“Let me take you out to dinner tonight,” I tell Willow as I walk her out to her car after work. It's been a few days since we last went out on a date, and I miss her terribly.

“Alright. What time?” She smiles softly as I entwine our hands.

I stop to redirect her to my vehicle. “How about right now?”

She stalls, looking slightly flustered. “I can't right now.”

“Why not?”

“Because I told Becky I'd meet her at the gym after work.” She shrinks as she tells me as if she's afraid I'll get mad.

All I can do is grin. “So the two of you are getting along now, huh?”

“I suppose we are.” She shifts her weight.

“Alright. How about after you finish up at the gym?” I gaze out into the parking lot, hoping to not be rejected a second time. It's not like Willow to say no to anything I ask, but I can appreciate that she wants to focus on her fitness a bit.

“That sounds good.”

“Excellent. Just text me when you're done.” I lean in to give her a chaste kiss on the lips.

“I will.” She nods before continuing on to her car.

Well, that didn't quite go as planned. Now I'm going to have a few hours to kill.

I decide to call Caleb and ask if he wants to go out for drinks. Surprisingly, he has the time to meet me. I honestly expected him to be busy with clients. Either way, I probably still would have headed to the bar. It's nice to have someone to go with, though.

We meet down the street. He's about thirty minutes late because he's wrapping things up with a client, so I down a drink before he has a chance to get there. He walks into the bar looking like he just finished working out himself.

“What in the hell are you sweating so hard for, punk? You look like you just ran a marathon.”

We do our bro shake before he pulls up the bar stool beside me.

“I think this particular client pays me to watch me workout.”

“What do you mean?” I raise an eyebrow towards him.

“She's an erotica author. Mid-thirties. Not in bad shape. When I first started training her, she told me to tell her what to do, then she told me that I should workout, too.”

“That's kind of odd.” I quirk my head back.

He holds his hands up. “I don't question it as long as I get paid.”

“Maybe she wants to pay you for some other kind of training.” I nudge his shoulder.

“Pfft. As if I'd sleep with a client. I like my job. I don't want shit to get awkward.

“I'm not like you, banging the people I work with,” he shoots back at me.

“Hey.” I point at him. “It's okay to bang her if I'm dating her.”

“Sure, sure. There were many before her, though.” He waves towards my past.

“All behind me now. Willow is the only one for me.” I smile, thinking about her soft skin and sexy curves. I'm one lucky man.

“Speaking of which, how are you handling things?” he asks me before tapping the bar to get the bartender's attention. It's not particularly busy, but for some reason the service sucks this afternoon.

“Handling what?” I take a sip of my beer. Seeing Caleb without a beverage reminds me of how thirsty I am.

“The thing with Willow. You know, her assault.” He looks at me as if I'm insensitive for not picking up on what he was talking about right away. My mouth falls open as I try to process what he just said. Then he jerks his head back, his disapproving gaze turning to surprise. “She didn't tell you.”

“Assault? What are you talking about?” I shake my head, my heart pumping faster, my blood starting to boil as I realize there's someone in the world I need to kill.

“Gah. That girl.” Caleb looks away from me and curses. “I can't believe she didn't tell you.”

“She didn't tell me, so now you're going to tell me,” I say firmly.

For a moment, I worry that he's going to say that it's better if I talk to her about it, but then he blessedly relents. “She went to the adult video store the other night and some guy tried to pull her into a van.”

I'm so shocked that I'm speechless. Why didn't she tell me this?

“How do you know about this?” I ask him, knowing that it sounds like I'm accusing him of lying. The fact that she told him and not me hurts, though.

“Because she called me when it happened. I met her at the crime scene and then went with her to the police station. She was really shaken up but otherwise fine. She fought the guy off. A tough girl, that one.” Caleb gets his drink from the bartender and takes a few long gulps.

There's a hollowness in my chest. I'm feeling so many unpleasant things that I can't even look at Caleb. Not only did Willow hide this from me, but she went to him when it happened instead of me. What am I supposed to think about that?

“I need to go.” I motion to the bartender to close me out.

“Hey.” Caleb places his hand on my arm to get my attention. “Don't be too angry at her. Okay? It was a traumatic experience. Maybe she just wasn't ready to tell you about it yet.”

“I won't.” I stare at his hand, wanting to cut it off.

The fact that she didn't tell me doesn't bother me half as much as the fact that she thought to call him first. There's so much wrong with this situation.

I leave the bar and wait in my car like a lunatic for Willow to text me. When she does, I drive to her apartment and sit in the parking lot. The minutes tick by like hours as I wait for her to come down. Finally, she arrives.

I stare straight through the windshield, trying to still the anger and pain inside of me. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“Tell you what?” Her expression is full of confusion.

I turn to her finally, my tone serious. “About the assault.”

Realization hits her, and she sinks back against the seat as the weight of her guilt bears down on her. “Caleb told you.”

It's not a question. She knows. Because apparently, he's the only person she told.

I grunt and nod. “You hid this from me for days. Pretended that everything was okay. You basically lied to me. Why?”

Willow chews her bottom lip, but it doesn't take her long to respond. “I didn't want to worry you. You're so busy and you've been through so much lately with your business being vandalized. You didn't need to have to worry about my bullshit, too. Besides, I was fine. I promise that if he would have...” her voice trails off. “If he would have raped me,” she struggles to say the word, “I wouldn't have hesitated to tell you.”

I soften slightly, internally cursing myself for getting so mad at her. She always puts others before herself. I've known this since the beginning. But this...this is too much.

“Willow.” I slide my hand on top of hers. She glances down at it before her eyes meet mine. “I love you. Nothing is more important to me than your safety and happiness. You can't keep putting yourself second to me like this.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Is that why you called Caleb instead of me?” I want it to be the answer. I already know it is, but I have to ask anyway.

“Yes,” she replies, and I'm instantly filled with a sense of relief, though I'm still not happy about it.

“Promise me.” I squeeze her hand so that she'll know I'm serious. “Promise me that if—God forbid—anything like this happens again, you'll call me first. I'm your boyfriend. It's my job to worry about you and take care of you and be there when you need me.”

Willow smiles, though it doesn't reach her eyes. “I will.”

“That must have been so horrible for you.” I lean back, finally feeling my body relax a little. “Did they catch the guy?”

She shakes her head. “Not yet.”

“Soon then. Hopefully, soon.” I struggle to think of something supportive to say. I wasn't there when all of this happened, so I want to make up for it now. “I want you to let me know when they catch him. I'll come down to the police station with you when you identify him.”

“Alright.”

“That motherfucker better be glad that there's going to be glass and a dozen cops between us or else I'd beat him so bloody he'd never think of touching another woman again.” My anger flares as I imagine what he could have done to her.

“Calm down.” She wraps her hand around my arm, and when I look at her, she's smiling. Not that distant smile that she was wearing a moment ago, but a genuine smile. The smile that I'm used to seeing when she's happy to be with me. And right then, I know that everything is going to be okay.