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“But he did stress that she shouldn’t be alone.”
She’s going to hate this. Like loathe it, but that doesn’t stop me from suggesting, “Let’s work out a schedule between us.”
Isla sniffles, repeating my thoughts on Tor’s reaction out loud, but no one is surprised. We all already knew it was going to be tough to get her to agree. “I think you guys underestimate how busy she is.”
I contemplate that for a second before trading looks with the guys. Isla knows her schedule better than anyone. “What if we get the whole team to keep an eye out?” There has to be enough of us to cover her entire schedule. The fact she lives here makes it even easier.
“They could stay close enough to protect her without being with her, maybe?” James picks up Tater Tot from where he’s meowing on the floor and pets the top of his head to calm him down. Tor must not have realized she locked him out of her room.
“Maybe the guard wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Wells says, but I shake my head.
“She’d notice random men following her. She might think they’re the stalker. She may not notice that hockey players just seem to always be around her.”
We all think about the possibility of it working. There’s a good chance she wouldn’t even recognize more than half of the team anyways. So I feel like we have a good shot of pulling it off. Until Isla brings up another very point. “What about when you guys are at practices and games?” She steals French Fry from James and snuggles him into her chest, burying her face into his fur. “And late nights at the bar? You guys can’t stay out all night when you have games.”
The silence grows heavy with all our rampant thoughts and ideas on how to make this situation better. When no one speaks up with any new ideas, I clap my hands together. The sound almost echoing in the living room. “Let’s start with what we can do, and work on plugging the holes after.” Nods of agreement encourage me to continue, turning to focus on Isla. “You have her class schedule?” At her affirmation, I continue, “We can start there and see who can match her classes and tutoring schedule. I already know Wilder is one of her students so we can tag him in for some of those sessions as well.”
Isla hands me her phone with Torryn’s schedule already pulled up. At a quick glance I realize we both take mostly morning classes. She starts a little earlier than me which works out in my favor as I can drop her off and still be able to make it to my classes. “I can walk her to all of her morning classes except on Wednesdays,” I say just as Beau grabs the phone out of my hand.
“I’ve got that class with her anyway,” he says. “But what about morning skate and lifting? We usually finish just before her start time.”
I curse, I had forgotten about that. How accommodating would Coach be if I asked to leave early to pick up my roommate who has a stalker? Probably not very. “She’s an early riser,” I start, watching to see how Isla reacts. “Maybe we could convince her to come to morning workouts with us?”
“And just watch?” James asks with a fair amount of skepticism.
Spud meows in dissatisfaction when Isla puts him down and immediately jumps into my lap, making Karma lift her head from where she was sleeping on her bed in the corner. Isla gets up and walks into the kitchen, her features twisted into a grimace full of fear and apprehension, but a determination topush it all. “She’d probably go for it if I told her I wanted to watch the workouts.”
The plan has merit. Isla can convince Torryn of just about anything it seems. Karma draws my attention away when she pounces in my lap, cuddling in next to the Potato Chip. Both of them stay curled up in my lap as we spend the next hour breaking down Torryn’s schedule and setting up shifts for everyone to take over. We’re able to cover all of her classes with just us four, but we’ll need the other guys to take on some of the tutoring sessions and getting her home. I’ll talk to Wilder and Tate tomorrow. Her shifts at Tease are going to be the hardest thing to figure out, but it will work out. It has to.
Finally satisfied that we at least have a plan for the next few days covered, I pick up both kittens and we all say our goodnights. It’s been hours since we all got back, and I’m more than sober. On my way to my room, I stop at Torryn’s door and press my ear against it but don’t hear anything. French Fry meows in my arms and attempts to paw at the door. Torryn is gonna regret locking him out once she realizes in the morning that she did. I only hesitate for a moment, before I knock on her door softly. When she doesn’t answer, I twist the knob and slowly press open the door. The darkness of the room almost conceals the lump in the bed, except the light from her phone illuminates her silhouette buried under blankets. She doesn’t react when I walk into the room and it isn’t until I get closer I notice the headphones in her ears as she stares at a picture on her phone. A little girl with dark hair and vibrant blue eyes has a big smile on her face, her two front teeth missing and a beautiful woman that looks stunningly similar to Torryn sits behind her, braiding her long dark hair.
In an attempt not to startle her, I move slowly, putting both kittens on the bed with her. Karma immediately goes to the footof the bed and curls up in a ball, while Ruffles buries himself under the blanket to tuck himself against Torryn’s stomach.
She doesn’t turn to look at me, but softly whispers a thank you.
Should I stay? Should I go? I can hear the despair and longing in her voice and can only imagine the pain of losing the last ties she had with her mom, let alone getting one of them back only for it to be shattered into pieces. It’s a sick and twisted mind game this stalker is playing with her. One that makes my blood boil with rage and aggression. I hope he one day does get the balls to show his face so I can have the chance to show him what pain really is.
Torryn’s small sniffle is the only answer I need.
I strip out of the remaining pieces of my Taylor costume, having almost forgotten I was even wearing it, until I’m down to only my briefs. Pulling her covers up, I slide under the blanket with her and pull her against my chest. She still doesn’t say anything, but her body relaxes into mine. The light from her phone reflects the stream of tears flowing down her cheeks and my heart breaks a little more.
Not once did I think coming in here would lead to her turning in my arms and opening up to me. Neither of us are really built for that. But we’re both more than okay with that too. I don’t need to hear about her mother from her lips. I’ll be here if she needs to talk about it, but I won’t push her.
I can’t.
It’s the worst feeling to be forced to open up about something you weren’t ready to talk about. Even if it’s being done with the best of intentions.
But when Torryn turns in my arms and tucks her face into my chest, there’s just a small moment where something blooms inside me that I might just be her safe space. That maybe she can lean on me for more than sex or a good time. A flashing momentthat reminds me of the day we spent at the cat cafe. Where it was just us, in a bubble with no pressure or stress.
“You know when we were in the bathroom?”
My brows furrow as her question catches me off guard, but I huff a laugh all the same. “Hard to forget.” I press my hardening length against her thigh to emphasize my point, making her snicker.
“We weren’t alone.”
Silence rings in the air between us and I realize she’s holding her breath as she waits for me to process.
“Huh.” It’s not much of a response, but it’s all I can come up with. “Who?”
