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"Who was on the phone?"
"My brother. Who were you talking to?"
"My mom."
"Did you have a nice chat?"
"Her calls woke me up and I slid out of bed to see if everything was okay. She's upset because I didn't take my normal postseason vacation home to see her."
"Why didn't you go?"
"What did your brother say?"
She started fidgeting with a loose string on the end of her blouse, and I let her take her time. But the longer it took her to speak again, the more anxious I got.
"Colton went to my place, as he so often does so he can get away from campus, and he found a note on my door in Hunter's handwriting. It was asking where I was."
Shoving to my feet, I ran a hand through my hair and nearly walked out the door to find that little weasel. "What the fuck?"
"This is why I didn't want to tell you. Please, just sit back down."
"He knows you're here."
"He doesn't know anything. I had my phone reset and he hasn't been near me since. There is no way he can track me here."
"He wasn't using your phone, remember?"
"It may have been something we missed, but he hasn't been around since."
"Not until you're here again."
Making that connection, I started to demand she leave. But that was what she had done to me for my own protection, and I didn't like it any more than she would. In fact, it may push her away when I was trying hard to pull her closer.
"He doesn't know I'm here." She seemed adamant about that, facing me with her hands on her hips. "I wouldn't risk him spreading that picture around."
"Fuck that picture."
"No!" Her hands were no longer on her hips but wildly waving between us. "Just because I am here now doesn't mean anything has changed. Especially now that I have the job for my agency. All it will do is make my life harder. Let me stay close to the team and keep working just in case. Besides, the camp the Inferno does with the kids is unbelievable. I want to be a part of it, and if the focus shifts to your off field activities, my boss will forget all about the camp and that's not fair to anyone."
"Hey," I pushed my hand through her hair and held her cheek, hoping I could calm her back down. "I'm sorry, baby. I've never been this scared."
"I won't let him win."
"I'm not scared of him," I snorted. "I'm scared of you. That you will let whatever he does prevent you from getting what you truly want."
* * *
Dinner arrived, and we ate on the balcony like we did the night I made dinner for her. We were mostly quiet until she took a bite of her breadstick and shook her shoulders. Her little moan was intentional, and the spark in her eye reminded me why I was so immediately taken with her.
"Good, huh?"
"You know the way to a woman's heart."
Not really, but I knew what she meant. If I had truly known the way to a woman's heart, we probably wouldn't be in the middle of a twisted situation with her ex because I wouldn't have ever let her leave the night I first met her without her knowing she was mine. That would have meant I never would have agreed to help Hunter, and he would never be involved with what we had going on.
"I wish I had told you the night I met you that you were mine."
She froze before taking another bite, setting her fork down, and slowly finishing what was in her mouth. Her eyes bounced between mine, and I knew my words had taken her off guard. She would have to get used to it because when I said I wanted to give her more, I meant every word.
