Page 124 of Off Camera
There’s the rustle of sheets on the other end of the line. The flick of a light switch and soft footsteps down the hall.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, sounding more awake, his tone deeper. More forceful.Safe. “What’s going on?”
“I’m on a run, and I think someone is following me.” My shoulders shake and my eyes blur with tears, but I rein myemotions in. I take a deep breath, hold it for five seconds, and exhale. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Send me your location. I want you to keep moving while you talk to me. What’s your closest landmark?”
I glance around and turn onto a busier street. I’m unfamiliar with the area, and I try not to let that raise my fear even more. Another deep breath, another hold, another exhale. “I see something up the road. A coffee shop, maybe. The lights are on.”
“Great. I want you to make your way to it and go inside. That’s where I’ll meet you. I’m going to stay on the phone with you the whole time, alright?”
I pull the phone away from my ear and send him my location. My pace quickens and my breathing turns ragged and strained as I move closer and closer to the coffee shop. My muscles ache, but I keep going forward.
“I just sent you where I am.”
“Thank you, Ave. You’re doing so good, baby, and I’m so glad you called me. You’re also really close to me, so I’ll be there soon, okay?”
“I’m sorry I woke you up.” I wipe my eyes and pick up my feet. I try to ignore the rumble of the truck behind me. I try to focus on Reid’s soothing voice, the soft inflection of his words and how he’s even and steady. “I know it’s early and you like to sleep in.”
“How do you know I like to sleep in?”
“You never answer my text messages before seven thirty,” I say. “You post the majority of your content in the afternoon, except for the time you switched your routine at the conference in Vegas to piss me off. When I slip out of your apartment before work, you don’t budge.”
“I’d much rather stay up late. The sun and I don’t get along.”
“Are you a vampire?”
“Could be. I can’t believe you’re already out exercising. When do you sleep?” he asks.
“I got six hours last night,” I say, proud of myself. “I shut down my computer at ten thirty and put my phone on do not disturb.” I switch to speakerphone and tuck my phone back in my sports bra. “That’s almost a record.”
“You work too much. You need an assistant.”
“I could say the same about you.” The coffee shop is getting closer, and knowing Reid is on his way gives me a burst of adrenaline. “You reach for your phone in the night.”
“I didn’t know you saw me do that.”
“I didn’t see it. I felt it. You were holding me, then you weren’t.” I pause and swallow down the lump in my throat. Tears stain my cheeks, and this time, I let them fall. I’m so mad. So frustrated this is happening to me and so tired at the same time. “I always know when you’re not touching me.”
“I won’t pick up my phone in the night again,” he says, a promise there. “Not when you’re with me.”
“Where are you?” A quick check behind me shows more space between me and the truck than before. Four cars are in front of it now, a traffic jam building and giving me a chance to get away. The knot in my chest loosens. My shoulders sag, and I start to think I might be okay. “Are you close?”
“Three minutes. I ran a red light. If I get a ticket, I’m making Maverick pay for it.”
“He wasn’t the one who broke the law.”
“No, but he’s the one with a hundred million in his bank account. He could spot me a couple bucks.”
I laugh. “Sometimes I forget how much these athletes make.”
“I do too, until the rookie pulls up to the stadium in a Bentley, and I want to ask who his financial advisor is. Where are you?”
“Three stores away.” I can see the neon sign out front. Can smell the sweet pastries and ground coffee beans. “I’m going to wait inside.”
“Don’t hang up, please. I want you to keep talking to me.”
“If I didn’t know any better, Duncan, I’d say you’re obsessed with me.”
