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“Hawthorne! Fancy seeing you here,” One guy says as he “bro claps” Bryce on the back. I recognize one of the guys in the group. Officer “B” is standing among them, smirking at me and Bryce. These must be other officers that work with him.
“Hey! What are you all doing here? Oh, everyone, this is Kat. Kat, these are some guys I work with.” He points, starting with the man on the left. “This is Kevin Cook. This here is Rick Nash, and that guy is Tom Gibson. The man in the back you’ve seen before, he’s my partner, Austin Hardwick.”
“Hello,” they all say almost in unison. Each one of them is smiling like they are in on some sort of inside joke.
“Um. Hi,” I mumble. Without thinking, I shift closer to Bryce. He immediately picks up on my apprehensiveness, next reaching under the table to grab my hand and rub circles on my wrist.
“Well, boys, we’re about to leave. We just stopped to get something to eat.” He throws some money down on the table, even though we haven’t received check yet. “I’ll see you all later.”
Bryce gets up, waves goodbye to his buddies, and walks me out of the restaurant with his hand on my lower back.
When we get back to my apartment, I let him come inside for a minute. We said little on the ride home, but I was okay with the quiet. My eyes remained closed most of the ride home, anyway. I needed to recalibrate and get my bearings.
“Hey, listen. I just want to say I’m really sorry about tonight. You know, I didn’t realize it was going to be like that. I just wanted to spend some time with you and get to know you. I really am sorry.” Bryce looks at me with sad eyes. He’s obviously beating himself up over my panic attack.
“It’s not your fault. My anxiety already had me a little on edge, and I should have known better. Besides, I could have said no, but I didn’t. And the server wasn’t your fault either. People are just like that.” I drop my head, looking at my shoes. My hands move to the pocket in my hoodie. I know all too well the things people do to hurt others. To make them feel like less of a person.
He points over to my couch. “Come on, let’s sit. Standing there all upset is really making me feel even worse.”
I nod, moving over to plop down on my leather cushions.
“Kat, I really am sorry.” He grabs both of my hands his face somber.
“You have nothing to be sorry about, Bryce. That was the first time I was able to work through an attack without having to leave the place. You actually helped me. So, thank you for that.” I lock my eyes with his as I speak. I want him to know that none of this was his fault, nor were any of my issues. “Want to watch something? I’ve been on a Battlestar Galactica trip. You can stay and nerd out with me, if you want.”
Bryce doesn’t say anything for a moment. I’m not sure if he’s going to high tail it out of here. His face is completely unreadable. He has also now seen me in full panic mode. Bryce could be like the others. He could simply realize I’m not worth getting to know. I’m not worth his time. I’m not worth anything.
“Yeah, I’d like that. Truth be told, I like that show. I haven’t watched it since it ended.” He chuckles. Instantly, there’s a spark inside me. A small spark of hope.
“So, you’re a bit of a geek at heart?” I grin back, my eyes full of excitement. Turns out this man who helped me out of an attack today is a bit of a nerd too.
“Could be,” He flashes me his signature panty-dropping smile. Does he even know he has that smile?
I flip on the show. I realize something as we’re both sitting and watching the show. He isn’t running for the hills. I don’t know who this man is, but he came out of nowhere. He’s already done more for me than any guy ever has in my entire life.
For the first time, I sit back on my couch, comfortable, and enjoy the company of a guy.
Chapter 7
Bryce
I getoff work and pick up some food to bring over to Kat’s place. The last week has been an enjoyable change of pace from my pre-Kat days. She seems to be more at ease with me, and I finally have someone I can spend some time with. The guys I work with are great, but I don’t always want to hang out at bars and get hit on by women. Yep, I just said that. It’s not as if I don’t enjoy the attention, I just don’t want it.
In fact, these days, I don’t want to do any of that, bars or women. I just want to be with Kat. She’s always on my mind. Kat has officially taken over my thoughts.
I knock on her door. There’s actually an advantage to living so close to her: I don’t have far to travel when I go home. My protective side’s thrilled that I’m close in case she needs something. I am not sure why, but I seem to have a caveman-like need to keep her close and protected.
I’ve spent this past week getting to know her more, but she’s a tough egg to crack. She keeps things close to the chest. Kat never really talks about her past, and I know that has something to do with why she has panic attacks when she gets in sticky situations outside of her house. Call it a hunch, but I’m sure her past has impacted her and not in a good way.
“Hey! What do you have there?” Kat steps back, raising her brow, and lets me into her apartment after I arrive.
I hold up the white bag and smile. “Food,” immediately the smell of the garlic bread and the Alfredo sauce took over the room. Without even opening the bag, the garlic, cheese and seasoning smells surround us. I picked up her favorite, Chicken Alfredo. She loves Tony’s Place and eats there at least twice a week.
“Oh! Gimme! Mmm,” She moans, sniffing at the bag with a smile. “Italian? Oh! You went to my favorite place. Bryce, you are seriously the best.” Her eyes instantly fill with elation. She walks into the kitchen and takes out some bowls to put the food in for the both of us, then makes her way back into the living room. She plops down next to me on the couch.
“How was your day?” I turn and look at her while moving the food around in my bowl with the fork, licking my lips. I’m starved after working all day.
“Uh, it was okay. Finished up some work on one project and started a new project. Nothing exciting. You?” She shoves a load of pasta in her mouth. Kat is not ashamed to eat in front of me, and that is so refreshing. Kat’s real, down to earth, and pure.