Page 36 of Safe With Me

She sifted her hand through her hair and dropped her chin to her chest.

“Okay,” I whispered, leaning back in the chair, already bracing myself not to react to whatever she was about to say.

“I dated someone for a few months before I left Philly. Ted was a good friend of my brother’s, whom I already told you I never got along with. And although my brother didn’t want us dating, I agreed when Ted wouldn’t stop asking me out.”

“Why didn’t he want his friend to date you?”

“You’d think it was a protective big brother thing, right? But no. He was afraid that I would ruin things and make it awkward between him and Ted when we broke up. It wasn’t to keep me safe as much as keeping his friend circle intact. After a little while, he got used to it—or, at least, I stopped hearing about it.”

I nodded and waited for her to continue.

“Ted was a nice guy at first. Sweet, very attentive. Always called when he said he would and texted me good morning every day. Then things started getting weird.”

“Weird,” I repeated. “How?”

“If I didn’t text him back within a certain time frame, my phone would blow up with messages from him, asking me where I was. It was a little annoying, but my friends would tell me how sweet it was that he worried about me, so I let it go at first.” She shifted in her seat, darting her eyes around the room.

“Then everything I did bothered him, especially what I wore.” She motioned down her body. “I’ve always been curvy, but sometimes he’d comment that I was too fat for whatever I was wearing. He’d say full-figured, but I knew what he meant. Suddenly, all my clothes were too short or too tight.”

“Full-figured? What the fuck?” The words slipped out of my mouth before I could help it. Lila was perfect and gorgeous. So much so that I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her the entire night, and I was sure everyone I’d introduced her to noticed how beautiful she was. If anyone had caught how I was looking at her, Kelly Lakes intel would have us engaged by the morning.

I didn’t have to fight any of my usual attachment hang-ups when it came to Lila.

And that was a huge danger sign and one I’d always avoided—until tonight.

But while I liked her, I had the feeling I’d hate the reason why she’d had to come here.

Jude had once told me that I had great cop’s intuition, but just this once, I really wished I would have been wrong.

“You’re perfect, and he’s an asshole.”

I wanted to mention all the heads that I’d noticed turn in her direction tonight and eyes lingering on her long enough not to be just new-girl curiosity, but I didn’t want to make her any more uncomfortable.

“I knew that, even if it made me a little self-conscious. Then I couldn’t make plans with friends without clearing it with him first. We started fighting all the time, and my brother accused me of messing with his mind.”

“Accusedyou?”

“Yes, it was all my fault. Which didn’t surprise me. Then Ted would apologize, swear to me he’d be better, and tell me he just loved me that much.”

She lifted a shoulder and pointed toward the picture I’d hung up for her.

“One night, I went out with the friend in the picture. Usually, my best friend Ally would come along, but she couldn’t make it, so it was just us. When word got back to him that I was out to dinner with a man, he lost it. How could I do this? How could I embarrass him like this? He loved me, and look how I was treating him.”

She laughed to herself, shutting her eyes as she shook her head.

“Plus, a lot of other irrational, stupid things, and I just couldn’t take it anymore. I told him I wanted to break up, finally, and of course he didn’t take it very well. I expected him to hate me and stew about it to my brother for a long time, but he just wouldn’t stop.”

I felt her exhausted exhale as she pressed her palm against her forehead.

“What did he do?”

“He’d call and text all the time, so much I blocked him. But he’d go see my brother and call me from my brother’s phone, so I had to block him too. Then he moved on to flowers delivered every day to my apartment and my office, sending emails later to plead for another chance. I’d seen enough red flags to know that wasn’t an option. I told him to stop contacting me and get some help.”

“I’m guessing he didn’t accept that either.”

“Oh no, the gifts continued, and I got so pissed off I’d purposely throw them out in the outside trash cans so he could see if he came by. Then things started getting…creepy.”

She squeezed the nape of her neck and chewed on her bottom lip.

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