Binding 13

Exhaling a ragged breath, I nodded and shifted closer to him.

If I could, I would climb on his lap and bury my face in his chest in this moment, but he was a virtual stranger to me and that would be socially frowned upon, so I settled for sidling up to him.

I knew he probably thought I was crazy, but I was two seconds away from having a full-blown panic attack and his presence was grounding me.

Joh

I saw it then, a spark of recognition lit up Joh

"Can we go now?" I whispered, heart beating rapidly as I resisted the urge to burrow into his side. "Please?"

"We'll go when we're ready to go," he said in a voice so low and soft that it was barely audible. "Put your head up, Sha

Relieved, I moved closer, too close for strangers to sit, but I didn’t care.

He was big and strong and I got the distinct feeling that he was telling me the truth.

I believed him when he told me I was safe with him.

"Those girls?" he asked, tilting his face down to look at me as he spoke. "What's the story?"

"There's no story," I croaked out, clutching my bottle with a death grip.

"Why do I find that hard to believe?"

I shrugged and ducked my chin, letting my hair fall forward, wishing I had Harry Potter's invisibility cloak draped around my body so I could escape this situation without more pain.

I couldn’t take anymore.

"Look at me."

I didn’t.

"Look at me," he repeated, tone calm and coaxing.

I couldn’t.

I felt him shift beside me and then his fingers were on my chin, tipping my face up to his.

"You're safe," he whispered, cupping my cheek in his hand, eyes boring holes straight through my soul. "I promise."

That word.

God.

That one word broke me.

It was all too much.

My life.

Those girls.

My father.

And in the middle of it all, I could only see him.

This boy.