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It had been a week since finding the bomb. I had hoped that everything would have blown over by now. It hadn’t. And Cali’s obsession to keep me safe had gotten worse.
Guessing where he was, I pulled on a pair of shorts and headed to the living room. The creaky stairs drew Cali’s attention. It was dark, but his profile was illuminated by the moonlight. Although I couldn’t see them, I felt his concerned eyes on me.
“I woke up and you weren’t there,” I told him sadly.
“No one was able to be on watch tonight,” he explained.
“So, you’re doing it?”
Cali didn’t respond. He didn’t have to.
Crossing the distance between us, I sat in front of him and crawled into his arms. He held me as we both stared through the bay window.
“How long is this going to go on?” I asked him kindly.
“We’ll find him. There are only so many places he could be hiding if he’s here. If he isn’t, he’ll definitely be back. When he gets here, we’ll stop him.”
“But what if he doesn’t come back? Will this be our life? I don’t wanna do this to you.”
“You’re not doing anything to me. What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about this. You can’t sleep because you’re so worried about me. And you have every guy in town out looking for someone who might never come back. I’ve turned your life upside down.”
“You’re not doing anything to me. I’m here because I wanna be. I want you to know that you can feel safe here. That’s why we’re all doing it.”
“And I appreciate it. I really do. But at what cost?”
“Hil, I would pay any cost to be with you. Know that,” he said, tightening his grip and touching his chin to my temple.
I loved the feeling of being in his arms. There was nowhere else I preferred to be. I couldn’t imagine being happier than I was when I was with Cali. He was everything to me.
But how could I be this person for him? I had made his life so much worse. Before I had come, he wasn’t up at three o’clock in the morning staring out of the window waiting for someone who may never come. The town wasn’t out patrolling the streets. I had done that to them. I had done it to Cali. I had done this to myself.
Not wanting to leave him, I fell asleep in his arms. When I woke up in the morning, I was back in bed. Cali still wasn’t there.
“I might have made a mistake,” I admitted to Dillon as the realization hit me.
“Hil? What’s going on?”
“There’s something I haven’t told you.”
“What’s that?” Dillon said, as if holding his breath.
“Someone put a bomb in my trunk,” I said hesitantly.
“What!” he shouted in reply.
“Don’t freak out.”
“Don’t freak out? Someone put a bomb in your trunk and you’re telling me not to freak out? What would have happened if it exploded?”
I didn’t respond.
“Hil?” he asked with horror in his voice.
“I’m fine. Cali and I are both fine.”
“Hil, are you telling me the bomb exploded?”
