Page 68 of Escape

“Yeah, I think so. Would it bother you if I just rested my good hand on your arm, though? I know you’re here, but it would make me feel better to be able to feel you there.”

Something squeezed in my chest, my throat tightening painfully.

Unable to trust myself to speak, I reached for her hand and placed it on my arm. The touch of her fingertips against my skin was so soft, but her grip was firm, like she was afraid I’d disappear if she let go.

Following a few beats, I asked, “Better?”

“Much better. I’m sorry for waking you.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you’re okay now. Do you want to talk about it?”

She let out an audible sigh. “There’s nothing new to tell. It was pretty much like it was last time. I hate that he has this control over me, and I just want to forget about it. Honestly, I’d love it if you’d talk to me about anything else. Can you keep telling me the stories about your coworkers? That was a nice distraction last time.”

I’d give her anything she wanted, even if I thought there was going to come a point when it would be necessary to take additional steps to help her mind heal from what she’d been through.

For now, to get her through tonight, I was going to tell her the stories about more of my coworkers. She got three more stories—Damon, Jesse, and Kane. Obviously, I was careful with the details I shared, never wanting to tell her things that would be traumatizing to her. I tried to focus more of the story on the outcomes, on the happiness each of my friends had found in their lives with the women they met.

Josie seemed particularly happy to hear about Damon and Avalon’s recent wedding in June, Jesse and Sawyer’s upcoming wedding later this summer, and Kane and Ellery’s fresh engagement news. I’d believed that since those parts of the conversation were much more uplifting, Josie was more interested in focusing on them. But then she said something that had me thinking twice.

“It’s so nice to hear these stories.”

“Yeah, since everything worked out in the end, I have to agree with you.”

“I think our reasoning for liking them is different, though.”

I hadn’t realized there could be any reason other than the obvious one for thinking these were good stories, so I asked, “What do you mean?”

The silence stretched between us for a few beats before Josie explained, “Hearing about your coworkers and how they’ve wound up where they are in their relationships gives me hope. It makes me believe that it’s possible for a girl who picked the wrong guy in her past or for former friends who were separated for years to still be able to find happy endings. I guess I like being able to believe that there’s a chance that exists for me, too.”

If I had anything to say about it, Josie was going to get that.

Though there was a part of me that wanted to tell her I intended to make that happen, I didn’t think this was the appropriate time. I was merely grateful to know that, after all she’d been through, she wasn’t going to close herself off from the possibility of finding that happiness.

Maybe it would take time to get there—she needed to be able to heal and get help first—but she was going to get what she deserved in the end. Of that, I was certain.

I covered her hand that was resting on my arm with my opposite hand and stroked back and forth several times before I said, “It exists for you, Josie. I know it does.”

Her fingers pressed deeper on my arm. “I hope you’re right.”

From that point forward, neither one of us said anything else. It was still dark out, we hadn’t gotten much sleep, and after having distracted Josie for a while, we both wound up drifting off again.

Fortunately, Josie didn’t have another nightmare.

It was two nights later when it happened again.

Only, this time, Josie didn’t yell out my name in the middle of her nightmare.

This time, she screamed. High-pitched and terrified, like someone had just broken into the house and was coming after her.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever moved so quickly in my life.

In record time, I was standing at the entrance to the guest bedroom, and Josie was already sitting up in the bed.

I moved toward her, flipped on the light, and had all of two seconds to assess the situation before she burst into tears. “When will this stop? It’s never going to end. He’s never going to leave me alone.”

Continuing to be mindful of her shoulder, I wrapped my arms around her and held her close. “You’re okay. It’s going to get better, Josie. We’ll make it stop.”

She had her forehead pressed against my collarbone and her good arm snaked beneath my arm, so her hand could curl up to grip my shoulder from behind. “I feel like such a baby.”