Page 54 of Dean

The cop pulls out a notebook, and I wave my hand in front of me slightly. “I don’t know if it really was drug money, but it was hidden under his mattress and he’s very shady in general. But no, before you ask, I didn’t take it.”

“Actually, you should be here because Nick assaulted Avery,” Dean pipes up, but I stop him with a hand to his chest. I can feel the angry thump of his heart under my palm and I nearly faint with excitement at how strong he is.

God, how am I not supposed to fall in love with him?

And I really shouldn’t be getting horny in front of this cop.

“He did. He punched me, and I left. I didn’t even get all my things. Dean here helped me grab it the next day. We didn’t enter the apartment, it was all thrown outside. And I don’t have his money.”

The cop scribbles this all down and then meets my gaze. “Why didn’t you report the assault?”

“I didn’t want any trouble. I just wanted to get away. I just want him to forget I exist.”

I peer over at Dean, who looks murderous.

“And anyway, Nick has been harassing me.” When Dean glowers at me, I add, “I might have been getting suspicious phone calls from different unknown numbers.”

“What?” Dean grinds out. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“I don’t really know if it’s him. But it is suspicious. It’s gotten worse after Linc made an appearance at work.”

“And who is Linc?” the officer asks.

“He’s the other roommate. He saw it all happen. He came by to warn me that you’d be showing up to investigate.”

The cop nods and puts the notebook away. “All right. This isn’t what was reported. So I’ll make a note of all of it. You may need to come down for more questioning, but I have everything I need at the moment. If anything else happens, please call the direct line to me and we can get it handled.” He hands me a business card and Dean takes it, stuffing it in his pocket.

“Thank you, Officer,” Dean says, his hand landing on mine and squeezing gently. My heart pitter-patters in my chest, a mix of anxiety and relief that this is over. I should have known Nick would pull this shit. He always had the most shifty eyes.

When the door closes, I sag into him and let out a shaky breath.

“I’m not made for jail,” I whisper, Dean’s hands rubbing across my back.

“You’re not going to jail, Avery. I promise. That shithead, Nick, will be the one behind bars…or in a grave,” he whispers, and I let out a small laugh.

“God, Dean. Stop being so hot with the murder talk. Please don’t kill anyone. This will all go away eventually. Nick doesn’t have the best follow through.”

Dean doesn’t seem so sure, so he just continues to hold me. And fiddlesticks, it feels good to have him touch me like this, to comfort me.

I’m not alone.

“You should tell me if you get any more suspicious calls. I want to know about these things.”

My heart thrums with love. “Yeah, okay. I’ll try to remember.”

“You better.”

I roll my eyes and then take a step away from him. “How was Ben, by the way? Is he doing okay?”

Dean sighs. “I don’t know. Something’s up with him, but he’s not willing to talk about it. I don’t want to push, like you said, but I also want him to know that he can talk to me about anything.”

“You’re such a good dad.”

“Yeah, well, I try to do the best I can. Just want him to know that nothing he could say would make me not love him.”

My eyes tear up slightly and I sniffle.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

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