brother
Chapter 210: Penny
Boomer’s place is so quiet it makes my skin itch.
Not a sound but the soft buzz of the fridge and the ticking of the clock. Even my own breathing feels too loud.
He locks the door behind us with a quiet click, and I stand there like I’ve forgotten how to exist in my own body.
My arms wrap around myself. Tight. Like maybe I can hold everything in.
The panic. The nausea. The fact that I still feel their eyes on me, their voices slithering into my ears like smoke I can’t escape.
I hear the echo of that man’s laugh.
“She can pick who goes first.”
“That mouth of hers-”
I flinch and squeeze my eyes shut.
“Penny,” Boomer says, voice low.
I can’t look at him. I just shake my head and keep pacing. Three steps one way, three steps back. My boots click too loud on his floor.
I hear him set something down on the coffee table –
– a glass of water, I think. I don’t look.
“Couch is yours,” he says gently. “Or the bed if you want. You call it.”
“I don’t want to lie down,” I whisper.
“Okay.”
He doesn’t push. Doesn’t hover.
Just waits.
I hate how my hands won’t stop shaking. How my lungs feel like they’re fighting me for every breath. My legs buckle a little and I drop onto the edge of the couch like I’m giving up.
That’s when it happens.
The first sob slips out before I can bite it back. It’s ugly. Raw. Loud in the quiet room.
My hands fly to my face. “God, I’m sorry–I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
“Penny.”
I feel him crouch in front of me before I see him. Then his hands
warm, sure
settle on my thighs.
He says it again. Softer.
“Hey. Look at me.”
I drop my hands and meet his
eyes.
He’s still bruised. Still bleeding a little at his temple. Stiff too young for the kind of quiet strength he holds in his chest.
“You’re safe,” he says. “You did nothing wrong. You’re not weak. You didn’t fail him.”
Chapter 210: Penny
My lip trembles. “I left him.”
“You followed orders. You survived. You’re here.”
My voice cracks. “They were going to hurt me.”
“But they didn’t,” he says, firmer now. “Because you got out. Because we got
He squeezes my thighs lightly, grounding me.
“Those guys were monsters, Penny. Nothing they said means anything. It doesn’t stick. You hear me?”
I nod. But I’m still crying.
“You were brave,” he says.
I shake my head. “I didn’t feel brave.”
He leans a little closer. His hand slides up to my ch
brushing a tear away with his thumb.
“Doesn’t matter,” he says. “You were.”
My heart stutters.
He doesn’t stare at my chest. Doesn’t let his eyes drop to my mouth. Nothing that the men back there did. He’s just there. Holding me in place without trapping me.
“I didn’t think you could do all that,” I whisper.
He smirks just a little. “Do what?”
“Take on four guys like you were born in a fight club.”
He exhales a quiet laugh. “Navy SEALS don’t make a habit of advertising, but yeah. Training kicked in.”
“That wasn’t just training,” I say. “That was–like something out of a movie.”
He glances down for a second, like he’s shy about it, which is unfair. “It’s different when it’s someone you care about.”
The silence between us tightens like a string.
“I mean–I care about you because you’re Asher’s girl,” he adds quickly. “Not trying to… you know. Be weird.”
“You’re not being weird,” I whisper.
4:
He looks back up.
And for a moment, the air shifts. Thickens.
He reaches for the blanket on the armrest and drapes it over me gently. Then, instead of taking the chair, he sits cross–legged on the floor beside the couch. one arm propped on the cushion like he’s keeping guard.
Not overbearing.
Just there.
The tension melts into something else
not goile, but bearable.
My body starts to relax.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asks. “Or distract yourself?”
I swallow. “Both?“.
He nods, then rubs the back of his neck. “Okay. You want an embarrassing SEAL story
I sniff. “Please.”
Boomer leans back slightly, thoughtful. “Alright, so… first time I ever met Ramsey? I puked on his boots.”
“What?”
“Dead serious. We were doing this underwater test had to swim a lap while holding our breath, full gear, no goggles, no fins. And I’d just slammed two protein bars and an energy drink before the dive like a genius.”
I smile, watery. “Oh no.”
“Yeah. Halfway through I’m like, this is fine.‘ Then I surface, try to salute, and just–projectile. All over the poor man’s boots. He didn’t flinch. Just stared down at them, then looked at me and went, ‘you better be worth it, son.“”
I actually laugh at that.
Boomer grins. “Next day I ran his dry cleaning and mopped the entire training center with a toothbrush.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I wish I was.”
The laughter fades into quiet again, but this time it’s softer. Easier.
He leans his head back against the couch. “I was scared, too, Penny.”
I glance down at him.
“Out there tonight?” he continues. “There were too many of them. And I thought–if they get past me…”
He trails off.
I reach down and touch his shoulder.
His hand finds mine.
“I’ve seen what happens when the worst kind of men get a taste of power,” he says. “I wasn’t gonna let that happen to you.”
Inod, throat thick again.
And then I’m just… tired.
Exhausted in a way that’s deeper than my bones.
I curl sideways on the couch, pulling the blanket tighter. My hand still tangled in Boomer’s.
“Boomer?” I whisper.
“Yeah?”
“…Thank you.”
He doesn’t say anything. But his thumb brushes over my knuckles, once. Steady. Warm.
Chapter 210: Penny
And eventually, finally
I sleep.
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