Page 30 of Protecting Hailey

I scrolled to the next picture, and it was him again, this time holding up a peace sign. Cute.

The next picture was of Trey with his arms crossed and the last one was him leaning with his back against the wall.

Well, ok, those are a lot of pics, lol.

I read the message below them: Which one do you think would look best for the album cover? I like the one with my arms crossed because it shows off my biceps.

I scrolled back to that picture, examining said biceps. I had to zoom in on his arms. I guess there was a cut beneath the muscle if I looked close enough.

But… these photos weren’t an apology. He didn’t send them to make me laugh or beg for forgiveness. He was running business questions by me.

I called him up.

“Hey, babe, you like the heart sign one, don’t you? I really think that one—”

“Trey, what are you doing? Why are you sending me these?”

“You always help me choose the best pics of myself.”

I closed my eyes and counted to three. “Yes. That was when we were still together.” My hand clenched my phone and my jaw tightened.

“Babe… we don’t have to be together, together, to be together.”

What?! Was he serious right now? “What the fuck does that mean?”

“I’m just keeping my distance and not coming over for a while. Doesn’t mean we can’t talk and message. So, which one do you like?”

“Yes, it does, Trey. It does mean that. I don’t want a half-ass boyfriend. I want someone who will be there for me all the time, even when it gets rough.”

“Hailey, what are you talking about, babe? We’ve been good together. Don’t mess this up.”

“I’m not having this conversation over the phone. If you want to talk to me, you can come by my house.”

“I already told you I can’t.”

Ah! I hung up the phone and threw it on the floor. It landed with a thud at my feet.

My hands shook, and I kicked the console next to my feet. “Ouch! Damn it, that hurts.”

Christian face hardened, and his grip tightened on the steering wheel.

A few minutes later, when I was still steaming mad, he turned to look at me. His gaze dropped to my feet and slowly assessed the rest of my body. “Are those clothes comfortable?” he asked.

I rubbed my palms against my black sweatpants. “Yes.”

“Do you have someplace to be after this?”

“No. Why?” I rubbed my forehead as I thought about how Trey was gaslighting me.

“I think I know what you need.”

His voice was steady and low. He hadn’t said it to be sexy, but my body reacted as though he’d whispered those words in my ear and I shivered.

“You do?”

“Yes. You’ll have to trust me, Hailey.”

The strange thing was, in less than two weeks, I already did.

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