Page 61 of Royal
Chapter 15
Royal
“Get the fuck over here, Gray, before I come to your house and drag your ass out,” I said over the phone. “I thought you wanted to stay the night with me.”
“That was before a goddamn serial killer sent me a threatening letter, Royal,” he countered in a snappy tone. “If he’s watching me or some shit, I don’t want to lead him to you. I can handle myself. But you…”
“But I…what?” I asked, standing in my kitchen and looking out into my backyard. The full moon was bright, as were the stars. “I can’t take care of myself? Is that what you were going to say?”
Silence.
“I just mean you aren’t trained to deal with this stuff, and I am,” Grayson said, less irritable. “You’ve never shot a gun before. The one time I took you out to target practice, you wouldn’t even touch it.”
I was surprised he remembered that.
During our senior year of high school, he’d taken me out into the woods one day when I’d gone over to his aunt’s house. He’d set up Coke cans on a fallen tree trunk and shot each of them with ease, the sound of the bullets hitting aluminum snapping into the air. I’d jumped and covered my ears as the shots rang out, and when he tried offering the gun to me, I shook my head and stepped back.
Guns didn’t exactly scare me. But I didn’t like them.
“I don’t need a gun. That’s why I have you.”
“I can’t be with you all the time, Charming. Even if I want to.” He sighed. “It’s best this guy not know we’re connected in any way. His letter…damn. He’s way past mentally unstable. Trust me on this.”
His reasoning was sound. He didn’t want the killer coming after me.
Grayson had always been my protector. Once we’d become friends in the eleventh grade, he made sure no one had fucked with me. Not that I was bullied before then, but I definitely wasn’t after he came into my life.
Protecting me wasn’t anything new. I was fairly certain it was in his blood, at that point.
Yet, even though I understood his reasoning, it pissed me off. Grayson and I werejuststarting to repair our broken friendship. Eight years without him had been difficult. And now that I knew what it was like to have him back, I couldn’t go back to not talking.
“So, we’re supposed to not see each other until this guy is caught?” Annoyance seeped into my voice.
“You make it sound like this is some kind of fucking choice,” Grayson grumbled. “Believe me, if I had a say in the matter, I’d send your ass as far away from Addersfield as I could until we caught the bastard. Since I can’t do that, keeping my distance will have to do.”
“And how do you think I feel, Gray? I don’t like the idea of him being after you, either.”
“Can we just…” I heard him take a deep breath. “Can we not do this, Royal? I’ve had a long day.”
“Fine. Talk to you later.”
I hung up on him and put my phone on the kitchen counter. Once I calmed down, I began to come to my senses. I was behaving like a child. Grayson had laid out the dangers of the situation, and having an attitude problem would only make it harder on him. I texted him.
Me:Hey. Sorry for getting pissed. I was just looking forward to seeing you 2nite and I guess I let it get to me.
He responded almost instantly, as if he’d had his phone in his hands and had been about to text me.
Grayson:It’s ok. I get why you’re pissed. You just gotta understand it’s for your own safety.
Me:What about your safety? I don’t like you being the target of some psycho’s wrath, and I’d feel better if you weren’t alone.
The dots moved on the screen, and I waited. Grayson could be such a slow texter sometimes. He’d been that way in school, too, when he typed his papers for English class. He would type a few words and then get sidetracked by something before continuing.
From the corner of my eye, I saw something dash across my backyard. I jumped away from the patio door with a gasp, nearly dropping my phone.
My heart hammered in my chest as I shut off the kitchen light and stood in the dark, peering out the glass door and into the yard. The light had made it easier for people to see inside my house. I hardly even breathed as I searched the yard, moving my gaze along the patio chairs and over to the fire pit that Brysen had insisted I buy so he could roast marshmallows.
My privacy fence was tall, but if someonereallywanted to climb it, they’d be able to.
