Page 38 of This Is Love
“You might be right, but it seems like we’re past the point where that’s the biggest worry.” The three of us stop in front of the small brick building that houses Evermore University’s campus police department. He steps partially in front of her, drawing us into a circle, facing each other. “I don’t see this getting any better unless something is done to put a stop to whoever is doing this to you.” He hesitates, seeking out my eyes, as if he wants me to continue. Like we’re a united front. Which, I guess we are when it comes to Rya.
“Look,” I reach out, placing a few fingers under Rya’s chin and tilting her face to mine, “I know your parents. And they’re going to be pissed if we wait any longer. Hell, your dad will probably deck me for not demanding you tell them you were drugged. So, will it be bad? Yes, maybe. But it’ll only be worse if something catastrophic happens. As it is, by some miracle,you’ve managed to escape multiple bad situations… I don’t want to push our luck any further.”
Jaxon’s brows raise as his chin juts out. “Would hearing the news come better from you or the campus police who are bound to call after we’re done in there?” He eyes her, then lets his gaze shift to the building behind him.
Rya clenches her teeth, her face draining of blood. “Shit. You’re right.” She dips her hand into the pocket in the thigh of her leggings for her phone. Her expression a bit wild, she taps the screen a few times, all the while shaking her head.
“You want me to hold your hand or something?”
With a pained look and a jerk of her thumb, she brings the phone to her ear, whispering, “No. I’m just going over there.”
In silence, Jaxon and I watch her slowly take several steps away from us. She sucks in a breath, which I imagine means someone has answered. “Hi, Mom. Um. Is Dad with you? I have something I need to tell you about.” There’s a pause as her shoulders sag. “Oh. Hi, Dad.”
I cringe for her, then tap Jaxon on the shoulder and gesture that I want him to come with me. He nods, and we take a few steps in the other direction. Glancing over my shoulder, I watch Rya begin to pace. Shit. Lowering my voice, I murmur, “Talking to her parents is never easy for her. I just thought she’d probably appreciate some privacy. And, uh… I thought it’d be a good idea for us to hash out a plan of sorts.”
Jaxon’s brows lift on his forehead as he shoves his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Yeah? What sort of plan?”
The way he’s doing that makes his jeans dip down the slightest bit in the front. It’s fucking distracting. I give myself a rough shake. “I’m not leaving her safety up to a bunch of rent-a-cops.”
His lips twist at my assessment. “Yeah. You’re right. Even the actual police department has been useless thus far. That I knowof, no one has contacted her about the drugging, either. It’s like, ‘Oh, well. Sorry for your luck, sweetheart.’”
I throw out a hand, nodding. “Exactly.”
“So what are you proposing?”
“Well, mostly for one of us to be with her as much as possible.”
“And when we can’t be? Like when we’re at practice or games?”
I wince. “Yeah. That makes it tricky. But Hazel is with her a lot of times when we can’t be.” I draw in a breath. “I could talk to Levi as well, since he’s around a lot. She trusts him.”
“But do we tell her we’re asking other people to keep tabs on her?”
I clench my teeth so hard I physically feel the enamel grinding. “I mean, we could. Or we tell her to try not to do shit alone?”
“I don’t know if I’m ready to have the two of you completely in cahoots. What are you conspiring about now?”
We turn to find Rya stuffing her phone back into her pocket.
I gesture to it as I roughly ask, “How’d that go?”
“As well as I expected. Like a lead fucking brick.” She rubs her hands over her face, finally peeking out from behind them. “You going to answer my question?”
Jaxon huffs out a laugh. “She caught us, man.” But he steps close to her, dragging her against his chest. “We were plotting ways to keep you safe. That’s all. Promise.”
She peeks at me from where her head comfortably rests against Jaxon. “Is that so?”
I nod. “Yes.” My cheeks inflate with air before I let it all blow from between my lips. “We thought it’d be smart to make sure a few key people knew we were concerned.” At her curious stare, I continue. “Mostly just Hazel and Levi. We hadn’t sortedanything else. We can talk about it later, though. Let’s get you in there before you take off with your tail between your legs.”
With a bone-weary sigh, she relents, easing from Jaxon’s hold to head up the steps to the building.
“Fine tail it is, though,” Jaxon whispers to me, his eyes glued on her ass as she jogs up the stairs.
“Watch it.”
He hooks his elbow around my neck, dragging my face close to his and gives me a chummy smile before whispering, “Shut up. I saw you looking before I said a damn word.”
“That went exactlyhow I expected, unfortunately.” Rya shakes her head as we exit the campus police station. She throws a stink face over her shoulder, which has me suppressing a laugh, because as cute as I find it, she’s right. Those dickheads weren’t interested in her story at all, and even though the three of us laid out the events of the last several weeks, they’d made it seem like we’re attempting to connect dots that don’t exist. Complete bullshit. “Now those campus officers who run around with their unofficial badges are going to look at me like I’m some paranoid girl who cries wolf at every turn.” Sensing she needs to get this out, Jaxon and I merely nod and let her keep going. “Would it be better or worse if I had come in earlier? I don’t even know.”
