Nothing Without You | Eric Coulter [2]

twenty-two

NESSA

I knew my mother had changed since I last saw her, but I never thought that she would be this ruthless.

Eric must've picked up on the shift in my mood, because he's been hanging around me all day, never wandering far. It's not until Uriah and Lynn join me that he finally gives it a rest and leaves with Zeke to make sure that some things around the compound are sorted.

Playing my shoulder with his, Uriah settles beside me and Lynn on the other side of him.

"You okay?" Uriah asks with concerned eyes.

Shrugging, I sigh. "I'm fine. I just want this all to be over, you know?"

"Yeah, I get it." Uriah slumps against the wall beside me. "Whatever it is you need, we're here for you."

I take Uriah's hand in one hand and Lynn's in the other, giving both of them a grateful squeeze. "Thank you."

I'm about to tell them how much I've missed them since we haven't had a lot of time to hang out with each other when a strong arm bands around my waist and pulls me back into a solid chest.

"I like your friends, but if you keep on touching them like that, I'm going to get very jealous," Eric whispers in my ear, making me smile for the first time in what feels like days.

Pressing a kiss to my temple, Eric nods at my friends in greeting. By the way Uriah stiffens at the attention, it's clear he still hasn't gotten used to Eric's presence yet and I stifle a laugh.

"Thanks...for having her back." Eric's words sound choked, like he's having to force the words out of himself. Clearly, as much as he has come a long way with warning up to my friends, the guy still needs to work on his people skills.

Uriah starts to sputter to the point where I couldn't even make out what he was trying to say before he finally settles on, "Y-you're welcome?"

Zeke's laugh sounds from behind me as he finally joins us, clapping a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Real smooth, baby brother."

Eric's lip twitches like he's trying not to smile and I look up at him with a teasing smile which makes him hold me tighter.

"Alright, we're leaving," Eric finally announces.

He takes my hand and slowly leads me out of the room but I hesitate, "Are you sure it's safe for us to be alone right now?"

"Zeke and I sanctioned off a part of the headquarters so we won't be disturbed by the factionless. We have people patrolling to make sure they don't get through," He explains, leading me down the hallway. "Come on, you need rest."

His hand gripped mine tightly as we walked, and while he told me that we were safe here, his shoulders never lost the stiff set that they held, telling me that he was still on high alert.

When we finally get to the glass room, Eric makes quick work of unlocking the door and lets me in first.

Meticulously making sure the door was properly locked and that we were safe, he finally relaxes and turns to me.

He closes the gap between us immediately and reaches up to comb his fingers through my hair.

I close my eyes with a sigh, relishing his touch. "It's been a long day, huh?"