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"You're in the wrong place, guy. We're kinda busy in here." He seems annoyed at my interruption. He's gonna be more so, because I push past him and into the room. It's been 30 minutes since we got Echo's text, who knows what this sleazeball has done in that time?
"Where is he?" I see Echo sitting on the bed, thankfully fully clothed. He seems okay, at least physically, and I let out a breathe in relief. He's okay.
"Woah dude, is he your boyfriend?" he asks me.
"No." Echo answers, wincing immediately like he regrets the reflexive answer.
"Come on." I say to him. I'm not acknowledging this weirdo. We need to go.
"Hey! If he's not yours, you can't have him."
What the fuck?
I finally look up at the guy; he doesn't necessarily look like a creep, but obviously that doesn't matter.
"Come the fuck on, Echo" This guy is going to piss me off further, and I can't do anything to him when I don't even know why I'm here.
Echo stands, coming to join me, only to be grabbed by the weirdo.
"Let him go." I keep my voice firm, raising it only slightly, acknowledging him for the first time.
"You can't have him! What? You're just gonna go with this guy? We were just getting somewhere."
"He doesn't belong to either of us."
I want to grab Echo, but I'm not playing human tug of war with the man I love. Echo pushes him away, running fast enough to not be caught again.
I don't waste time. When Echo is close enough I grab his hand and quickly pull him from the room.
The man follows us, shouting about how Echo "owes him."
We see someone leaving the elevator and run to make it before the doors close. When he realizes we're running now he gives chase, though not very fast. The elevator isn't that far. There's no reason he shouldn't be able to catch up.
So he's a pathetic weirdo. Echo sure does know how to pick em, and I'm not exempting myself from that. I'm just selfish enough that I hope he'll forgive me anyway.
"Callum…"
I don't respond. I can't. I'm so overwhelmed right now. We just need to get to my car.
I open the passenger door of my 2024 Cadillac Escalade for Echo. It's a reflex, like his answer for Creepazoid back there.
When we're both in the car I don't start it yet. I just sit. Like opening Pandora's box, every emotion I was holding in escapes at once. The fear, the anger, the jealousy, the relief. My mind is ping-ponging, deciding which to pick.
"Callum," Echo tries again.
"What!"
I sigh, scrubbing a hand over my face, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't yell at you. I don't know what you just went through, I just… can't."
"Why are you mad at me?"
"I'm not."
"Sure fucking seems like you are. Like you said, you don't know what I just went through. Why are you angry with me?!"
"You could have been hurt! I still don't know why I'm here saving you, Echo."
"You don't know the way my heart dropped when I saw that text. The way my stomach turned when I realized why I'm here. To keep the man I love safe because he was out hooking up! You're right, I don't know how you feel, but you don't know how I do either."
