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Feeling exposed, I shut the door and faced Merry. “So, that happened.”
“Yeah. Why is he kissing you? And why didn’t I get a text about this new development?”
“Because that new development happened about three hours ago.”
Merry’s eyes sparkled. “Ohh, so this is fresh?” She suddenly frowned at me. “Do you need a sweatshirt? I found a box of your clothes as I was cleaning out the crawlspace.”
“Yes.” I followed her down the hall to my old room. The mattress was stripped, and my sheets were folded neatly on the corner with two boxes beside the small pile.
I’d cleared out my rickety end table when I packed up. No one needed to see what was in there, thanks.
I should probably leave the end table behind, even though it had so many war wounds from the various filming setups I’d put it through when I first started out.
Nope. I just couldn’t leave it behind.
I picked it up and set it by the door.
“Why aren’t you talking?” Merry pulled one of the flaps open from the largest box. She unearthed my favorite orange sweatshirt with the ratty sleeves and thug life written in yellow retro bubble letters.
She really did know me so well.
Now I felt even worse about believing she’d never visit me. Maybe she would. Or maybe I needed to make more of an effort to keep people in my life.
I took it from her and quickly changed out of my wet sweater. I squeezed Merry’s hand briefly before going into the hallway closet to get the tape gun.
What was I supposed to tell her?
Oh, hey, I really left to make sure everyone here is safe. Also, I’m going to live with a guy who probably could kill fifteen men without breaking a sweat. I love you, see you soon?
Dear God.
Returning, I found her perched on the edge of my bed with her arms crossed. Her excitement had been replaced with worry. I set the tape gun on the box and sat beside her.
“I’m safe.”
“Starting like that is not relieving my worry.”
I laughed softly. “There’s a situation. More than some creep finding out our address.”
Merry turned to face me and gripped both my hands. “No. Not like…”
She was one of the few people who knew about Jason. Mostly because she’d been the one to deal with my first panic attack when someone recognized me on the street. That had been a treat, but I’d learned to cope over the years.
“Not like Jason. Different. Evidently, a lot of people like to keep tabs on famous people. Not exactly the sort of thing I thought about when I started Wil’s Way.”
She tucked a lock of pink hair around her ear. “Tabs? I don’t understand.”
You and me both.I chewed on the corner of my mouth. “I didn’t really see myself as famous per se. Internet famous? I mean, is that really a thing?”
“Yes. That’sthething these days.”
“Yeah, well, it comes with some more advanced creepers.” It wasn’t exactly the right definition, but I didn’t want to scare Merry the way Aidan and Poe had scared me.
No one needed that living inside them.
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“No. But Ransom used to be a bodyguard.”
