Page 39 of Only The Strong

I lean down and kiss her cheek. “You know I will, babe.” I step around her and walk out of the bathroom and into my old room; crossing through the room to the door.

I step out and hear Finn and Huntley talking in the hall a few doors down from me. Finn’s back is turned towards me and neither of them sees me walk up, so I catch a part of their conversation.

“Finn, this is not what he needs right now.” Huntley snaps at Finn. “Hooking up with random strippers isn't going to fix anything.”

Finn sighs and drags his hand down his face. His voice is different when he’s with Huntley, softer, kinder. “I know it’s not, Angel, but it will at least make him feel better for tonight.”

By that time I’m right behind Finn and I can see his big hand on her thin waist and her with her arms crossed and shaking her head while she glares up at Finn. I rest my hand on Finn’s shoulder, more for balance than for friendship but that's beside the point. “Take me home.”

He turns, shocked to see me I assume. “What about Sasha?”

I shake my head. “I can’t.”

Huntley steps forward. “I’ll take you home, Callum.” I nod and we start for the stairs. When I start to sway Huntley and Finn put their arms around me and help me out to Huntley’s car.

The last thing I remember before waking up in my bed alone is sliding into her front seat and Finn buckling my seatbelt. I close my eyes and lay my head back against the headrest, “Please Don’t Go” by Joel Adams plays through the car speakers. “You’ll get through this, brother,” Finn says next to my ear before pulling away and shutting the door.

38

REESE

It’sweird how much can change in one month. I started April being friends with Callum, and now in May we don’t even speak. I haven’t seen him in over a week. Since I moved home I started going back into the office. It’s been nice to have my old routines back and to see my residents and the maintenance guys. No matter how busy the day gets though, my mind always drifts back to Callum. His broken pleas through the door, his easy smile. It breaks my heart every time. I miss him so much. I feel like a part of me is gone, like I'm walking around looking for something that isn't there anymore. I still take meals out to the guys surveilling outside, but they don’t really talk to me anymore. I think they're scared I'll send them away. Honestly some days I think I should, they're a reminder of Callum too. Mason still comes in to eat dinner with me, though not as often as he used to. He says he's working on tracking down my stalker who has been radio silent; I guess because he got what he wanted: me alone. The first week drug on, and once I got into a routine the days went by almost like I'm reliving the same day over and over, just going through the motions. Allie, Sophie, and Emma come by in the evenings when they aren't busy, and they usually stay until I fall asleep, making sure to turn on the alarm when they sneak out. The only thing that’s getting me through is the nights that Allie and I try to put clues together to figure out who's behind the letters and threats. So far we haven’t gotten very far. We thought it might be my ex for a while, but he seems pretty happy with his new girlfriend. Tonight Mason invited me out to go get dinner and eat it in his pickup. I think he was tired of my cooking and wanted to get a change of scenery. It’s silent while we wait for our food at the little drive-in diner.

“What's the name of this song?” I ask when I’ve had enough of the silence.

“Uh.” He looks at his phone. “‘After Hours’ by Charlieonafriday. It’s good right?”

I take in the soft melody. “Yeah, I really like the beat.”

Mason taps the back button on his phone and the song plays again. “Yeah, I heard it at Cal—.” My breathing halts at the mention of Callum’s name and he immediately stops talking and looks at me out of the corner of his eye.

We haven't spoken about Callum since the day Mason helped move me home. I shouldn't, but I really want some sort of information about him. “Go ahead.”

Mason shifts in his seat, looking down at his hands in his lap. “I heard it at Callum’s. He’s been listening to it a lot.”

When the waitress brought our food out I went to Spotify and downloaded the song.

We eat mostly in silence and when I'm done I pull my legs into the chair and wrap my arms around them, Mason sighs into his phone and I look over at him. “What's up?”

“Nothing.” He sighs again. “Just Jessica.”

I raise my eyebrows. “You’re still seeing her?”

“Sometimes.” Mase puts his phone in the cupholder between us and slides down in the driver's seat a little.

“Is it getting serious?” I ask, turning in my seat to face him.

He scoffs, shaking his head. “No.”

“Then why are you still seeing her?” I lean my back against the window behind me.

Mason turns his head to look at me, resting it on the headrest. “Because she's easy.”

“Mason Underwood!” I scold.

He chuckles. “Not like that.” He pauses. “Well, yeah like that too, but I mean she understands when I have to cancel or dip early for club shit. She doesn't try to change me or control me. She’s there when I want her and gone when I don't.”

I nod because his reasoning does make sense. He’s always busy doing something for the club and I could see someone thinking he could do better. He has a computer science degree from a great university and could do anything but he chose the club instead.

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