Page 46 of Daddy's Muse
“Any physical harm done to you?”
My stomach dropped. I shifted in my seat, heat rising to my face. “Not yet.”
“Then I’m afraid there’s not much we can do,” he said, sliding the clipboard aside like my life wasn’t hanging by a thread. “Unless you’re hurt or we have concrete proof of a break-in, it’s hard to treat it as more than a misunderstanding or a prank. This is a pretty rowdy campus, you know? These things happen.”
“A prank?” I repeated, my voice cracking. “Standing outside my window in the middle of the night is a prank to you? And—and all the other stuff—”
His mouth pressed into a line. “I’m just telling you the limitations of our authority. You might want to consider getting a security camera for your door, maybe some better locks.”
I stared at him. That was it. That was the grand solution. Wait to get hurt.
“I can’t get better locks—I live in a dorm. And also, don’t they already have cameras in the hallways?”
“Maybe call maintenance? I’m sorry we can’t do more for you.”
“With all due respect, sir, isn’t it your job to keep the campus safe? Even if it was a “prank”, the students involved should get in trouble for harassment or something!”
The man’s eyes went icy, and he spoke slowly, as if he were speaking to a toddler. “Like I said, if you get hurt or acquire actual evidence of a break-in, we’ll start an investigation.”
By the time I left the security office, my hands were trembling so badly I could barely hold my phone. I didn’t even think—my thumb automatically found Bodin’s contact and hit call.
He answered before the first ring finished. “Colby?” His voice was deep, warm, and steady.
“They’re not going to do anything,” I blurted out, my voice thin and shaking. “Campus security just told me to get hurt first. That’s the only way they’d take me seriously.”
“Breathe,” he said, soft but commanding. “You’re safe right now, ja?”
I leaned against the brick wall outside the security building, my eyes stinging. “I don’t know. I… I keep looking over my shoulder.”
“I’m so sorry this is happening to you,” he murmured. “Why don’t you come to my place—just for a few days, until all this blows over?”
And I wanted to—God, I wanted to. But some part of me still clung to the idea that I could—I needed to—handle this on my own, that moving in with him wasn’t the only option left.
“Thank you for the offer, really. But I can get through this.” I took a deep breath. “I can’t just rely on you for everything.”
“I’m telling you that you can,” he countered, voice deep and resolute. “There’s no shame in letting someone take care of you.”
“I know,” I whispered. “But if I run the second something bad happens, I’ll never stop running. I need to prove—to myself—that I can stand my ground. I’ve never stood up for myself before.”
There was a pause on his end, long enough for me to hear the faint tick of a clock somewhere in the background. “Standing your ground doesn’t mean standing alone,” he said finally.
I swallowed, guilt and stubbornness tangling in my chest. “I’m not standing alone. I have you… just not under the same roof. I’m not saying I don’t want you visiting me, but I can’t live with you. Not yet, at least. We only just got together, Bodin.”
Another pause, this one heavier. “Alright. But you keep me updated. Every night. Every morning. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll come find you. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Pappa,” I murmured, my voice small.
“Good boy,” he said softly, and my shoulders loosened just a little. “Now tell me—what do you see around you right now?”
I blinked at the sudden shift. “Uh… the security building. Some trees. Students walking by.”
“None of them is a threat to you in this moment,” he said. “Your heart can slow down now. Breathe with me.”
And I did.
By the time we hung up, my hands had stopped trembling, but the knot in my stomach hadn’t gone away.
I was still being watched.
