Page 102 of Unspoken Truths

She looks comfortable, her hair plaited down her back. I haven’t seen her hair braided before, and it makes her features stand out. Her cheeks pinken at my words, looking even more beautiful.

I want to beat Jared black and blue for using her hair against her.

“I am,” she says. “I know this is kind of random, but I think I want to cut my hair.”

“Okay,” I tell her. “I can take you to my hair girl if you want?”

“Thank you,” she says, looking more relaxed. There’s a lot of emotion in those two words, making me think there’s more to the reason she wants to do this.

They say that trauma can live in your hair, and cutting it can help release it. If that’s true, then I believe cutting it is the best option.

“Do you need anything else from your mother or I? I believe she’s going to go to bed early, and I have some business to take care of,” Mr. Emil says. “For those interested, I think I may be closer to finding the men who shot at you. There was definitely a driver and a passenger in that SUV.”

“We should be fine,” Rachelle says. “I hope you do find them, though school is over next week. Being worried about getting gunned down in a parking lot is making me more paranoid than usual.”

“Same,” I confirm. “It’s been on my mind more than I care to admit when we have to stay after school. I thought about it when we left today too.”

“Then, hopefully I can help you rest assured that the threat is eliminated after tonight,” he says. “I need to run some interrogation first to be sure.”

“Do you need any help?” Ignacio asks from the top of the stairs.

“Only if you can be in the car in ten,” his father says, turning away.

Deciding to use this as our excuse to leave, I capture Rachelle’s hand. Smirking, her feet almost trip over themselves as she follows me out.

“I don’t want to know what is involved in an interrogation,” she murmurs.

“I’m sure it’s not pretty,” I agree. I’ve caught glimpses, but it doesn’t bother me. This is the world I’ve grown accustomed to.

It’s completely different for Rachelle though. Julia doesn’t seem to be bothered by Mr. Emil’s job, which is good. It would suck to marry someone who can’t accept a part of who you are.

Walking outside, I take a deep breath of the night air. The sun is long gone now, and the backyard gently glowing with the fairy lights.

“That’s pretty,” she says, eyes wide. “How did you make that happen so quickly?”

While she was gone for hours, it would have taken me forever without her stepbrother’s help since the pergola is so tall.

“Ignacio asked to help me,” I say honestly. “For what it’s worth, he does feel badly.”

“He always does,” she sighs, making me wonder what else has happened. “He has a problem with closed doors, though. He caught me naked in my room when I was headed to the shower.”

“Ignacio,” I groan. “Did he leave?”

“Nope,” Rachelle says. “He stayed for my entire shower, and even got really judgey about my bathing habits. Why is he such an asshole?”

“That’s been my question for ages,” I mutter. “I basically made us a comfy bed under the stars. Come see.”

Her eyes lighting up as she looks around, she sighs happily.

“It looks so comfortable, I’m afraid I may fall asleep,” she breathes.

She’s not wrong, it’s been a fucking day.

“So you can fall asleep and I’ll snuggle you,” I say sweetly. “I just want to do one thing that doesn’t revolve around those assholes and the consequences they’re bringing down on you.”

“Yes, please,” she says, taking her shoes off outside the tent to crawl inside.

Turning on the projector, I choose a movie for us on a streaming site, and then dim the fairy lights so it’s dark. Joining Rachelle, I lay propped on a pile of pillows, holding my girl until she falls asleep fifteen minutes later.

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