Page 19 of The Doctor

She’d looked hurt when we pulled up at the curb next to her. There were no lies on the tip of her tongue when I tried to make her tell me what was going on. She had real tears in her eyes when she begged me not to send her home.

Thoughts of those tears guided me toward her bedroom. Sure enough, a dim light shone from the crack under the door.

There was no answer when I knocked. I opened the door slowly, eyes darting wildly, searching for the girl as I steeled myself for whatever state I’d find her in.

I wasn’t prepared for what I found.

Clara was curled around a pillow on her bed, still wearing the skimpy little dress that had my body reacting in ways I wasn’t proud of. With her back to me, I took a moment to adjust my erection before I made my way to her side.

In light of her current state, the anger I so often relied on to make it through my interactions with her was nowhere to be found.

“Clara.” When she didn’t respond, I took a seat on the bed. My hand hovered over her for one long minute before I allowed myself to give in.

Fuck. The silk of her dress was as smooth as her skin, and the thin fabric did nothing to stop the heat emanating from her body. I shifted uncomfortably, because my dick didn’t get the message that this was not the fucking time.

“What happened tonight, kid?”

“Do we have to talk about it?”

Irritation bubbled under the surface of my skin. “You called me in a panic, begging me to come pick you up. Then you beg some more to come here instead of going home? What’s going on with you?”

Her chest rose, then fell with a slow breath. “I went to the club.”

My lips pressed into a firm line. “Obviously.”

She sighed again. “Chloe and Sadie and I got drinks. We were dancing. And someone tried groping Sadie, and we couldn’t get him to stop. Then Stephano showed up and acted like it was all my fault before he kicked us out on our asses.”

I bit my tongue, because there were so many things I wanted to say, but I knew they wouldn’t be helpful.

You’re too young to be drinking.

Wearing shit like this dress was a sure-fire way to draw attention from the wrong kind of boys.

Your brother’s a fucking idiot if he thinks a guy groping your friend is your fault.

Before I could come up with something more helpful to say, Clara spoke again. “Sadie and Chloe felt the same way.”

“What are you talking about?”

“They blamed me. They left me there.” Her voice shook and something inside me broke. “Told me to find my own way home, even though they brought me there tonight.”

“Clara—”

“I thought we were friends, Zee.” She flipped over on the bed, showing me her tear-stained face. “Friends don’t abandon you after something like that.”

Her tears. I couldn’t take the sight of them. They made me weak. Made me want to go to the ends of the earth to fix whatever caused them, do whatever it took to make them go away.

Before I thought to do so, I found my hand upon her cheek, fingers wiping away the tears. “You don’t need people like that in your life.”

Clara gripped my hand, pressing her face into my palm. With her eyes closed, she looked like an angel. So perfect. So innocent.

She was anything but.

But she was Clara Vinci, and I wouldn’t want her to be anyone else.

“Will you really teach me how to drive?”

Felt like I swallowed my tongue when her pretty brown eyes found mine. I wanted less time with her. Needed space between us if I was going to survive this.