Page 11

Closing my eyes, I raise my hands above my head and move my hips to the beat.

For a few moments, I can let all my troubles drift away.

I forget how much I miss things before Mom got sick.

I forget that instead of fulfilling her dreams, she is wasting away in that place.

I forget how different her life could have been if she hadn’t been forced to be a single mom.

I forget how she gave up all her dreams to give me mine.

But as soon as the song ends and the bar turns silent, all those thoughts come flooding back, and suddenly, I feel like I’m suffocating.

The room spins, and my throat closes, causing me to choke on my next breath.

I can feel sweat running down my temple as my vision blurs.

I look over at Promise, who is hugging Ruby, and the two of them are laughing at something Sadie is saying, but I can’t hear their voices past the whooshing sound in my ears.

Just as I feel like I will stumble and fall, a strong arm wraps around my waist, catching me.

The smell of pine, leather, and cigarettes fills my senses.

“You’re okay,” Everest’s deep voice rumbles against my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

“Breathe, London,” he commands. It’s then that I realize I’ve been holding my breath.

The next thing I know, Everest is ushering me outside.

I look over my shoulder to see Promise, Ruby, and Sadie’s worried expressions as Nova holds his arms out while keeping them in place.

Promise’s expression turns angry until Nova leans in close and says something against the shell of her ear.

Once outside, the cool night air blasts across my face, and I suck in some much-needed oxygen.

Everest’s six-foot-five-inch form crowds me, keeping the throng on the sidewalk at bay, for which I am grateful.

To onlookers, I’m just another drunk girl to gawk at.

I lean my back against the brick wall and brace my palms against the front of my thighs.

“I don’t know what the hell that was, but thank you,” I say through ragged breaths.

“Panic attack,” Everest murmurs.

As a cold bottle of water is shoved in front of my face. I don’t question where Everest suddenly got it, I wipe my sweaty brow with the back of my hand. Instead, I take it from him and greedily down half its contents.

“Panic attack? I’ve never had one of those. How did you know?”

“Finish the water,” he says without answering my question. Too freaked out to argue, I do as I’m told. After I finish the first bottle, Everest passes me another. I wave him off. “I think I’m good now.”

“You’ll be good once you drink this.” He practically shoves the water in my hand, leaving me no choice.

I give him my best annoyed look, but in true Everest fashion, he is unaffected.

I go to bring the bottle to my lips when I notice my hand trembling.

“Fuck,” I hiss, leaning my head back against the wall.

“What’s up with this chick?” A polo shirt wearing idiot asks as he passes by on the sidewalk, making his dickhead friends laugh.

Normally, I have a witty retort for assholes like him, but I currently don’t have the strength.

I’m shocked when Everest swiftly reaches out, wraps his large hand around the guy’s throat, and squeezes.

I watch as the guy’s face turns red. His buddies are equally stunned and do the smart thing by stepping back.

I don’t blame them. Everest comes by his name honestly—a wall of muscle and stands at six feet five inches tall.

“Next time you walk by a lady on the street, you either show her some goddamn respect or keep pushin’,” Everest growls, his face twisting with anger.

The guy claws at Everest’s hand as his friends plead for Everest to let go.

“He didn’t mean anything by it, man. Really. Can you let him go now?” one friend asks.

“Everything okay, brother?” Nova appears beside us, seemingly bored, with a cigarette hanging from his mouth.

Everest then releases the guy with a shove, and he falls to the dirty sidewalk. His friends crowd around him as he struggles to find his breath.

“We’re cool. Just givin’ this dip shit a little lesson in respect.” Everest turns back toward me. “I’m takin’ London home.”

Nova regards me. “You doin’ okay, sweetheart?”

I give him a weak smile. “Yeah.” Then add, “Will you tell the girls I’m sorry and tell Promise I’ll call her in the morning.”

“Sure thing, darlin’.” Nova and Everest share a look before Nova dips back inside the bar.

Grabbing me by my elbow to keep me steady, Everest leads me down the sidewalk to where my car is parked. “Wait.” I try to stop. “I forgot my purse.”

Everest raises his other hand and produces my small handbag. Nova must have handed it over, but with my attention on the exchange between Everest and polo shirt guy, I missed it. “You know, I’m feeling better. I can drive myself home.”

Everest doesn’t break stride. “Not happenin’.”

We reach the passenger side of my car, where Everest opens the door.

Once I’m seated, my eyes follow his trek to the driver’s side, and I watch as he gracefully folds his massive form behind the wheel.

There is no small talk on the drive to my apartment, yet surprisingly, the silence between us is comfortable.

Soon, exhaustion sets in, and suddenly, I’m having difficulty keeping my eyes open.

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I know, I feel like I’m floating on air, wrapped in a cocoon of muscle, heat, and that familiar smell of pine and whiskey. Cracking my eyes slightly, I mumble, “I can walk.”

“I got you, baby.” Everest’s hot breath whispers against my ear.

I must be dreaming because I could have sworn I heard him call me baby.

Yep, definitely dreaming. And because this is a dream I don’t want to wake up from, I bury my face against the column of Everest’s neck and breathe in his scent.

“Mmm, you smell good,” I murmur. In my dream, a deep rumble vibrates against my cheek.

“I love it when you growl, too. It’s so hot. ”

“Fuck,” dream Everest grits.

I yawn. “I think I like that too, mountain man.”

A few moments later, I’m lowered into my bed. Briefly, my eyes flutter open to find Everest standing at my bedroom door, staring at me. “Well, that’s not creepy at all.” I give him a lazy grin.

Everest shakes his head.

“Good night, Everest.”

“Night, baby.”