Page 69 of Indescribable

He parks along the bank and shuts off the ignition, slamming the door behind him after he hops out and walks to the bank of the pond.

Slowly, I join him, sitting next to him and leaning my head on his shoulder.

“I should have called you, I take it.”

He grunts.

“I’m stronger than you think, Brock.”

“I think you’re one of the strongest women I know, Naomi. Strength has nothing to do with why I’m upset right now.”

“Then what is it?”

He blows out a breath and turns toward me, tucking my hair behind my ear. “For years, you were mine to protect. Then you were someone else’s so I stepped aside. It killed me but I did it because more than anything, I just always wanted you to be happy. All these years I thought you were. I’m back in your life again, Naomi, and it kills me that I wasn’t there to protect you.”

I digest his words, ruminating on ‘you were mine to protect’, letting it settle deep in my soul and feeling the warmth those simple five words brings me.

He’s right. He always made me feel safe and protected.

“As I was getting ready to meet your mom for lunch, Wyatt showed up at my house. I had the door locked and he demanded I let him inside. He wasn’t right in the head so I told him he couldn’t come in, but I wouldn’t have anyway. I asked him to leave repeatedly but he wouldn’t so I called the police, hoping their presence would motivate him to leave and see that I was serious. It seemed like he was on drugs of some kind and the police confirmed that. He had cocaine on him when they brought him to the station.”

He’s silent, anger flowing out of him like waves. “Did he hurt you?”

“No. The doors were locked, Brock,” I remind him.

“He came to your house high on coke?”

I nodded. “He did. I had no idea he was doing drugs. Where would he even get cocaine?”

“Thank goodness I can honestly say I have no idea.”

I breathe out a laugh.

“I’m not angry at you, sweetheart. I’m angry that you were in that position. And I’m angry I wasn’t there with you.”

“Something tells me that if you were at the house when Wyatt showed up, things would have gotten uglier.”

His mouth twitches. “I can’t deny that.”

“Brock?”

“Hmm?” he says, rubbing my arm and keeping me close.

“I’m okay. It was not fun and I don’t wish for a repeat performance of my afternoon, but I listened to my instincts and didn’t let him inside.”

“Good.”

I can tell he’s not cooling down anytime soon. Which, I suppose if the situation was reversed and he was the one who had to call the police on an ex, I would still be pretty damn hot about it, too.

I gather up the courage to ask, “What did you mean when you said you stepped aside?”

He stiffens just slightly. “You and Wyatt were married so I had to remind myself that I wasn’t your constant guardian or your best friend anymore.”

“We were. But I can tell there’s more to it than that.”

“Why do you think that?”

I give him a shoulder nudge. “I still know you pretty well. Stepping aside was about more than being my so-called guardian.”