Page 31 of Fall for Me

And I didn’t want to get in between Seamus and Eli. They had the kind of easy, real friendship I’d never known. How could I ever have considered doing something to wreck it?

“Yeah,” Seamus said, turning back to me. “Okay. Here.” He handed my phone back to me.

I took it from him, this time being careful to make sure we didn’t touch, shame washing over me at my past behavior.

“Chels?” Eli said in my ear.

“Yeah.”

“You’re fucking crazy, you know that?”

“Yeah. I know.”

“Listen, the only reason Cass hasn’t put out an APB is because Griff said he saw you, that you were going for a drive. But that was hours ago.”

I looked at Seamus, but he’d taken a step back and had pulled out his own phone. Whatever moment we’d had had before was long gone, and it needed to stay that way.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I just needed some time to think, and this was the only place I could think of where no one would come looking for me. Seamus doesn’t… he doesn’t talk a lot. He doesn’t ask me questions I don’t know how to answer.”

Seamus’s back was to me now, his broad, sweater-clad back glowing in the moonlight. He looked good in that sweater. Gorgeous, actually.

“Yeah,” Eli said. “He’s good like that. And it’s only because it’s Seamus that I’m not there dragging you away.”

“And because I don’t need a bodyguard?”

“Yeah. That too.”

“I’ll be home in a bit, okay? Please tell everyone to stop worrying. I need everyone to trust that I know what I’m doing.”

There was a pause, where I almost heard Eli make the decision. “Okay. But only because you’re with Seamus.”

“Eli—”

“We’re just worried, Chels.”

“I know,” I said. “But I promise I’m going to be fine, okay? I feel better now than I have in a long time.”

I was surprised at the words, but I realized they were the truest I’d spoken in a long time. Maybe it was being here, or maybe it was the weight of knowing I couldn’t get up to my old tricks if I wanted to—not without scaring people. But I felt free in a way I hadn’t in years.

“Can you call me when you get home so I know you’re okay?” Eli asked.

I couldn’t help smiling. “I’ll call you tomorrow. How’s that?”

This time I felt like I could hear him biting his tongue. Eli wasn’t used to not getting his way.

“Trust me, okay? For once?”

I knew, with him onside reassuring everyone I was okay, everyone else would probably leave me alone too.

He let out a breath. “Okay, Chels.”

After saying our goodbyes, I hung up the phone, feeling like I’d won some small but major victory. I could go home now and no one would be hovering at my apartment. I could have the peace I was looking for.

But as I pocketed my phone, I realized I didn’t want to leave yet.

I cleared my throat, and Seamus turned around.

It wasn’t up to me.

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