Page 17 of Guarding Bristol

“Thank God for that.Where the hell have you been, and why haven’t you been answering me?”

“I was busy.”Her tone was borderline irritable, but the last thing she wanted right now was a lecture.

Cassie released a frustrated sigh.“You are infuriating sometimes, you know that?”

“So I’m told.”Twice in the past twenty minutes by two different people, and all just because she’d been trying to do the right thing.

“At least you’re okay.I take it you didn’t find him?”

“I found him.”

“You did?Where?”

“In a little homeless camp under an overpass.”

“Bristol, seriously?While you were alone?”

“It’s nothing I haven’t done before,” she said before Cassie could launch into a tirade, feeling a little defensive.Somehow the three-year age difference made Cassie feel entitled to do the whole big sister thing.Which, okay, sometimes Bristol thought was sweet, but this wasn’t one of those times.“I was perfectly safe.”Not really, but she wasn’t going to tell Cassie that either.She’d been a bit scared wandering through the unsavory parts of the city on her own, but her mission had been important enough to justify the risk.

“Uh huh.And what did he say?”

“He told me to leave him alone and never go looking for him again.”

“Well, good.At leasthe’sthinking straight.”

Bristol sighed, deflated.She felt like a failure.She’d pushed her luck too far by tracking him down tonight, and ruined any chance of making inroads with him.Now he’d probably refuse to contact Beckett about the job out of pure stubbornness and pride.“Don’t lecture me right now, okay?I feel bad enough as it is.”

“It was reckless, doing that alone, and you know it.”

“I had to try.He was Eric’s friend.”

It was more than that, though.There was something about TJ.She’d felt that same surge of awareness again when their eyes had locked across the campsite, and every time he’d looked at her after that.

Along with something stronger she didn’t want to think about right now.

“I’m aware,” Cassie said.

Bristol’s throat tightened at the thought of TJ going back to his little tent in that miserable camp.“I messed up, Cass.”

She’d gone with her gut, and wound up ruining everything.Maybe if she’d given him more time and space, things would have gone differently.Maybe he would have contacted Beckett on his own if she hadn’t pushed the issue.

Cassie groaned.“Honey, I know your heart’s in the right place.But whether you want to admit it or not, some people can’t be helped.Some people don’twantto be helped, and this guy doesn’t even know you.So, of course, he’s not gonna trust you.”

Okay, now she felt completely dejected.She was stopping for a piece of chocolate cream pie at the diner at the side of the highway on the way back to the coast.“I thought he might listen to me if I came back a second time.I thought it might prove that I actually care.”She’d hoped, anyway.

“Well, you tried, which is way more than most people would’ve done.No, you went way above and beyond, at huge risk to your personal safety.If he doesn’t make the most of the opportunity you handed him, it’s his loss.”

It felt like her loss though.And it also felt like she’d let Eric down too.

She swallowed the lump in her throat.“Cass, do me a favor?”

“What.”

“Don’t tell my dad.”Not that she was afraid of him.Far from it.She just didn’t want to worry or disappoint him.Or hear this same talk from him.

Cassie chuckled.“Fine.But call me when you get home so I know you’re back safe.You stopping for pie?”

“Yes.”Her voice sounded as sad and pathetic as she felt.

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