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“Right,” I said in agreement. “When you left me in the garden, he contacted me and said I would have to pay. I saw a dark figure in the distance watching me and that’s when I heard my mom scream...”
I closed my eyes as I trailed off, the painful agony of remembering that evening hitting me like a truck. Finn grabbed my hand as Dex murmured that I could stop.
“No... No we need to talk about it. After I found her, someone pulled me back and forced me to drink water. Except I don’t think it was water. Whatever it was made me really disorientated. I can’t remember what I told the police. But when I asked the next day, they said I had blamed it on Charles Maxwell. That I had seen him kill her. Apparently his DNA was found... on her. They said because I had identified him, along with the evidence, it was my statement that put him away.”
Finn squeezed my hand. “But if they had his DNA, doesn’t that mean it was probably true?”
I shook my head. “Charles is an idiot. A big, dopey, egotistical idiot. But not a killer. I saw him in the garden but he was drunk and not near her. He was just on the path. But from what I’ve been told, he always disappeared during parties to take a hit. There’s no way I saw him murder my mom. I wouldn’t have lied. He was too far off his head to have taken down a baby, let alone a 48 year old woman. And even if he had, he would have tried to get me too. But he didn’t... because he didn’t do it.”
I looked at them in desperation. “I know it sounds stupid. But I think the stalker did it and set me up. He wants me ruined. What better way, than to pin it on me, that the city’s favorite person goes to jail for a crime he didn’t commit.”
“Tell us about the debt and your dad’s company,” Bryson asked.
I filled them in on Lauren King, the guarantor paperwork and how I had lost the company to pay back the debts.
“I didn’t sign anything. I didn’t even know about the debts until she was gone!” I muttered in distress.
Dex moved to sit on the other side of me, and I couldn’t help but suddenly remember our last shared couch experience. He grabbed my leg, just above my knee and I noticed Bryson and Finn tensed up and stared at his hand.
“We’ll figure it out. We’ll do some digging, see what we can find.”
I nodded, looking into his green eyes and being consciously aware that his hand was still on my leg.
Finn cleared his throat, throwing Dex a look which only resulted in what could be described as a... smirk?
What the hell was up with those two?
I closed the front door, waving at Finn and Bryson as they left, promising me that they would be back tomorrow.
It was late, the sun having long set and I had to admit, I was exhausted.
I instinctively walked over to my bedroom door before realizing, pausing as I looked at the handle like it had grown teeth. Dex came up behind me, grabbing my elbow gently.
“Hey... it’s going to be okay. Do you need anything from there? I can get it for you if you want.”
I nodded slowly. “Clothes... is it... messy?”
Dex tensed up behind me before putting his hands on my waist and spinning me around to face him.
“Harli, we all make mistakes. It’s nearly fixed in there but best to give it a few more days.”
“You haven’t called me that since before the city dinner...” I murmured.
Dex grabbed my hand, pulling me towards his room. “Come on. You need to get some rest.”
We walked into Dex’s room and my face heated up as I eyed the bed.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked, swallowing hard.
Dex fluffed a pillow as his gaze also found the edge of the bed where I had been laid out a few short weeks ago.
“We’re adults. We can control ourselves. Besides, you need rest,” he said, repeating it more sternly.
I watched him exit the room and listened to his footsteps, hearing my bedroom door open before closing a few minutes later. I sat on the edge, a different edge, and waited. I heard Dex detour in the bathroom, things banging around before the shower turned on.
He popped his head in the room, looking at me curiously as I sat perched awkwardly like a robot. “Go jump in the shower. I’ve put a fresh towel and your clothes in there.”
Immediately, I jumped up, my hands tugging at my thighs nervously. Poor Bonnie and Clyde were rubbing together but I’m not entirely sure it was just because of their closeness.
“Thanks,” I muttered, heading into the bathroom.
The steam was swirling around, the mirror already fogged up. I couldn’t help but noticing that all sharp objects had been removed from the shower and tub.
I removed my clothes and climbed in, moaning at the hot water. The shower pressure at the hospital had been shit, not to mention I was constantly watched which made things a little creepy.
Taking my time to wash the hospital memories and guilt away, I scrubbed myself from head to toe before finally emerging from the bathroom in clean pyjamas.
Dex had chosen me long pink pyjama pants and a black tank top. I looked down at my boobs. Males would never know the struggle of big chested girls and tank tops, and I could only hope to fucking God I didn’t wake up in the morning to a rogue tit loose in the bed.
Though walking back into the bedroom and finding Dex shirtless in only a pair of grey sweatpants, and I realized a loose tit was the least of my worries.
I stood in the doorway, mouth parted as I watched him straighten up the blankets and get the bed ready. Feeling my gaze, he turned to look at me and I felt a rush of warmth as he looked me up and down with his own docile expression.
We watched each other awkwardly and I tried hard to not stare at his bare chest and abdomen, fighting the urge to either run out of the room or tackle him into the blue sheets.
Dex pointed to the side near the window. “You can hop in that side. If you need an extra blanket or anything, let me know.”
“I’m sure it’s fine,” I whispered, walking in and heading around the bed to pull back the heavy blanket. We climbed in at the same time and Dex reached over to turn the lamp off, plunging the room into darkness.
Silence passed between us for a few minutes as we laid there.
“Dex...” I whispered, forcing myself to ask the question before I chickened out.
“Yeah.”
