Page 119 of Saving the Halfback

“I’m s-sorry.”

I’d thought I was empty, void, but my heart shattered at the sound of her voice. Of her sobs. How could I be empty if I ached so hard from her pain?

I kept Bailey on the phone with me while I drove through town and out to the side roads. I talked to her about football. I told her I watched her touchdown on replay so many times; her run was amazing for a first-time player.

As I pulled up to her property, every light in the house was on. “You said the garden door was slamming?” I asked.

“Yes, the small shed on my side of the house.”

I knew which one she was referring to, so before I ran inside, I went around back and up to the shed door. “It’s locked, Bailey.”

“No…” she whispered. “It can’t be.”

I looked up at her window. “This shed?”

“Yes, that’s the one.” She looked absolutely terrified.

“Maybe it was just the wind. Is the front door unlocked?”

“No, I’ll be right down.” She hung up as I ran up to the porch.

The front door flew open, and she flung herself into my arms, and I just froze, feeling her tremble. “What happened?” I whispered. I didn’t think she would let go of me, even as I brought us in and closed the door behind me. I pulled her back just enough to get my arm under her legs and lift her up, walking her over to the couch. I set her down with me, on my lap. I needed to hold her just as much as she seemed to need to hold on to me. “Please, tell me.”

She pulled away and looked at me with those big amber eyes, and damn, I knew I was done for. Baileyownedme. “I thought they were going to get me again. I heard the banging of the door, and all I could think was how easy it was for them to take me the first time.”

“They?” I tried to follow what she was saying. She was so frantic, though, it was hard to understand.

She nodded. “Hadley and Derrick. If they came, thenhemight come, and if he came, he would hurt me. And then he started yelling at me. He started telling me he was getting stronger, that he would find me.” She took a breath, trying to slow down. Closing her eyes, she leaned into me. “I remembered you reached me first. At the football field, I was so alone, and you found me first, and you took the hood off, and your eyes were the first I saw, and I wanted that again…” Her words slowed further, along with her breathing. “So, I called you. I’m sorry I woke you.”

I wanted to tell her that I would always be first. That I would always run to get her, to make sure she was safe, but the truth was, I wouldn’t. In the morning, I would tell the guys what was happening so they could be more vigilant.

“Bails, you didn’t wake me. Don’t worry about that. I…” To think what I had been doing while she was here, scared. I held her until her trembling tapered off, then I got up, leaving heron the couch. I walked around the house, checking everything. I kept the lights on in the rooms, but as I walked over to the couch, I turned off the ones in the living room. I grabbed a throw blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over her. “Do you want a hot chocolate?”

She shook her head.

I sat next to her and pulled her to me; she didn’t fight as she lay against my chest. “Try to get some rest. You have practice in the morning. This week’s game is going to be so good. I know the team will win.”

She sniffled.

“Bails…” I spoke softly, not wanting to wake her if she had fallen asleep.

“Yeah?” she whispered sleepily.

“When you saidhewould be here, who did you mean?”

She wiggled into me for a moment. “My ex.”

I let that sit for a moment. “What did he do to you?” I didn’t want to scare her, but if I could find out, maybe I could let Lachlan know.

“I didn’t think he was hurting me, but you guys…you don’t treat me like he did. It’s easier to realize how badly he hurt me when I see how much I could have been loved. I hear his voice less and less with you guys around. I don’t remember if he ever held me when I was scared. He would berate me for feeling scared.”

I pressed my lips to the top of her head. “Do me a favor?”

“Yeah?”

“Always call one of the guys. Never allow yourself to be scared and alone. It does some messed-up shit to your mind.”

She wrapped her arms around me, giving me a squeeze that both warmed and grounded me. “I promise.”

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