When it's Not Right

Chapter 3

John hung up the call and opened the passenger door to the jeep. Jayler tried to shrink further away from him, but he didn't reach in like she'd been worried he might. He just leaned on the door and bent over a bit so that he could make eye contact.

        "I'm sorry I scared you. I shouldn't have put you in here without your permission," he apologized. She waited for the 'but' statement to follow, but there wasn't one.

        "Okay," she replied, drawing out the word as she didn't know how to respond because she was still bordering on terrified.

        "Lou wanted me to make sure you got home safe. You said you wanted to walk, but I don't think that's safe," he looked over his shoulder at the crowd. When he turned back, he really only looked concerned. "Are you sure you don't want a ride home?"

        Jay felt her head nodding.

        "I really want to just walk," she confirmed.

        He stepped back so that she could climb out, no questions asked. Jay stepped out of the jeep, hedging close to the back door so that she was as far from John as she could get. He waited for her to get clear before swinging the passenger door closed. He scanned another worried glance over the crowd, and suddenly she felt really weird for being afraid of him. Louise had been genuinely nice to him. He'd only been really abrupt about physically removing her from the pub and then forced her into his vehicle...

        Yeah, no, she was good with being afraid of this guy. That was the correct reaction. Possibly she should also be angry, but he looked like he was capable of handing out more than he took when it came to exchanging anything remotely angry. Fear was definitely the correct response right now. Possibly terror once she was home.

        "Will you let me walk you home?" he asked, hitting a button on his keys and turning off his jeep.

        "No," she drew out that word too, damn it. She'd tried to control her voice from turning it into a question and just ended up sounding undecided. He nodded and looked down at where the toe of one of his shoes was pushing around the loose rocks close to the front of his foot.

        "I am sorry that I scared you," he repeated, not looking up from fidgeting.

        "You said that already."

        He just nodded again, and then his fidgeting stopped and he scanned over the growing crowd. He just looked worried as another truck pulled up nearby and six guys piled out, shifting almost unconsciously so that he was blocking them from being able to see her.

        "You should get going," he said. His head was still tilted down, but she realized he was watching the bar.

        She didn't bother to say anything, just skirted around his jeep and crossed the parking lot, remembering how to breathe once she was on the sidewalk and walking away. Cory watched her go, seeing her shoulders drop as her back relaxed after the scare he'd given her started wearing off. Austin was right that Jenny would be pissed at him if she found out about this.

        He went around the jeep and climbed in, adjusting the mirrors so that he could keep watching Jayler, and talking nonsense into his phone so that he could keep sitting here in the parking lot and watching the crowd to make sure that she wasn't being followed. She was a block and a half away when the same two guys who'd tried to get too close to her in The Brew broke away from the crowd and started walking in the same direction that Jayler was going, two more guys with them.

        Cory waited before jumping to conclusions, bringing up Austin's number for speed dial just in case. Jayler turned the corner for the street that her apartments were on and the four guys started jogging. Cory hit send and put the phone to his ear.