I wouldn’t let it happen. For the last few weeks of my life, I’d been able to see Faith, and if it were up to me, that would continue.

“Nah. If I want to see you bad enough, I’ll just come to you. I’m kind of a pro at sneaking in windows.” I grinned.

She gave me an adorable eye roll and threw her hands in the air in frustration. “That doesn’t make me feel better, Finn.”

I couldn’t help myself. I laughed and pulled her to me. She melted in my arms.

“Don’t worry about this, okay? I’ll make it better.”

And I would somehow. No matter what I had to do, I’d make it better. At least that’s what I thought, but thirty minutes later, when we pulled on to her street, I knew things were about to get worse. Two police cruisers were in her driveway waiting for us. Her hand tightened in mine and I felt the moisture of her nervous palms. She was afraid and I hated it. I wanted to take away her fear.

“Just follow my lead,” I said as I pulled in behind a cop car and put the Jeep in park.

She nodded her agreement, popped open the passenger’s side door, and then climbed out. The front door to her house snapped open loudly, and her mother and father came barreling out of the house, followed by two police officers. The screened door was practically ripped from its hinges.

“You!” The preacher pointed his finger at me. “You kidnapped my daughter!”

I stood my ground, but suddenly Faith was standing between me and her father as he growled at me.

“Daddy, this wasn’t Finn’s fault. It was mine.”

“I didn’t kidnap her. She drove me home. I was drinking, sir, and…”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses. You stay away from my daughter, do you understand me?”

“Daddy, please just calm down for a—”

She was quieted with the back of his hand. The sound of his hand landing against her cheek echoed all around me. Long brown hair shifted in front of me as she skidded to the side, landing hard against the Jeep before falling to the ground.

I didn’t even realize I was moving until I felt my shoulder connect with his stomach. I slammed him on the ground as hard as I could and punched him in the face twice. He put his arms up to block, and I lifted my fist to hit him again. I would’ve kept punching except I felt tiny fingers dig into my arms as Faith pulled me away.

“Stop, Finn, please stop!” she was yelling.

Her mother was screaming nonsense, drawing attention to our little drama in their front yard. Strong fingers replaced Faith’s as a cop pulled me from the pastor. I was thrown against the side of my Jeep and handcuffed immediately. I stopped fighting once the cop shifted my body and threw me into the back of his car. Faith stood there staring back at me with dirty tears running down her cheeks.

Neighbors had started coming out of their houses and were openly staring. I looked down at the pastor, who was still lying on the ground. His silvery hair shined in the sunlight as he turned his head to the side and spit a mouthful of blood onto the dirt at his side.

His wife helped him up from the ground and then he sat and talked to the police. I couldn’t hear anything they were saying, and I couldn’t keep my eyes from Faith. She still hadn’t stopped crying, and I felt like shit for not being fast enough to stop her dad from hitting her and then for being so crazy with rage that I’d kicked her dad’s ass.

There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to jail and my poor mom was going to have a hell of a day. I felt like shit. We’d only been together for a few hours, and already I’d made Faith cry and ruined my mom’s day. I was a selfish asshole. I’d put what I wanted ahead of others and what they deserved.

I was shocked when one of the officers came over, opened the door, and pulled me out. Spinning me around to face the car, he unlocked my handcuffs.

“Well, son, it looks like it’s your lucky day. Pastor Warren here has decided to not press charges.”

I turned to face the pastor. His cheek was turning purple and there was a trickle of blood on his lip. He walked up to me and the officer and placed his hand on the officer’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Ronald. We look forward to seeing you and the wife at church soon.” He smiled.

When he turned to face me, his smile wasn’t real. He was putting on a show for the police, and it only made me despise him more.

“James, I’d appreciate it if you stayed away from Faith. Your community service is done, so that means my family and I shouldn’t be seeing much of you anymore. All is welcomed in the house of the Lord, so if you decide you’d like to come to church on Sunday’s, then please, by all means, come, but make sure you’re nowhere near Faith when you do.”