Page 80 of Concealed

If I risk making a run for it, Matt could intercept me and force me into his car. Being trapped alone with him is my worst nightmare come to life. After leaving him to come here, there is no chance he’d ever let me escape again.

And he would make me suffer for it.

Frozen.

Indecision has me locked in place, hiding under the dining room table like I’m back in third grade. I don’t even have the chance to chastise myself because the terror is crippling and there’s no room for anything else.

“I changed my mind,” I whisper into the phone. “Please come here.”

“You know I’m already on the way,” Gabe returns. “I’ll be on your doorstep in less than ten minutes. I’ve been getting updates from the Sunnyville PD, and they haven’t seen anyone outside Wyatt’s place.”

That doesn’t mean Matt isn’t around, waiting and watching, and we both know it.

“Thank you.” My voice is more breath than sound, just in case Matt can somehow hear me. “And I’m sorry if you coming down is all for nothing.”

The flip flop of uncertainty about whether or not Matt is here or I’m insane is nauseating, but living in fear for years changes a person and makes you doubt yourself.

I’m so scared now because it’s not easy to forget what caused all my old wounds.

“It won’t be for nothing,” Gabe assures me. “Just getting to see you is worth the drive. Besides, I hope itisfor nothing and Matt isn’t there.”

“Did you tell Wyatt?”

“No,” Gabe admits. “He’ll kill me for it, but you asked me not to interrupt him tonight. Me driving down is the next best thing to him coming home.”

Time is such a funny thing.

When you’re doing anything remotely enjoyable, it moves at warp speed while you desperately try to capture the memories to savor during hard times.

But when you’re terrified or waiting for something – whether it’s being rescued, test results, a second chance, anything – time crawls, and it’s like the inevitable can sneak up on you at any moment.

“I’m going to check the perimeter before I come inside, okay?”

Some of the painful ache in my chest eases – Gabe is here. He’ll kill Matt before Matt can kill me if it comes down to it.

Tonight is not the night I die.

“Okay.”

After only God knows how long, Gabe knocks at the same time his familiar voice calls out my name. I run to the door so fast that I bump into it, frantically scrambling to get it unlocked.

I barely process seeing him before diving into the safety of his arms, hugging him tightly as gratitude that he’s such a damn good friend despite how shitty I’ve been washes over me.

Wyatt is a big man, but Gabe is agiant. He towers over me and has got to be twice as wide. Even though I want to be a strong, independent woman who can do everything herself, I’m not going to lie – having a solid wall of an armed, muscular man protecting me like a security blanket is exactly what I need right now.

And that’s okay.

Everyone needs help sometimes.

Gabe guides us back inside the house and clicks the lock into place behind him. “There was no sign of a disturbance outside.”

He pulls me away from his body so he can look at me, and it’s so damn good to see his face again after so long. He looks exactly the same, but different, too. He’s still the guy I’ve known forever, but he’s become all man.

“You already know I believe you,” he says. “Matt knows exactly what I’d be looking for and how to remain undetected. I have no idea if he was here or not, but I’m going to stay with you until Wyatt gets home.”

Gabe doesn’t have to be here with me, and it’s crazy for him to have made the drive only to head right back so he can go to work tomorrow morning.

But that’s the kind of man he is, someone who is there for his friends and family without question or ever asking for anything in return.

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