Page 55 of Unravel Me

“That old biddy. I should have known. Do I even want to know what they’re saying?”

“Just that she’s back and you two were getting cozy yesterday outside of Bean Haven. Hannah did talk to Liam, but he already knew, just not any details. Said she looked pretty good though.”

“Watch it, Dallas. You want to see thirty, you won’t talk about her like that.”

“Calm down big boy. I meant health-wise, not her overall looks. Although . . .”

I growl into the phone and the fucker laughs at me.

“You doin’ okay?” he asks.

“I think so, yeah. We worked through some shit last night and had a breakthrough. I refuse to abandon her, I don’t give a shit what she did anymore. I moved her into my house this morning. She can figure her shit out from here, she doesn’t need to be in that shithole that was her parents’ house.”

“Even if I’m not happy with how things went down, I gotta hand it to you, that’s exactly what I would do. You need anything?”

“Yeah, actually. She doesn’t know yet, but I’m taking her to the gym in a bit. You think you can call Dom and see if he can block out an hour for us? Private. I want it just us, so she’s comfortable.”

“You’re taking her boxing? Kinky.”

“It’s not like that. You remember what it was like for us? Fuck, we still get like that. All that pent-up energy with nowhere for it to go? And then to have an outlet to finally be able to channel it? That’s what she needs.” I huff and run my hands through my hair before continuing. “She started having severe panic attacks after she left Aspen Ridge. That’s why I was comforting her outside of Bean Haven. It was like a switch went off and she couldn’t breathe. She’s got some nervous tics and she’s wound tighter than a fucking spool. She asked me to take her for fun, but I think this’ll be good for her.”

“Damn, man. What happened to her while she was gone?”“I’m still getting it all figured out.”

“I’ll call Dom. Anything else?”

“Yeah, I don’t have a last name, but she’s got an ex that is obsessed with her and won’t let her go. He’s blowing up her phone and the texts are maddening. I want to know who the fucker is and how to make him go away.”

“Give me what you got and I’ll see what I can do.”

“Brooks. Mommy and Daddy own the restaurant Ivy worked at. I don’t have that name either, but she was in Seattle. You still friends with that PI?”

“Wes? I’ll reach out. If anyone can hunt someone down and do it silently, it’s him.

“Make it a priority. Please.”

“On it. We good? I call to check on you and get a laundry list of shit to get done on top of your daily workload.”

“Asshole. One last thing, Blaire still work for us?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Attaboy. Text me when Dom says we’re good to go.”

“You got it.”

I hang up with Dallas and bring up my mom’s text.

Me: Mom, I love ya and I was going to tell you. This is a phone convo though. I’ll call you soon and explain everything. Yes, I’m fine.

Mom: I expect you both for dinner on Sunday.

Fuck. I toss my phone to the other side of the couch, deciding to ignore the rest. I walk into my bathroom just as Ivy is stepping out, one towel wrapped tightly around her body, another wrapped around her head, holding her hair up.

“Thank you for the shower. I needed it. I wasn’t sure where to put my things, I don’t mind living out of my bags, though, I was going to do that at the house anyway.”

“I’m going to make space for you. I’d rather not be reminded that you may still leave. If you unpack, we can deal with everything else later.”

She drops her head to look down at her bare feet and pulls that plump bottom lip between her teeth again.

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