Free Off Guard by Marian Tee Page B

 
    There was a note of pity in the other guy’s voice, and somehow that made Gabby want to cry more. She was so, so, so stupid! Why did she even think that someone like Phillip would be attracted to someone like him?
    In a snap, Hadrian had them out of the bar and inside his SUV. “Baby?”
    He used to call her that all the time – when she was a kid and scared out of her mind by thunderstorms.
    But then one day – he had just stopped.
    And now he was calling her ‘baby’ again, and it sounded so good to her ears, like a haven she had long been banned from and could now enter again.
    The tears fell fast and silent. She didn’t want to cry but she couldn’t help it.
    With a groan, Hadrian pulled on the hand brakes and hauled her into his lap. Curled up against his chest, her arms around him, she sobbed so hard that in seconds her tears had completely soaked his shirt.
    “What happened, baby?”
    She was all choked up as she spoke, the humiliating memory making her want to hide in his arms forever.
    He listened silently, growing more and more livid as he learned how the asshole had made Gabby feel like shit. Gabby was clearly blaming herself, but he was fucking sure it had been Blakely’s fault. The ass had led her on, deliberately and without a doubt had taken pleasure in making her think he liked her. Blakely had surely taken even greater pleasure in then crushing her feelings by telling her that all he wanted was Gabby’s help in hooking him up with her roommate.
    “I was so, so stupid,” she sobbed and hiccupped at the same time.
    He wrapped his arms more tightly around her, wishing there was a way to take away all her pain – even if it meant he would have to suffer it tenfold. Better yet, he wished there was a way he could dish out the same pain to Blakely with his fists.
    That asshole would pay. He would make sure of it. But for now—
    “Baby, please stop crying,” he whispered.
    Gabby nodded against his chest, and he could feel her physically struggling to control her tears.  
    “This isn’t your fault. He was an asshole who took advantage of you.”
    “I let him take advantage of me,” she said bitterly even as she wiped away her tears.
    He cupped her face and kissed her forehead gently. “It’s not your fault, okay? Tell me you believe me.”
    She just gazed at him stoically.
    “Gabby,” he growled.
    “But I was a fool,” she whispered.
    “You’re the nicest person I know and he took advantage of it like the fucking asshole he is.” He wiped a stray tear from her cheek with his thumb, wanting to lick it away but knowing he couldn’t…shouldn’t.
    “Tell me you believe me. Tell me you’ll stop blaming yourself.”
    “Hadrian—”
          “Tell me,” he commanded.  
          When he used that tone, there was something about it that made her unable to resist. She said tremulously, “I’ll try.”
          He wanted to argue and tell her trying wasn’t enough, that she had to understand the asshole wasn’t worth one drop of her tears. But this was Gabby – a girl who had such a big heart she almost gave herself heart pains for crying so hard when she was young and had visited a retirement home for the first time. It had appalled her when she realized that the majority of its residents had no loved ones visiting them.
          That was the kind of girl Phillip Blakely had thrown away.
          Fucking asshole.
    ****
    She watched him drive, the sight of Hadrian so confident and graceful in the way he handled the wheel somewhat soothing. She remembered how furious and hurt he had been when she had gone against his wishes and taken driving lessons. Hadrian never admitted it, but she knew he was frightened he would lose her the same way he had lost his parents.
          She had thought he would eventually get over his fear, but he had not – and he also didn’t speak to her for a long time. In the end, they had reached a compromise – for as long as he