Page 37 of Crash

Respect my space? Did he seriously just say that? Did he not remember what happened two years ago?

I should have called him out on it, timing be dammed, but unfortunately, my heart was too busy putting its spotlight on the other thing he’d said.If I ever needed him.As in, no matter what, he’d always come running if I did.

My soul danced in celebration at those words. Somewhere in the hospital’s data cloud, little blips representing my heartbeat were bouncing across a screen. The electrodes itched against my skin with a constant reminder that my every heartbeat was being monitored, analyzed, and transmitted from the small deviceclipped to my waistband straight to my cardiologist’s watchful eye.

“Well,” I started, “thank you for the ride, and for …” The words lodged in my throat like unspoken promises. How exactly did you thank someone for refusing to let you die? For seeing past your stubborn denials to the truth underneath? “Everything.”

“You sure you’re okay, Tess?” Blake’s worried gaze settled on my face.

I flashed a reassuring smile. “If I feel off, I’ll call the cardiologist right away. I feel fine though; you don’t need to worry about me.”

But I could see that was exactly what he was going to do today, until those lab results came back at least. I opened my mouth to reassure him again, but before I had the chance, life threw a fresh complication at me.

“Tessa!”

God Almighty.

If he found out about my neighbor, Blake would totally overreact …

23

TESSA

Blake’s entire body tensed, jaw tightening as his gaze locked on to my front porch.

“Who’s that?” Blake growled.

“Just a neighbor,” I assured.

“He’s standing on your porch, waiting for you to come home.”

“He’s harmless,” I said quickly. Too quickly.

Blake’s dark eyes snapped back to me. “Why do you feel the need to qualify that?”

Damn.“Eli was always bothered by Sebastian, too, but he’s just … well, he has a little crush on me. It’s not a big deal.”

Blake’s voice dropped lower. “People who keep insisting something’s not a big deal usually know damn well it’s a very big deal.”

“Not in this case.” I fumbled for my keys. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I?—”

“I’m walking you inside.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“This isn’t up for debate.” The words came out with all the immovability of a mountain.

I bit back a groan. I knew that tone. It was Blake’s I’m-not-changing-my-mind voice. Fighting it would be like arguing with gravity. And the last thing I needed was a scene that would make this situation even worse. I just wanted to get inside, shower off the hospital smell, and deal with my latest work emergency before it exploded into something unfixable.

“Tessa.” Sebastian shuffled forward as I approached my door, his voice pitched high with anxiety. “You never came home last night! I was so worried.”

“You know there are laws against stalking,” Blake snarled.

Sebastian’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit’s, darting between Blake and me.

I shoved Blake through my front door before he could terrorize my neighbor further. “Sorry, Sebastian. He didn’t mean to be rude. If you’ll excuse me, I’m in a hurry.”

I yanked Blake inside my home to prevent him from giving Sebastian PTSD, shut the door, and sagged against it, exhaling slowly.