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“Tess?” Dylan rumbles in my ear. “Is everything okay?”
“No,” I blurt out, “it’s not.”
And that encompasses everything in my life right now.
“Where are you?” His voice sharpens, and he sounds like he’s walking. “What happened?”
“Sean...” My voice is choked, and I swallow hard to clear it. “Sean was there.”
“There? Where the fuck is there?”
“At my apartment. He was waiting for me.” I swerve to avoid a parked car. My hand is shaking so bad I think I may drop the phone. “My dad gave him the card to enter the building.” My voice is growing thick again. Tears burn my eyes, but I won’t let them fall. Won’t break down now.
“Tess, listen to me. Are you driving? Go someplace safe, with lots of people, and I’ll come get you.”
It sounds good. It sounds wonderful, in fact, too good, and I know it’s a bad idea.
“Tess? Are you still there?”
His deep voice is like a warm blanket settling over me, and I draw a long breath.
“Yeah. I’ll be fine. I didn’t mean to call you.” God, my teeth are chattering. “It was a mistake.”
“A mistake?” He pauses, and I hear the sound of a car honk. “Tess, listen… I said I’ll come get you. Just tell me where you are.”
I’m shaking hard now. My heart is booming in my chest. “I don’t want you to come get me. I was going to call Audrey. I’ll be okay. No need to worry about me now.”
Not now. Not after all this time.
“Tess, please find a place with lots of people. A café. Go inside, stay safe and wait for me.”
Wait for me.
“I can’t, Dylan. I’m sorry.”
I disconnect, cutting off his cursing, and keep on driving as I call Audrey. I tell her about Sean. She sounds remarkably calm, but her voice is strained. I tell her I’m close to the Starbucks on Main Street, and she tells me to stop there, that she and Asher will come pick me up.
Wait for me.
I swallow hysterical laughter as I maneuver the car into a parking space right outside the cafe. I put the cell away as I hurry inside and order a hot chocolate, choose a table close to the bar and try not to think. Not to think of Dylan and how relieved I was to hear his voice, to hear he’d drop everything and come get me.
Can’t wait any longer.
***
“Do you need anything?” Asher is standing awkwardly at the door of the living room, his pale wolf-eyes concerned. “Some water? A tea?”
He’s sweet, but I shake my head where I’m sitting rigidly on their sofa. “I’m fine, really. Thank you.”
“You’re so not fine.” Audrey marches up and down the room, waving her hands in the air, her fiery red curls bouncing on her back. “That asshole, that pervert…”
A shudder goes through me, and it’s as if something unlocks inside me, and every limb starts to shake.
Audrey makes a small noise of distress and comes to plop next to me on the worn beige cushions. “What did he do to you, Tess? That summer? You always say you’ll tell me another time, but this guy, this Sean, he’s mental!” Her white, freckled hands twist i
n her lap. Her green eyes are shiny with tears.
“Aud…” I glance involuntarily at Asher, who seems more uncomfortable than ever with the way this conversation is heading. I feel uneasy, too. I really like Ash, but I don’t feel like spilling my guts in front of him. “Another time maybe, I…”
