by Natalie Dean
“You beat me!” she screamed. But it felt good to scream. Three years together and she never raised her voice at the monster standing in front of her. It felt like she was long overdue. “You terrorized me! You made me feel small! But no more. That’s over! And you better leave before the cops get here, because I guarantee you even your daddy can’t get you out of this scot-free if they arrest you.”
He wasn’t used to this side of her, the side that he had muted so long ago. His face flushed red, and before she knew it, his fist was flying towards her. Before she would have just flinched away or curled into a wall and begged him to stop, apologizing over and over again.
But times had changed, and so had she.
So many things happened at once. Her friends surged forward, various protests or warnings coming from them. People in the food court jumped up, some moving to run away, others coming forward.
As for Sophia, she settled her feet back into the stance that Missy had shown her and brought her arm across her body in one swift motion, deflecting his punch. And then, while he still had all his momentum put into his missed blow, she slugged him in the nose as hard as she could.
There was a popping sound that was either his face or her knuckle, and an explosion of pain in her hand, but he stumbled back, holding his nose. Blood was leaking out between his fingers, and Sophia had never been so satisfied at repeating one of Missy’s lessons.
“I said to leave. Now. I’m done with you, Travis.” She advanced on him; fists raised in case he tried again. “You don’t have any power over me anymore.
“You know why? Because I’m worthy of love. I’m worthy of good things. You’re wrong, and you always have been.” She was almost to his face, his brows furrowed as he stared at her incredulously. “You’re a coward, Travis, and I pity you. Get out of my sight.”
And in that moment, it was like a weight was lifted off her. Like shackles were removed from her wrists, her neck, and her heart.
Yeah, she was going to still have to see her therapist, and no, she wasn’t cured of all her issues. But she had stared her greatest fear in the face and then punched it. A whole new era of her life was opening up right in front of her, starting with the demise of the man who so delighted in torturing her.
But of course, he couldn’t leave well enough alone. Standing up to his full height, his eyes roved behind her. She guessed that he saw the mall cops that were no doubt starting to respond to the commotion. He was going to run at any moment, because while he was big and strong, he also could never face the consequences of his actions. Like she said, he was a coward.
With one last sneer, he spit at her feet. “You’re not worth the effort anyway.”
“See, wrong again, Travis. I’m worth so much more than you will ever know.”
He looked like he wanted to argue with her. Like he wanted to try to cut her down again, but she could hear the cops calling out for him to calm down and put his hands up.
“You better run now,” she warned, letting him know exactly what she thought of him.
He turned on his heel and ran out, blood streaked down his face. Sophia stood there, watching him until he was out of the glass doors.
Abruptly, she was surrounded by her friends and they were all talking at once.
“Oh my gosh, Sophia, that was amazing!”
“You did it! You really slugged him in the face!”
“Are you alright? Is your hand okay? Holy cow, Sophia!”
“I knew you could do it. I knew you were ready to stand up to him. I’m so proud of you. We all are!”
They looked like they wanted to say so much more, but then the mall cops were herding them to the first aid station and asking so many questions.
It was all sort of a haze around Sophia, her adrenaline fading as the reality of what happened settled in. She had done it. She had faced down Travis and told him off. Suddenly, those shadows were gone. She’d chased off the boogeyman.
But then, a singular voice called her name, and all of the world came back in brilliant clarity.
“Sophia!”
She turned, wresting her arm from the mall cops to see Bradley standing at the entrance, looking terrified and relieved all at once.
“Bradley?”
“What happened?” He dropped the bouquet of flowers that was in his hand. “I just wanted to surprise y—”
He never got the sentence fully out. But that was probably because Sophia bolted towards him, throwing her arms around his shoulders and hauling herself up for a kiss.
Because finally, she knew what she wanted, and she wasn’t afraid to get it.
And she wanted Bradley more than anything else in the world.
21
Bradley
Suddenly his arms were full of Sophia.
He wasn’t complaining, however, and he nearly crushed her to him as her lips met his, hungrily demanding his attention. So many thoughts and feelings were rushing through him, he felt like he might up and float away if he didn’t have her as an anchor to the ground they were standing on.
Bradley hadn’t intended to come to the mall when his day started. It wasn’t like he felt the need to constantly check in on Sophia, after all, she was a grown woman and could do what she wanted. But Sophia had been so adorable when they were texting that he couldn’t concentrate on his work. So he figured that she wouldn’t mind it too much if he crashed the end of her mall outing and brought her some flowers.
After all, they’d been “together” for quite a while, and he had never gotten her any before. There was definitely something wrong with that, so he decided it was the time to remedy the situation.
Thankfully, Missy was giving him text updates on how their day was going. Without his even asking, she’d texted him a couple of times throughout the day to tell him things were going well, and when they were going to get food. When she had mentioned what stores they were visiting… well, it was hard to keep his mind off of that. Of course, Missy knew that. She was just as insightful as Keiko, but a bit more subdued about it.
When he’d arrived at the mall, coming in the main doors to the food court, he was nearly shoulder-checked by a man in a great hurry to leave.
Bradley had been so concerned with not dropping his phone or the flowers that he didn’t even think about who had nearly tackled him for at least a solid couple of seconds. But then a belated flash of recognition shot through him, and he whirled just in time to see a large man jump into his jeep and race off.
Wait… did he know that guy? His mind scrolled through faces like an old-fashioned Rolodex until it clicked.
No. It couldn’t be.
Nearly dropping the flowers again, he rushed inside only to see Sophia was there, alright, but being escorted away by some mall cops.
So many feelings flooded him that for a second, he shorted out. He was shocked, confused, and definitely worried, but also immensely relieved. She was fine. She was in front of him, and healthy and then she was flying through the air and smashing her lips to his.
All of that had happened so fast, but he wasn’t complaining. No, he was doing the exact opposite of that. Or at least he would be if his mouth wasn’t busy with Sophia.
Some sort of barrier between them was broken, and everything he had been holding back was pouring out. How could he be taking advantage when kissing her brought so much joy? When her pressed to him made the world seem right?
Eventually, however, they had to break for air. Besides that night in the truck, it had been a long while since he’d kissed anyone, and he got the feeling he needed to work on his technique a little.
He set Sophia down gently, holding her face in his hands and just looking at her. Memorizing her. Burning her into his memory like the work of art that she was.
She was so… perfect.
She pressed her face into his palms, and there was so much he wanted to ask her. If she was alright, if touching her like this was okay. If maybe, if maybe she had even a fraction of the same feelings f
or him as he had for her.
They stayed like that for not nearly long enough, until eventually her own hand came up to cup his. But then she winced, and it jerked him from the moment.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said quickly. Which meant exactly the opposite of nothing.
“Let me see.”
Gently he took her hand and looked at it. A couple of her knuckles were swollen and already starting to bruise. “We should really go to the ER. I think this might be broken.”
“Excuse me, sir. Do you know this woman?”
Oh right, they were surrounded by mall cops.
“Yes, she’s my fiancé, and we’re going to the hospital.”
“The police are on their way. They’re going to need to ask some questions.”
“Then they can come ask them at the hospital.” He looked to the rest of their friends. “You’ll all stay here and tell them whatever they need, right?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Sir, you can’t just—”
“Uh…yes I can.”
Normally, Bradley was all about respect and treating service individuals with patience and politeness, but he was out of both when it came to anything standing between him and taking care of Sophia.
Turning to her, he swept her up in a bridal carry. She let out a surprised squeak, but he was happy when she curled into him rather than shrinking away. The mall cops didn’t try to stop him, and he kicked open one of the doors to go to his truck.
“You know, you dropped the flowers in there.”
“I’ll buy you new ones,” he said with a chuckle, not setting her down until he was at the truck. “Lots and lots of them.”
“Bradley, I’m not a cripple. My hand just hurts.”
“Maybe I just want to carry you. I kind of like it. Is that so wrong?”
“Well, no.” She let him open the door for her but climbed in herself. He was about to go around when he noticed she was having a bit of trouble buckling in her seatbelt. “Ok, ya, maybe I could use a little help.”
“That’s what I’m here for.”
Leaning over her carefully, he clicked the buckle into the latch before shutting her door. He felt like he was going to vibrate out of his skin as he went around the car. Jumping in, he peeled out of the parking lot, only slowing down after reminding himself that there were pedestrians and he needed to be careful.
But it was hard to be careful when he thought of Sophia hurting.
“So, do you want to tell me what happened? Or do you need a few minutes to process through it first?” he said as he plugged the hospital address into his GPS. He knew the general way from the couple of times he drove Dani’s brothers to checks ups and physical therapy back when Benji had the flu, but he didn’t want to waste time accidentally making the wrong turn.
“Well, as I’m sure you figured out, my ex showed up.”
Bradley’s hands tightened on the wheel. “Did he hit you?” The thought made his temperature skyrocket. If that man so much as—
“Nope. I mean, well he tried to, but I blocked it with a move Missy showed me, and then I socked him right in that stupid nose of his.”
If Bradley wasn’t driving through busy city streets, he would have turned and stared at her.
But that didn’t stop him from glancing at her a few times over his arm. “You punched him?”
She beamed at him, proud as could be. “I sure did. That’s how I hurt my hand. I must have not held my fist how Missy told me to, but I don’t mind. It’s worth it.”
Bradley’s mind almost bugged out with a thousand thoughts. She punched her ex? She punched her ex. Right in the face!
Sure, it was a bit concerning that her ex was watching her enough to know when she would be away from Bradley and the Ranch, and that he had approached her in a public place, but she had punched her ex in the face!
That was huge.
First of all, it made him so proud of her he thought the feeling might burst right through his chest. Secondly, it made him wonder if she wasn’t scared of him anymore. If that sort of heavy presence he could see weighing on her sometimes would finally wane, and she would be freer than she had ever been.
He wondered if he had been part of the reason she was strong enough to do that. If his help had given her a place to heal and discover who she was. That… that was a very nice thought to have.
And finally, if she had faced down her ex, if she had slugged him across the face like he deserved, made him less of a bogeyman and more just a pitiful man… did that mean she was ready to move on? To maybe… possibly have something real with him?
“I can’t believe you hauled off and punched him. I wish I had been there to see it. Or that I’d been there to fight him. Wouldn’t mind getting in a few hits myself.”
“I mean, I wouldn’t mind watching you absolutely pummel him—I think he’s really scared of you—but it needed to be me.”
The steel in her voice was audible even over all the sounds of traffic. She really was something, this beautiful, strong woman beside him.
“Why’s that?”
“Because I’ve let him rule over too much of my life. Influence too many of my thoughts and how I lived my life. I needed to be the one who drew the line in the sand and told him that wasn’t happening anymore.” She reached over with her unhurt left hand. “But just so you know, you’re the one who gave me all the tools to do it. Well, I mean your whole family did. But you most of all.”
“I…” Bradley swallowed. Those were exactly the words that he had wanted to hear. Exactly what he had hoped she’d say, so it was a bit uncanny to hear them out loud and in the open.
“Did I?” he said for the lack of anything better to say. Not for the first time, he wished that he was as good with words as he was with numbers.
“Yeah.” Her fingers squeezed his palm before interlacing with his own digits. “You showed me that it was alright to love myself. That I wasn’t all the things my ex said I was. And you showed me that even if I was afraid, even if I’ve got all these wounds—either on the inside or out—I can still have a life. That there are things to look forward to and dream about and, and a future. For the first time since I was seventeen, I can see a glimmer of a future there. And that’s all because of you.”
Wow. That was certainly a lot. “I don’t know if I did all that,” he said, although he was practically glowing at the same time. He thought back to that first night that he had met Sophia, when she was shaking and bruised and snapping. When she snapped that she wasn’t weak as if to convince herself more than him. How she’d refused any help and thought there wasn’t a point to even trying to prosecute her ex.
What a change. What a beautiful, perfect change.
Happiness filled his entire body, more than it ever did at the end of a long horseback ride, or the end of a good book, or even when finding out that one of his investments was returning even more than he calculated. Seeing Sophia grow and heal, it was hands down the biggest accomplishment he had achieved in his entire life. He would take it to his grave proud and content.
Well, maybe not content. Because when he glanced over at Sophia, seeing her sitting there all happy and excited, looking at her busted hand like it was a trophy, he realized he wanted more than their fake arrangement. He wanted more than a bubble that they both escaped to every so often. And for the first time since he’d admitted his feelings, he thought that she might feel the same.
They pulled into the hospital, and this time he was able to park. It was a vast difference from the previous time when she had been rushed directly in by an ambulance. Together, they walked in—she refused to let him carry her through the doors like he wanted to—and she walked up to the nurse at the front desk.
The nurse looked up at them. “Hi, how may I help you?”
Sophia held up her hand. “Uh, had a bit of an accident. And by accident, I mean I punched someone in the face.”
To the woman’s credit, she just nod
ded calmly and handed Sophia a clipboard. “Are you able to write?”
“Not really, but my fiancé will do it for me.”
She handed the paper to Bradley, and he tried not to preen that she was still using the word ‘fiancé’ to describe him. The threat of her ex was over, she had said as much herself, but she didn’t seem very eager to end their charade.
“Oh, and some cops are probably going to be here in a few minutes, and they’re going to want to ask some questions. Also, you might get a warning about a guy coming in to be treated for a busted face, but I don’t think he’ll show his face around here since I humiliated him in public.”
The woman blinked at Sophia, still collected. “Alright. Is there anything else that I should know?”
“Well, I’m an Aries and I’m righthanded, but that’s about it.”
“Alright, have a seat. You’ll be called back shortly.”
Bradley couldn’t help but chuckle at Sophia’s whole demeanor. It was like she was floating, high on her own adrenaline but not in a self-destructive way. He liked seeing her like this and wondered if this was going to be more of her new normal.
Wouldn’t that be something?
Thankfully, it seemed to be a slow day in the ER, because they only had to wait about a half hour to be seen. Pretty impressive for her relatively mild injury. The nurses took her in alone for a while, and he knew they were asking her if she was in an abusive relationship, if he had been the one who hurt her, and if she needed help, along with taking x-rays and the like. He didn’t mind, however. Questions were good. Questions were how victims got help.
But after a while, a nurse came and got him and said he could wait with Sophia in her room. He followed her back, but barely had time to sit down and pull her good hand into his grip before a couple of cops came in.
“Miss Hernandez?” one of them asked. Bradley was pretty sure it was the same two they had met the first time she was in the ER.
“That’s me.”
“We heard you had a run in with a man at the local mall.”