“Erm…” She chews her lip, and I know whatever she’s about to say will piss me off.
“He didn’t want me to wait here alone. He’s, or at least he was, out back by the tree line.”
I don’t say anything as I climb to my feet and pull the door open.
“Viddy,” Megan calls, but I ignore her, marching over to the copse of oak trees that loom dark and ominous in the distance.
I see him before I even make it halfway there, tall and broad, and every bit as intimidating as Megan says. That doesn’t stop me, though, not when it comes to Megan’s safety.
He doesn’t move an inch, his massive arms hanging loosely at his sides, his long hair and beard hiding most of what I can tell is a handsome face. But it’s his eyes that make me pause, stopping me from ripping him to shreds with my razor-sharp tongue.
I’ve seen that look before, the blank stare of someone who has had their world destroyed. I see it every time I look in a mirror but seeing it on this man feels like a knife cutting my insides to ribbons. His pain is so fresh, I can almost sense it trying to claw its way out from inside him like his suffering is somehow an extension of my own. It’s so stark and bleak, I almost take a step back. How is he still functioning? How is he even walking and talking when the black shroud of grief he wears is so heavy I can feel its weight from here, almost bringing me to my knees.
“Who are you?” I ask him softer than I ever imagined I would, but Megan’s right. One look at Wyatt and I can see he’s no monster. He’s a wounded animal and whatever hurt him is festering away inside.
“Wyatt,” he grunts, his eyes moving over my face before sucking in a sharp breath.
He sees in me what I see in him, and just like that, a tangible link snaps into place between this stranger and me in the most inconceivable way. I can tell we both have different dark stories. We might not have followed in each other’s footsteps, but we stumbled down the same dark path.
He’s not bad, but just like me, he isn’t good either.
“I think you need her even more than I do,” I murmur softly, worried I’ll spook him if I talk too loudly.
He cocks his head, unsure what my words mean.
“Megan,” I explain. “She’s light when everywhere else I look is dark. Of course, she has no idea she radiates this purity, which makes her a beacon for people who want nothing more than to snuff out the light or steal it for themselves.”
I wrap my arms around myself, chilled at the thought of a world without Megan in it. She got hurt tonight because I couldn’t be with her. I can be the monster who will kill for her, but she needs a savior too.
“Come on, time to step into the light, big guy.” I reach out my hand for him, surprising us both.
He looks at my knuckles that are bruised and bloody from the scrap I found myself in earlier, then up to my face. Slowly, he lifts his large hand, with scars on his knuckles, and wraps it around mine, making me smile.
A look passes between us, a knowing that he’s not coming just for Megan, but for me. I can feel the odd protectiveness coming from him for two girls he doesn’t know, and yet I can feel it as surely as I can feel my heart beat in my chest.
I almost take a step back and sever the connection. The last time someone swore to protect me, they abandoned me when I needed them most. I’m the one who does the protecting now, but I can’t deny the comfort it brings the whisper of the lonely girl inside me.
I grip his hand and lead him back to the shack in silence until we reach the door, then I look up at him as he towers over me. “If you hurt her, I will gut you like a fish,” I warn him, expecting him to bristle at my words.
Instead, he does something that shocks the shit out of me. He smiles widely, revealing matching dimples, before ruffling my hair like I’m five.
“Good girl.” He winks before disappearing inside, leaving me standing there with my mouth open.