In His Eyes by Ella Justice

Author:Ella Justice [Justice, Ella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Justice Publishing
Published: 2023-08-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I turned away and started walking as I heard Johnny stumble backwards and let out a scream of pain.

My steps were happening in slow motion. Fuzziness swirled in my head, and I knew my hand should have been throbbing with pain by now. But it wasn’t.

It just felt numb. Everything was numb. There was a ringing in my ears, and my face was flushed with heat. I kept going. It was all numb. All I felt was numb. Numb, numb, numb. Then more feelings.

Lost. Stupid. Incompetent. Weak. Broken.

Broken, broken, broken.

Suddenly, I felt a hand wrap around my wrist. In a panic, I swung again, but Nate caught my fist just before it hit his face.

“Whoa, Ari, it’s just me.”

I looked around slowly. Everything had been such a blur, I hadn’t realized how far I’d walked from the party. I could barely see the fire in the distance. Definitely couldn’t hear the music. My ears felt like they’d popped.

Nate’s hands reached up, cradling my face and forcing me to look straight at him. We stood like that for a moment, and I waited for him to ask what was wrong with me. To let go and refuse to touch me ever again. I’d gone insane, and if I were him, I would have walked away long before that moment. With his eyes peering deep into mine, his strong hands gently cradling my face, he asked me the question my heart was screaming to answer truthfully.

“Are you okay?”

I burst into tears. Everything—all the fear, hate, sadness, and longing—bubbled up and became so intense I couldn’t keep it in anymore.

He didn’t jerk back in shock; didn’t turn around and walk away. He dropped his hands from my face, pulled me forward, and held me as I sobbed.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered after the sobs finally subsided. I had no idea how long we’d been standing there, but long enough that his shirt was soaked with my tears.

He shook his head against my shoulder, still holding me tight. “Don’t ever apologize for being hurt,” he said forcefully. “Ever.”

We finally pulled apart, but only far enough to see each other’s faces. He kept his arms looped around my waist, and I kept my hands around the back of his neck. I wasn’t sure at what point they’d worked their way up there.

“Can I at least apologize for being an ugly crier?” I tried to joke, to cover up my embarrassment. I reached a hand to cover my face, waiting for him to tease me. Instead, he grabbed my hand and pulled it away from my face.

“You know what,” he said softly as he reached up and gently wiped away an errant tear, “I think you’re even more beautiful when you cry.”

I blinked. Once. Twice. My heart thumped so loudly in my chest I’m sure he could hear it.

“You’ve never called me beautiful before.” The words escaped before I could stop them, tumbling out of me in an awe-filled whisper.

His eyes widened only for a second before he put his face very close to mine.

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