Page 84 of Out of the Shadows
As I turned around, my hands balled into tight fists, and my jaw was clenched so hard I might pull a muscle.
Fuck you, you conceited son of a bitch. This isn’t over.
By the time I got back downstairs, I had regained enough composure to put on a semi-pleasant expression and unclench my muscles. Hailey was waiting for me impatiently, her legs crossed and her foot bouncing. As soon as she spotted me, she jumped to her feet and walked toward me quickly. Her arms wrapped around my middle, the warmth of her small body seeping into me and loosening the icy grip that fear had on me a fraction.
Fuck, I just couldn’t lose her. No matter what, I couldn’t let that happen.
“What took you so long?” she asked quietly, even though we seemed to be alone. Her dad had dismissed me and stayed in his office, and her mom had apparently taken off. Lovely.
“Nothing special.” I cleared my throat. It was hard to lie to her; I had to make this as believable as possible. “The usual boyfriend talk, I guess. He wascharming, but nothing I couldn’t handle. Don’t worry about it.” I pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“Ready to get out of here?”
Abso-fucking-lutely.
“Ready when you are, baby.”
She dragged me out of the damn house after her, which I left with a constricted chest and about a hundred more worries than when I’d walked in.
Before I got in the car, I texted Hunter.
Me: We need to talk. I need your help.
Thirty One
Hailey
Ever since our trip home for Thanksgiving, Colt had been different. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something had changed. It had taken me a few days to notice it because it was subtle, but it was there. And now it was like a scab that shouldn’t be picked at but was so annoyingly itchy it was impossible to ignore.
Maybe he needed time to think it over before sharing it with me. That seemed very Colt-like to me. But I was curious, and something told me he was trying to keep whatever it was away from me by any means necessary. I wanted to give him some time to have the opportunity to tell me on his own, but once that was over, I would dig into it.
We were in an adult, committed relationship where you talked about the things bothering you. There had been enough miscommunication between us over the years, and I wouldn’t let it happen again.
A loud moan interrupted my concentration. I had briefly forgotten where I was as I went over the situation in my head for the umpteenth time.Damn, tennis players were loud. I’d never had any contact with the sport before, but I did my best to be supportive of Ella, and I was slowly gaining an understanding of the rules of the game.
Her opponent today was a moaner. She had explained that tennis had certain parallels to sex — there were moaners, screamers, and those who were just silent. I didn’t know which I found most disturbing, but the first few times I heard it, I had to stifle a juvenile giggle.
Her opponent today was a moaner, and she only seemed to get louder the more Ella kicked her ass. You didn’t have to know too much about tennis to realize my roomie was an absolute ace.
She dominated the court and her opponents with a poise and focus I hadn’t seen from her outside of it. It was fascinating to watch the boisterous, outgoing girl transform into a calculating, almost cold player.
I clapped when Ella won the point, which she only celebrated with a quick pump of her fist, and couldn’t help but return to the dilemma in my head.
I would give him until the end of this weekend. That would be more than enough time. If he hadn’t pulled his head out of his ass by then, I would confront him.
A shadowy movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. A tall, broad figure lurked in the tunnel leading to the locker rooms and bathrooms. For a moment, I thought it was Colt, but the proportions weren’t right. Whoever it was, I couldn’t see his face, and when I tried to look closer, he was gone.Huh.
Ella won the match in straight sets, then came shuffling toward me with her oversized racket bag, water bottle to her lips, sipping repeatedly. She had told me once that she never drank much during a match because she didn’t like the water sloshing around in her stomach. To each their own, I guess. All I knew was, if I was sprinting around that much, I’d be gulping down water like crazy.
As soon as she was within reach, I pulled her into a hug. “Congratulations, you were amazing!”
“Thank you!” She gave me a smile, then a twinkle crept into her eyes that I’d come to associate with trouble.
“Oh God,” I groaned playfully. “What are you up to, woman?”
“To celebrate my victory, I’ve decided we’re going to get tattoos.” She said it as if it was no big deal at all.
“Excuse me?” I asked, choking on my spit, eyes wide, and my voice came out way too high.
