With a Friend's Strength (Badge and Bullets Book 2) by Brittany Cournoyer

Author:Brittany Cournoyer [Cournoyer, Brittany]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-25T16:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

Bradley

I’d left Clayton’s apartment telling myself someone was just being an asshole, but as the night progressed and I continued to think about it, the less I could think about anything else. My imagination had run away with and taken me with it, and when I started believing Phillip Richmond was looking in my windows instead of behind bars, that’s when I knew I needed to go to the police. Sleep didn’t come easy for me, and I was surprised I was able to get any rest at all. I spent the night tossing and turning and startling at every noise I heard. After finally falling into a restless slumber for a few hours, I awoken with my mind riddled with anxiety and jumping every time I heard a car drive by. That’s how I found myself standing at Max’s door. Only after I knocked and waited for him to answer did I regret my decision to go there in the first place, and the more I told Max, the sillier I felt.

It was while I was waiting for my lunch—an invitation that’d thrown me completely off guard—the realization I was back at his house hit me. All I could think about was the night I was almost skinned alive by Phillip Richmond, and my back began to tingle at the memory. The areas on my back and thigh—where I had the skin graft—were still sensitive, especially to temperature, and I hated that I bore the physical marks as a constant reminder of that terrible night. The memories were haunting enough, and I fought hard to keep them at bay, but the scars would be forever.

“You’re not eating much,” Max observed. “Did I screw up the sandwich?”

I quietly laughed and took a bite. “Nah, just thinking.”

I glanced around the kitchen, the same kitchen where everything that terrible night had first started, and my face paled. My breath caught in my chest, and it felt like someone had a tight fist around my heart as they squeezed with every bit of strength they possessed. A thin sheen of sweat began to cover my body, and the room felt like it was starting to close in on me.

“Are you okay?” Max asked, and I could hear the concern in his voice as it penetrated the fog in my brain.

I nodded and held up my finger, indicating to him I needed a minute before I could speak. I concentrated on taking deep and even breaths until the fist around my heart released its grip.

“Do you need anything? Do we need to leave?”

I shook my head, even though every fiber in my body was telling me to get out of the house. But I needed to face this fear, especially with everything that was happening lately. I couldn’t continue allowing this fear to control my life. I’d get through this attack; it’d just take a little time and a lot of concentration.

Finally, my heart slowed down to a normal rhythm, and I was able to breathe normally.

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