“Why the fuckishe calling?” Hutch spits out.
I don’t answer and let it ring through to voicemail. The police told him to leave me alone. He shouldn’t be calling.
“Hey.” Hutch takes my face in his hands and turns it so I’m staring into concerned gray eyes. “Why do you look so terrified? I know it was a bad breakup, but the fear in every muscle of your body is telling me it was a lot worse than that.”
I shake my head. I don’t want to talk about this.
He leans in, until his forehead is pressed against mine. “You can trust me, Daisy.”
Oddly, I do. I’m not even sure how that happened. I put up a huge wall, but he squirmed his way over the top and got under my skin. Somehow.
“I don’t want to talk to him.”
“Then don’t. He can’t make you accept his calls.”
He’s right about that. There’s no one left he can threaten me with. Nana’s gone and Robbie is a world away in the middle east. And he’s in Texas. The draft isn’t until April so he can’t just leave school. He has practice and games. He doesn’t know where I am either. I told no one when I sold the house. I’m safe.
But I don’t feel safe. Not anymore.
That one phone call set me back months.
Hutch pulls me closer and I shiver. It’s colder than it was. Or maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m cold because the fear has taken over.
“You’re shaking,” he murmurs.
“Promise me something.”
“What?”
“Keep texting me, even if I don’t respond.”
“I’d already planned on it.”
Nodding, I lay my head against his chest. I’m not sure why I asked him to do that, but just knowing he’s going to do it, it makes me feel slightly better.
“Did you talk to you mom yet?”
“She doesn’t get off her shift at the store until later. I’m sure she’ll see my voicemail as soon as she looks at her phone.”
“You’re going to need to make those calls tomorrow.”
“Fuck.” A long sigh goes through him. “I need to do my research on these guys tonight too and the guys at the house are going to want to party.”
“Stay here.”
It’s his turn to go still. “What?”
“I mean, it’s quiet and I have an entire attic to myself. I’m sure we can find a blow up mattress around here somewhere.”
My ask has nothing to do with him needing quiet and everything to do with me not wanting to be alone tonight with that voicemail taunting me. I should delete it, but part of me wants to hear it.
“You sure, Red?” he asks, using the nickname he started, but Collin picked up.
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
“It’s your cheat day, yeah?”
