Page 27 of Only You
Braylen’s attention is high now. “Ummm! You said a bad word.”
Kellan just snorts and apologizes, but Cason’s brow furrows, like he’s actually thinking pretty hard about it, but then he shakes his head. “No. Nothing.”
“Maybe she hasn’t told you,” Tatum says, concern dripping from his voice.
“She’d tell me, or I’d have seen it,” Cason says vehemently, but he doesn’t look so sure, and neither does anyone else at the table.
“Do you mind if I talk to her?” I ask cautiously, and all eyes are on me now, except Braylen’s and Kieran’s because they’ve both tuned out.
“You think she’ll talk to you?” Tatum asks, but it’s not like he doubts me. I hear more hope in his voice than I’d like because I don’t want to disappoint him.
“I’m not sure,” I start carefully. “She hasn’t before when I’ve talked to her at school.” But there’s something about the way she looked tonight—almost defeated. I can’t stand it.
I want to be able to get her to talk to me or to anyone. I know how dangerous it can be to hold everything in and push away the people you care about the most.
My eyes lock with Tatum’s, and I see a hint of understanding there before he turns to look at Phillip and Kellan, “What do you guys think?”
Kellan’s shoulders shrug, and he looks quite defeated at the moment. “I’ll try anything. She was doing so well. If that fucker did anything else...”
Braylen is all ready to jump on the language again when Phillip shakes his head in his direction and then places his hand over Kellan’s to stop his angry threat. Though no one here feels any sympathy for Blake.
Braylen shovels more food into his mouth, and Phillip offers his kind smile to me. “I think it’s worth a shot, but just know that Raegan is... ummmm.. ...”
“She’ll tear you apart,” Cason says, his glare on me. “Don’t fuck it up.”
“Cason,” Kellan says with a warning, but I wave it off and wipe my mouth with a napkin before rising from the table.
“I’ll do my best.” I look over at Tatum with a nervous smile. “Chances are she won’t even answer the door.”
That gets varying replies, most just amused agreement before I walk down the hall like I’m on my way to an execution and quietly knock on Raegan’s door. It takes a while for her to answer through the closed door. “What?”
“Um, Raegan, it’s Remy. Can I speak to you for a moment?”
I’m pretty sure she’s just going to ignore me, but then the door cracks open just enough to see her face watching me with calculated curiosity—and maybe a hint of agitation. “What do you want?”
“Just want to talk,” I say, actually resisting the urge to raise my hands in some sort of surrender.
She huffs but pulls her door wide open and lets me walk inside her room. She keeps the door semi-open though as she makes her way back to her bed, and I don’t blame her.
Not one bit. She knows me as her principal, and she knows Tatum and I sort of grew up together, but she doesn’t trust me not to hurt her. And I get that.
I take a seat in her desk chair, keeping my distance. “Are you okay, Raegan?”
She just snorts at that but looks so small and vulnerable as she pulls her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around them, facing me. “I’m fine. Did Tatum ask you to talk to me?”
“No,” I say truthfully. “I just care, like they all do, and you seemed a little quiet tonight.”
“So did you,” she says with a little venom. “What happened with you and Tatum? Because it’s pretty awkward.”
I try not to flinch because I know that’s what she wants. Cason and she have a lot in common. “Nothing happened with Tatum and me. We’re friends.”
“Just friends?” she asks, her right brow lifted.
“I’m not here to talk about Tatum,” I say, trying to keep that line.
“Right. No one wants to talk about their shit, but they expect me to just let it all out there.”
I realize I’m not her principal. We aren’t at school. She doesn’t need a principal with rules and carefully cultivated boundaries when it comes to his own past. She’s hurting. Something deeply traumatic happened to her, and she needs a friend.
