Page 25 of The Only Time

I wipe the tears with the back of my hands. “No,” I say through an inhale, “not drugs.”

“What has you on edge?”

I look him in the eyes. “My ex.”

“Your ex?”

I nod. “He was stalking me for a while then I caught him trying to break into my house at night.”

His body visibly stiffens. “Where is this man now?”

I shrug my shoulders. “My brothers have the cops involved. He hasn’t been home in days. We don’t know where he is.”

Eric stands up. “You’re here hiding out.”

I stand up to meet him. “Yes. I’m so sorry. I should’ve told you, I just…it’s embarrassing.”

His head turns to the side. “Why is it embarrassing?”

“Because,” I throw my hands up in the air, “I thought he was normal. I thought he was a good guy. I didn’t see anything wrong with him. I liked him! Clearly something is wrong with me.”

“And you’re saying this guy could be out looking for you right now for all you know?”

“Yes,” I say through a shuttered breath.

He shakes his head and then turns around mumbling something to himself, walking out of the barn toward the house.

I feel awful. He should have known what he was getting himself into before he agreed to let me stay here. Now he’s involved in this mess when I know that’s the last thing he would want to be a part of.

I turn and walk back to the house as well, wondering if I should pack my things and leave. That’s probably the right thing to do. When I get back, he is standing outside on his porch pacing back and forth while he yells something into the phone.

That’s it, I’m leaving. I can’t be living under the same roof as someone who clearly wants nothing to do with me or my drama. I walk upstairs through the blur of my tears and pull out my suitcase.

I open a drawer full of shirts and scoop them up against my chest.

“What the hell are you doing?” a voice startles me.

Eric is standing in the doorway. “Umm, I’m packing. You were so mad. I figured you didn’t want me here.”

“You’re not going anywhere, Mia. Put those clothes down.”

“But…” I start but he storms into the room and grabs clothes out of my suitcase and tosses them in a drawer.

“But nothing. You just told me there is a psycho out on the loose possibly looking for you. Do you really think I am letting you get in that car and leave?”

I don’t know what to say. But the doorbell rings before I can think of anything. Without another word, he stomps out of my room, down the stairs, and answers his door. Layla’s voice rings throughout the house.

I close my door for a second. I need to gather myself and apply some makeup, so I don’t look like I’ve been crying. By the time I go downstairs, his entire family is standing in the kitchen.

“Mia! Thank God you were here,” his mother wraps me in her arms. “Who knows if something worse would have happened to him if you weren’t here to get him help.”

She pulls away and I realize he finally told his family he got hurt. Just as he suspected, they are all here and freaking out. I smile to myself.

I spend almost an hour listening to their questions about what happened. They all want to know what he was doing in the shed. He looks over at me as if to see if I’ll call him out on his secret. The power of his eyes on me is staggering. I have to look away.

“Well, I brought dinner from the restaurant,” Layla says. “Let’s sit down and eat. We can talk about why he is such a dick and didn’t call us right away later.”

Everyone starts to walk into the dining room, but Eric trails behind.

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