“It’s not charity. It’s keeping you safe. We both know you can’t go back to your house, especially when your mom’s doing business. Sitting in the woods is no longer an option for you. This man is stalking you. Do you really want to chance him finding you in the woods by yourself?”
“No, but I can go stay with Hailee.”
“Can you live with yourself if you put her in danger? They have some younger kids there too. What about them?” He raises a brow.
“I’ll go home. I can wait in the trailer while Mom does her thing. It’s not pleasant, but I can do it,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck, feeling caged in.
You know he’s right.
“Or you can stop being stubborn and stay here until I figure out who this guy is and what he is planning to do.”
“What are you going to do when you find him? How am I going to be safe?” I stand and pace.
“I’m going to eliminate the threat. Stop arguing. Let’s go get your things.” He stands, walking toward me.
I consider my options. He seems sincere. Like he wants to keep me safe. It is warm here. It wouldn’t be a bad option for a while.
“Okay,” I relent. “But it’s only temporary. If you don’t figure this shit out within a week, I leave.”
“We can discuss that later. I’ll drive you to get your things.” He rests his hand on my lower back, pushing me toward the door.
I sigh. “My things are in the tree in the woods. I don’t keep anything at the trailer.”
He frowns. “Lead the way then.”
Chase follows me out of the house, his eyes scanning the woods.
We walk in silence until we get to the tree.
I look at him. “I need to hop up there. Don’t stare at my ass.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Mighty full of yourself, aren’t you?”
“No, I just know I have a nice ass.”
I pull myself into the tree and grab my two bags. One has my food while the other has my clothes. I toss them down. I go to hop down, but Chase reaches up before I can, gripping my waist and lowering me to the ground.
“Thank you,” I say breathlessly.
Having his hands on me light a fire inside of me. I don’t understand it, but I want to get closer to him.
The logical side pulls back.
“Ready to head back?” he asks after a moment, breaking the tension.
Resting my hand on the trunk, I think about the tree and what it has meant to me. It’s been a home away from home for me.
“Yeah. We can go.”
As we walk in silence, I think about my mom. What if that man comes to the trailer looking for me? Would he hurt her?
I don’t like it, but I don’t have a choice.
“I know she’s a shit mom but I have to go home in the morning, if only to leave a note. I don’t think she’ll care about me being gone, but if I brought danger to us, then she should be warned. I don’t want anything bad to happen to her.”
“She’s still your mom. I get it. I’ll take you over there in the morning before school.”
“What about Hailee? Will she be okay?” I ask, not looking at him.
