“So you think maybe he still has that sexual obsession with you?” Link asks, his voice dangerously low.
“I know he does. It’s why he calls me Red. He used to call my mom that when they…” I shudder at the memory. And all the others that come to my mind. “Let’s just say he has a thing for redheads.”
Link grimaces. “Gross.”
“Yeah,” I agree.
Lincoln’s phone buzzes, and he glances down at the screen. “Just got the all-clear text. If he was out there, he’s gone now. I’ll have our driver take you three back to the theater.”
I look down at Charlie and then over at Link and Trey. “You guys aren’t coming?”
They all exchange a look, and Trey gives a slight nod and looks back at me. “No, I’ll give you the back door code,” he says. “But we want to clean some of this mess up. I’ve got a bunch of sheets of plywood in the shed that we can nail to the window to get us by until morning.”
“We can stay and help,” Seb offers.
Link shakes his head. “Thanks, but we’re good. You guys need to be somewhere safe. That building is practically afortress when it’s locked up for the night. We can regroup tomorrow and figure out what we’re doing next.”
“I’m starting to think there is nowhere safe,” I mutter.
B and Seb exchange a hard look, and the fear from earlier bubbles back to the surface of my consciousness.
Dennis is threatening them because of me.
Iput them in danger.Again.
Sure, they wouldn’t leave, but I could have made them. I could have pushed them away. I was too selfish.
“I should go back by myself,” I say resolutely, trying to force their hand. “He wants me. There’s no point in making everyone a target.”
Seb’s head snaps up, his voice rising. “No. We’ve been through this, Fiona.”
“Yeah,” B chimes in. “This isn’t just about you anymore?—”
“Itisabout me,” I interrupt. “Stop, guys. I’m not worth this.” My eyes tear up again, and I rub my cheeks angrily.
“This isn’t a switch we can just turn off, Fi,” Seb says, and B nods vehemently with him. “That’s not how love works.”
“Then stop loving me!” I shout, standing abruptly.
“I can’t!” Seb and B say at the same time, and then they glance at each other.
Shame and guilt mix, making a sour taste in my mouth, and I push between them and stomp back upstairs.
I hear the guys’s footsteps following as my thoughts spiral. I’ve always been strong and resourceful, and I’ve survived so many terrible situations in my lifeon my own.Thisis why I relied only on myself for years. I always said it was because people let you down, but the anxiety I have over Seb and B’s safety is so much worse.
The real world ruins everything, Fiona.My mom’s voice is a whisper in my ear. I can see her sitting at the makeup table in her room, applying her favorite shade of red lipstick as she speaks.Someday you’ll understand that.
Maybe I do now.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
BRANTLEY
Three and a half years ago, Whitmore University
“Fi, slow down! You’re going to dislocate my shoulder.”
Fi looks back at me and rolls her eyes, her steps slowing on the damp pavement.
