Page 67 of Cross Check My Heart
“I think I might—” I don’t even get the chance to finish my sentence because Paige cuts me off.
“You’re not bailing!” I level her with an annoyed glare.
“I’m not! I was simply going to say that I’ll meet you guys there in half an hour. I have like twenty more minutes of notes to go over, then I can send this back to Sam for final approval and be finished!” I can’t help the excitement that squeaks out. It’s been one of those goals that I had that never seemed possible before now. I started writing this a few years ago, but barely had time to work on it before these past few months. Cam always made it seem like an inconvenience that I would want to work on this when I had a day off, so the time dedicated to my book was far and few between.
Now though, with how close I am to publishing, all I feel is overwhelming giddiness.
Paige smiles at me, all traces of her readiness to fight me staying behind for a bit vanishes as she skips over to me while I push my laptop away. I turn just as she slams into me and traps me on the bed in a suffocating hug. Her voice is muffled by my shoulder as she speaks.
“I’m so flipping proud of you!” I laugh as I hug her back. After a moment, I gently push her away.
“But seriously, you and Garrett head to the arena, Dad put your name down too so you can get your ticket and I’ll be right behind you.” She pulls back, narrowing her eyes and sighs before pushing off me.
“Fine. But if you’re not there in thirty minutes like you said you would be, I will leave and drag you back with me. Even if that means you don’t finish until tomorrow.”
I smile and nod my head at her.
“My work will be getting done tonightandI’ll be right behind you. I promise.”
With a nod, she turns to leave. Her voice bounces off the walls as she tells Garrett they’re heading over before me. At the sound of my door shutting and Paige’s “don’t make me come back for you!” echoing through my condo, I focus on my work.
Exactly eighteen minutes later, I’m shoving my ID and credit card in the wallet slot of my new phone case, heading out the doors, and toward the elevators. The smile on my face feels as if it’s stuck on my face while I think about my work being published next month. Watching the numbers above the elevator rise to my floor, the sound of a door opening behind me has me quickly glancing over my shoulder. It isn’t until I turn back to the elevator that my brain catches up and has me whirling around toward the doors to the stairs.
My heart lodges in my throat as I gape at the fact that standing in front of the stairwell door is Cam. My teeth clench together painfully as my pulse quickens.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I grind out.
He steps toward me causing me to back away on reflex, this time, I step to the side, into the hallway, instead of leaving my back against the wall. Cam rolls his eyes before running them down by body, one of his brows raising in question as he stares at my sweater.
“Since when did you start supporting your dad’s team?” I glance at the elevator and see it’s only four floors away. Ignoring his question, I keep distance between us as I debate if I should go lock myself in my apartment and call Paige. The only thing making me hesitate is the fact that he might not actually know my exact condo number. My mom said she gave him dad’s address, but I didn’t think to ask if she gave away all the details to where I am.
“That’s none of your concern.” I scoff.
When the elevator dings its arrival and I step toward it, Cam follows my movement. Not wanting to be stuck in a ride down thirteen floors with him, I rack my brain on what to do. Just as the doors open, Cam pushes past me as he steps into the elevator and puts a hand over the sensor to keep it open. Shaking my head, I turn on my heel.
“Go home, Cam.” I toss my words over my shoulder, dismissing him as I hurry for the stairs. The sound of the elevator closing and his muffled curse as the door closes behind me has me breathing out a sigh of momentary relief. Of course, the thought that he’s just going to beat me to the ground floor and probably wait for me down there has me pulling out my phone to call the police. Even if he does the smart thing and disappears, they could still put it in the open case that he showed up again.
As I make my way down thirteen flights of stairs and fill the dispatcher in on what’s happening, I find myself continuously checking over my shoulder. Once they’re up to speed, I hang up the phone and fire off a text to Paige to let her know that I’m going to be late. Just not for the reason she thinks.
Paige:
What’s wrong? Should one of us come walk with you?
Me:
No, I’m fine. I’ll fill you in when I get there. Should be there before the first period ends. Have a drink ready for me!
By the time I make it down to the fourth floor, I find myself hoping he’ll be gone.
As I make it down another flight of stairs and to the next landing, my hope begins to dim when I hear the stairwell door slamming shut. It straight up evaporates when I turn to go down the next set of stairs and see Cam walking up to me. I glare at him and hold my phone up.
“I called the cops, Cam. Just leave me alone.” His steps falter and annoyance takes over his features before he recovers and closes the remaining distance between us. My options are to either go around him and cross my fingers he doesn’t try to grab me again, go back up the stairs or out onto the fourth floor and knock on someone’s door.
Before I can make a decision, he’s standing in front of me just a few steps down giving me a height advantage. Which is something he must notice and hate as he scowls up at me. I stifle my groan and cross my arms while I glare down at him.
“Don’t look at me like that.” He snaps out. Taking another step closer. “Just do everyone a favor, stop overreacting, and come home.”
“Overreacting?” I let out a humorless laugh and don’t give him a chance to talk again. “What exactly are you referring to? The part where I broke up with you because you were cheating on me? Oh, or maybe the part where I kept my mouth shut and didn’t tell my family why we broke up?” I uncross one arm to rest on top of my elbow, dramatically tapping my finger on my temple. “No, wait. You’re actually probably referring to the fact that I had the audacity to move away and realize that I’m better off without you in my life.”
