Savior Complex: A Small Town Love Triangle Romance

“I just… Let’s just say guys are assholes.”

“You got that right,” I mutter, and he chuckles. I start to walk, and don’t argue when he walks with me.

“You have every right to walk anywhere you want in this town and not be bothered,” he continues. “Unfortunately, guys like that don’t play by the rules. Add some alcohol, a few friends to egg them on, and you’ve got yourself the perfect recipe for assault.”

I start to protest, but he stops me.

“I am not saying it’s your fault. It’s not. I’m just saying that because of assholes like those guys, and guys who are even worse than them, you have to be the one to make sure you’re safe. And the best way to do that is to not walk around here by yourself.”

“You think I don’t know that?” I quicken my steps. I’m equal parts annoyed and relieved when he matches my pace.

“Sugar, ten minutes ago, I didn’t know you at all,” he points out.

“Well, stranger, let me fill you in. I just worked a long shift, and all I wanted to do was get home so I can go to bed and do it all again tomorrow. I didn’t plan to walk home alone, but that’s what happens when you find out your car won’t start. It wasn’t my first choice. But you, on the other hand, did make that choice. I could drill you on why you’re choosing to take a run by yourself late at night where any guy could pick a fight with you.”

Even as I’m saying it, I know I’m grasping at straws. Brayden is built like a linebacker. There’s no chance anyone would mess with him, because it’s obvious what the result would be. Even those guys. He didn’t even have to lay a hand on any of them, and they still immediately backed off when he approached—even thought he was outnumbered.

Brayden lifts the band of his sweatshirt, and I breathe in sharply at the sight of his perfect abs. I want to trace a manicured nail across them, to feel the valleys of those muscles under my palms, to feel if his skin is as flushed as mine feels right now.

Then I see his own can of pepper spray in his waistband. He’s not showing me his Adonis abs, he’s showing me his tool of defense. Even though his whole body is a weapon.

“You obviously don’t need pepper spray,” I say, waving my hand over him. “You’re a goddamn tank.”

He laughs, and fuck me, his laugh is like a missile to my core. It’s deep and throaty, the vibrations giving me heart palpitations. The way his dimples crease as he grins at me has me biting my lip.

“I’m not going to fight if I can help it. I’ve never even used this. I’ve found there are better ways to diffuse a situation.”

“Like what you did back there,” I say, and he nods.

“If I came at those guys, their drunk asses would have welcomed a fight. I’d probably be able to take care of it, but at what cost? I can’t afford to get injured. More important, any kind of fight would have put you in more danger. I couldn’t defend you and fight them at the same time.”

I recall the way he looked when he approached me, frustrated and annoyed, and it suddenly occurred to me how brilliant the whole thing had been. “You pretended to be angry with me instead of getting angry with them.”

He shot me an apologetic smile. “It’s this trick I once read in a book,” he says. “Getting mad at you re-directed their attention and distracted them from whatever they had in mind. But I also was afraid it would backfire, that you’d feel like I was just like those guys. You can’t imagine how relieved I was when you took my hand.”

“Same,” I breathe.

We walk a few minutes in silence. I’m not sure if he’ll walk me the whole way home, but I realize how glad I am that he’s there. There’s a calming presence to him. He has an easy stride to his walk, but I get the sense he’s hyper aware of our surroundings. Every time we leave the lights of the street, his hand finds my back, as if to let me know he’s here and I’m safe.

It’s the first time I’ve been alone with a man for this long and felt safe.

“I never told you thank you.” I look at him, melting just slightly as his hand finds my back again. I wish he’d leave it there. “And I’m sorry I got mad. I was just…” I pause, finding the words. I was scared. But it was more than that. Now that I’m safe, I can feel my whole body letting down, starting with the tears stinging my eyes.

What if Brayden hadn’t been there? What if no one saw what was happening? What exactly did they want from me? What if…

“Don’t fight this, Nina. You’ve been asking for this all year.”

I shudder as the memory punctures me, and an involuntary sob splinters me in two.

“Hey there, you’re safe.” Brayden pulls me into him as I try to stop the tears, but I can’t stop my moan escaping into the fabric of his sweatshirt. I gulp the air, inhaling the heady scent of his sweat. I cling to him, breathing him in, trying to gain control over my sudden panic.

“I got you, Sugar,” he breathes into my hair. He rubs my back, pressing me against him as I clutch his sweatshirt, not stopping as I fight to regain control over my breath. But it’s coming too hard, too fast. All I can picture are their faces over mine, their hands holding me down, my clothes ripping away from my body. The pressure, the pain. The hand over my mouth as I screamed, then the complete numbness that took over—as they took over. As I lost myself in the dirt.

I don’t think of that day hardly at all anymore. Rather, when I do, I push it away. I push it way down until it feels like it belonged to someone else. Like I was someone else. I have fucked too many guys trying to purge those assholes out of my body. I’ve protected myself the best way I know how, which is to never let anyone in. I’m the pursuer, and screw anyone who tries to chase me. Because I say what goes, I determine who’s coming home with me at night, and I won’t be anyone’s victim.

Which is why I’m so fucking angry about tonight. I completely froze. If Brayden hadn’t shown up… I mean, I had fucking pepper spray, right there! And it wasn’t even my first thought.

“I feel like such an idiot,” I breathe once my words finally find me. “I didn’t even try to fight back.”