Page 11 of Save Them

“Gasp,” I say, throwing a hand over my chest. “You take that back, buttlicker.”

“No, twatwaffle. You earned your second nickname. I mean who even says ‘gasp’ out loud like that! A drama queen twatwaffle, that’s who.” Lay laughs at my expression.

Lay bends over to grab her things, leaving me with the perfect moment for revenge. My hands flies out, smacking her ass loudly, causing her to yelp and laugh. She grabs her ass, turning to stare at me with a cute shocked expression.

“That’s for calling me a drama queen. Payback’s a bitch,” I yell out, winking at her as I head to the locker room to quickly grab my bag. Thankfully the guys and I know each other’s lock combinations, so it doesn’t take me long to grab my bag from my locker where Riggs left it.

Checking my phone as I head to the women’s locker room door, I make sure to shoot Rhys a message to meet us back at the cabin. He throws me a quick okay and tells me to grab a pizza with pineapple and ham for him. The fucker knows how much I hate pineapple on pizza; it’s a huge debate every time he disgustingly demands a pizza with pineapple. Sending off a gagging GIF, I shove my phone back into my pocket and wait for Lay.

It doesn’t take long for her to come out of the locker room, her own bag tossed over her shoulder. Lay grabs my hand, knitting our fingers together and leaning against me. The smile that pulls up my lips is so big it would be embarrassing if I wasn’t so goddamn happy that I was lucky enough to meet her. Thinking about how we met, and the asshole that I was to her, makes me cringe until I remember that killer right hook that she hit me with. Yeah, our story is one for the books.

The walk to the truck is silent as we both get lost in our own thoughts. It’s parked in the back of the lot without any other cars around it. Letting go of Lay’s hand, I grab her bag and move towards the back of the truck to toss the bags in. The handle feels wet when I grab it, making me pause and look around. The parking lot is completely dry which means it didn’t rain while I was inside.

“Lay, move away from the truck,” I yell out, my voice loud and panicky. Lay catches my tone right away, her eyes going wide as she steps back from the passenger side of the truck. “Can you call Rhys for me, Lay?”

“Okay. What’s going on?” She catches the phone I throw over the truck, finding Rhys’ contact to call him.

“I don’t know yet, but someone was tampering with my truck. With your stalker out there, I’m not taking any chances right now,” I answer honestly, standing up on the step bar to get a better look inside. Noticing a white, industrial size paint bucket behind the driver's seat with an unknown liquid inside, I jump down walking around to where Lay is, holding my hand out for the phone.

“Adam, what is going on?” Rhys asks loudly.

“There’s a bucket in the back of my truck that wasn’t there when I got here. The handle to the back driver’s side door was wet when I went to grab it, but it hasn’t rained all day. Someone put that bucket there, and I’m not taking the chance of opening the truck to find out what it is.” Running through the day in my mind, I mentally curse myself for not locking this stupid truck. If I had been running on time, I would have locked the truck instead of fumbling my keys in my haste.

“Do not open that truck. I’m going to hang up and call Jarrod to get his team out there with a biohazard team,” Rhys explains, his voice hard and angry. “Keep Lay away from that truck, and make sure no one comes near you guys. I’ll be there soon.”

Hanging up the phone, I pull Lay into me, kissing the top of her head. We hold each other for a bit, away from the truck. My eyes take in the parking lot, searching for any sign of the asshole who did this. Of course there’s nothing, that would be too easy. This asshole is determined to take us out and get Lay alone. This was meant just for me, I’m guessing he didn’t realize Lay was here. That means he was following me, not her or the others. He’s coming after us, and we need to be ready for him.

Chapter Seven

Alayna

Picking at the pizza in front of me, I look longingly at the door for Rhys or Adam to come back into the cabin. This is all so fucked up, and the fact that Adam or I could have been seriously hurt by whatever was waiting for him in his truck is messing with my head. If Adam had been hurt because of me, I never would have forgiven myself.

Riggs is still out at his mom’s house with his sister, but we’re keeping him updated through text. Rhys grabbed a new phone for me before meeting with Jarrod earlier, so at least I have a new way to contact Riggs and I know he’s safe. Rhys and Adam stepped out about ten minutes ago to talk with the police about what they found in the truck. The parking lot had to be evacuated for everyone’s safety, and the gym had to be closed before they would look into it.

Sitting alone has my thoughts going in circles about what this means and what could have happened if Adam hadn’t noticed in time. If the stalker wants me so badly to torture me or whatever, then why would he risk killing me? Unless he didn’t know I would be there with Adam. That would mean that he’s now focusing on getting the guys out of the way, something he threatened to do in the messages he left.

The door opens but only one set of footsteps comes towards the kitchen. Rhys walks in, his face ragged and tired with the stress of everything going on. He flops down in the seat beside me and grabs my hand sitting on the table. Pushing my pizza off to the side, I turn to face Rhys. He pulls me from my chair and into his lap, nuzzling his face into my neck and still damp hair.

“Adam had to head to the station to give his statement,” he mumbles, sighing loudly before pulling his face out of my hair. “They’re analyzing the chemicals left in the bucket, but we’re pretty sure it’ll just be generic cleaning products found at your local grocery store. The combination was basically mustard gas, and the levels of it in the truck were already lethal.”

“So someone tried to kill Adam,” I murmur, closing my eyes against the onslaught of tears. “Not just anyone either, it was Kevin Jennings because he wants you guys out of the way. What if he succeeds in getting to any of you? Who is he going to go after next?”

“We don’t know it was him for sure.” Rhys rubs my back, the movement calming my nerves a little bit. “Adam deals with a lot of kids that come from bad homes. There’s a risk to what he does. He’s had more than one death threat against him in the past.”

“We don’t know it wasn’t him! He could hurt you, and I would never forgive myself for it. I can’t lose any of you, it would destroy me.”

Rhys tips my head back before cupping my cheek with his soft hand. His eyes dip down to look at my lips longingly, the love and desire written on his face enough to make my heart race. The seconds tick by painfully slow as I wait for him to give in to his desire and kiss me. The moment he makes up his mind, my heart stops in my chest before beating again at a mile a minute.

My eyes flutter closed when Rhys’ lips touch my own. His hand tangles into the hair at the nape of my neck, causing a shiver to run down my spine. My body is balanced on his lap, completely and utterly under his control. It should make me nervous or want to pull away, instead I push closer, desperate for this connection to never end.

In all my life, I have never felt safer than I do with these three men. Even with Declan, there was some safety and reprieve, but he was a child just like I was. He did his best to keep me safe and protected, yet there wasn’t much he could actually do. Rhys, Riggs, and Adam are strong men that have shown me they will keep me safe time and time again.

Rhys pulls back slightly, his breath fanning across my tender, just kissed lips. “You will not lose us. No matter what happens, we will get through it together. I can’t speak fully for the other two, but I’m fairly confident when I say that we would burn this entire fucking world to the ground to protect you. I love you, Alayna Morgan. I love you with every breath I take and every beat of my heart.”

This time I take the lead, sealing my lips over his and pouring every word, every feeling I can’t express to him, into it. My tongue runs across his bottom lip before I gently bite down, pulling it and releasing. Rhys moans roughly, his hands going under my thighs to pick me up as he stands. My legs wrap around his waist as he kisses me deeply, walking me towards a bedroom.

Grinding my hot center against the sizable bulge in his jeans, I gasp at the sensations coursing through me. Rhys falters mid-step, pulling back from the kiss and cursing breathlessly. He turns abruptly, placing me on the counter and moving in to kiss down my neck to the top of my oversized t-shirt.

---