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Chapter Ten
September 27, 2013
Eli
I KNOCKED ON Jason’s door a few hours later, and looked around at the dark street—trying to see anything that seemed off. I couldn’t prove that Brett had been the one to vandalize the cars, but it would’ve been stupid for me to think for one second that it could’ve been anyone else. And while I knew it was just paranoia from what had happened with Dad and Rachel, I was afraid if I let my guard down for a second, something would happen to Paisley.
“Hey, so what all happened?” Jason asked before the door was even fully open.
I stepped in and looked around for the girls as I responded, “Got asked the same questions a few more times. I tried calling Brett twice but it still went to voice mail, but I heard two of the cops talking about cameras that were on the lights in the parking lot, so hopefully they find something. Where are the girls?”
He nodded his head in the direction of the bedroom. “Kristen’s sitting with her on the bed . . . Paisley’s kind of in shock about what happened. She kept saying on the way home that Brett wasn’t an angry or violent guy. I think the fact that she was with someone who would do this is really getting to her.”
I frowned as I crossed my arms over my chest. “I know she was falling hard for him, but she didn’t know him long enough to know who he really was.”
“I agree, and I think she’s just come to that realization. How does the truck look?”
“Like nothing ever happened. We got all the glass vacuumed out and replaced, I’m just glad he didn’t hit the frame.” Looking down the hall, I took a step closer to Jason. “Do you think we shouldn’t bring it up around her? I gave one of the detectives who showed up my number; told him to call me if he had any more questions about Brett. I don’t want them calling Paisley about him, I don’t want her to be brought into this anymore—especially if she’s already not handling it well.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. And if it ends up it was him? That’s going to be too hard for her. Do you know if they’ll tell you if they find out who did it?”
“Once they get the video from the cameras on the lights and outside the bar, if they see the person doing it on there, they’ll call me in to see if I can ID him.” When Jason nodded, I took a step in the direction of the bedroom. “Thank you for bringing—”
“Don’t thank me. I knew she needed to get out of there, and we would do anything for her.”
Clapping his back, I sent him a grateful look. “Appreciate it, man. I’m gonna take her back to my place.”
“You guys can stay in the guest room if you want,” he offered. “I doubt it will take O’Malley’s long to get the video over to the police, so if they do call you, they’d probably be doing it soon. You can stay here; that way if you need to leave she can be with us.”
I hesitated for a few seconds as I thought about what to do. All I wanted was to take Paisley to my apartment and keep her safe, but I didn’t know if Brett knew where I lived, and Jason had a point. “If you’re sure?”
His expression fell. “You’re both our best friends, you think I’m not going to try to help you out right now? Yes, I’m sure. Besides, Kristen already put new sheets on the bed in there just in case.”
I nodded my appreciation. “Thank you.”
Turning, I walked down the hall and into their bedroom. Paisley was lying on her side with her knees curled up to her chest and her head in Kristen’s lap as Kristen ran her fingers through Paisley’s long, dark hair. Kristen looked up at us and smiled, but
Paisley didn’t move until I ran my hand down her arm.
“Hey, beautiful.”
Her head turned slowly; her dark eyes were wide. Her jaw was locked so tight it looked like she would break if she tried to speak.
“Let’s get some sleep, all right?”
She nodded subtly, and I grabbed her up in my arms before turning to leave the room. Paisley never said anything about the fact that I wasn’t taking her outside, or that I set her on her feet in Kristen and Jason’s guest room . . . she just stood there staring at me with those wide eyes. Like she couldn’t believe what had happened, and didn’t know what to say now.
After shutting the bedroom door, I moved back to Paisley and slowly pulled her shirt off her body before unclasping her bra and letting it fall to the floor as well. Grabbing the back of my shirt, I lifted it over my head and off my arms, only to slide it over Paisley’s head. When she was drowning in my shirt, I took off my jeans then grabbed for the button on her shorts. Letting them fall down her legs, I left her to step out of them while I went to arrange the pillows on the bed the way she liked them.
When they were all propped up, I slid under the covers and held my arm out for her. She came easily and curled up against my side as I wrapped my arm tight around her body, but she stayed rigid for long minutes until I pressed my lips to her forehead.
“Sleep, Pay,” I crooned deeply.
The tension slowly left her body and her fingers curled against my stomach as her head rested more comfortably on my shoulder. Her breathing deepened, and she was asleep within a few minutes.
“I’ve got you, and I love you.”
MY EYES FLEW open the next morning when someone opened the bedroom door, but my body instantly relaxed when Jason walked in.
