack an overnight bag.
We drive in silence. The highway is dark, the headlights reaching only the asphalt in front of us and nothing beyond. Not the untouched sprawl of the national park land. The pine forests climbing the slopes, wild and beautiful, the backdrop to a journey from the city that usually signals I’m going to one of my two favorite places—Oakwood Ranch or carrying on down the highway to the outskirts of Idaho Springs where my parents and Elle live.
I stare into the darkness, trying to make out the shapes of the jagged foothills or the distant mountains. I swear I can sense them there even if I can’t see them. I give up and glance at Chase. His hands grip the wheel like he’s still furious about Ryan’s drunken attack on my apartment door. So am I.What the hell was Ryan thinking?The evening replays in my thoughts, pulse kicking up as those pounding fists ricochet in my mind.
Guilt swarms in my belly. I’ve been ignoring Ryan’s escalating behavior for months. Telling myself he’ll calm down or move on. I should’ve done something sooner. What if it hadbeen Liv in the apartment alone tonight? What if he’d managed to break the door in?
I shudder, suddenly feeling sick.
Chase’s firm hand lands on my thigh. “He can’t get to you now,” he says.