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I quickly threw his passenger door open and hopped inside. “Drive. Hurry!”
Tanner
Charlotte looked as if she’d seen a ghost.
“What’s wrong, baby? Are you okay?”
“I think that car was following me. I just need you to drive away from here.” She frantically locked her door.
“Are you serious?” I stepped on the gas and turned left at the first intersection I approached. She was a beautiful girl, running alone at dusk. Joggers were abducted all the time in New York. There was a scary possibility she could be right.
Charlotte covered her face with her hands. “I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t shown up when you did.”
“It’s okay, my sweet girl. I’m here. Everything is okay.” Thank God I took the long way home from work. Tears streamed down her face, and her hands shook in her lap. I wanted to console her, but I needed to get her somewhere she felt safe.
“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you’re here, with me. You’re okay, baby. I’m going to take you home with me. You’ll be safe.”
“No!” she exclaimed. “You can’t go to your house. He’ll follow you there.”
“Who is he?” She said it like she knew who he was.
“The … the driver of the SUV. He might still be following us.”
I watched her from the corner of my eye. She could tell me she was in love with me and bare her body to me, but she still couldn’t tell me the truth about who she was running from.
Charlotte calmed down once we’d driven around for a while. No one was following us. I’d made sure of it. I pulled the car onto a side street and parked. I lifted her chin as I spoke. “You’re safe, baby.”
She sighed against my touch. “How are you?”
“I’m all right. Miss you like crazy though.”
“Do you?”
“It kills me that you have to ask that.”
Her bottom lip trembled, and it was easily the saddest sight I had ever seen.
“Why did you shut me out? Why couldn’t you let me be there for you? That’s all I wanted. We didn’t have to talk about anything. I just wanted to hold you. I want you to be able to lean on me.”
I rubbed the stubble that had grown in on my jawline, preparing to bare my soul to her. As it turns out, telling someone you love them isn’t all that hard. I’d never had difficulty telling anyone how I was feeling at any given time. However, confessing my deepest, darkest fears and insecurities … that shit was hard. Once you reveal the skeletons in your closet, there’s no more darkness left to hide them in. Light shines like a spotlight on your worst imperfections. You’re left with nothing but hope. Hope that people can forgive you for all your wrongs. Hope that people will love you in spite of them.
“When my father died, something struck me. Something that I’d never thought about until that moment. You’re going to die one day. I can’t stop it. That’s life. It sounds crazy when I say it out loud, like I shouldn’t be thinking so morbidly … but it consumed me. I’m not strong enough to withstand losing you. I don’t want to live in a world where you are not in it—with me.
“I watched my mother lose the man she loves. I watched her become a shell of her former self, going through the motions, trying to stay afloat for the sake of her kids. It kills me, Charlotte. Absolutely kills me. I don’t want to go through something like that.” I stopped to swallow the lump in my throat. “I’m terrified of losing you because I love you.”
Charlotte’s body stiffened. I couldn’t read the expression on her face. Then, I saw tears in her eyes.
Shit. I just fucked this all up.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, Charlotte. I’ve been in love with you since the moment you told me that you washed my shirt according to the instructions on the tag.”
Her tears fell, but she was smiling. “You didn’t know you loved me then. You didn’t even know me.”
“I knew, and I’ve known every day since then.”
Charlotte closed her eyes as she touched her forehead to mine. After a moment of tortured silence, she pulled back and looked into my eyes. “I love you, too, Tanner.”
