Page 58 of Indigo

“Like us?” she teases, placing her mug back on the table.

“Mhmmm.”

“Must be weird for you, thinking about him leaving?”

I shrug, trying to play it off as if the subject doesn’t bother me, although I’m sure she can read me well enough to know it does. “He’s grown up. He’s in a serious relationship. That’s what happens, I guess. Matt is the first person I’ve ever seen Jag get serious about, so it’s not like this is totally out of the blue.”

“Lucky you’ve got me around to keep you entertained, huh?”

I agree, and we fall into a comfortable silence as we both dig into the donuts.

After a couple of minutes, Indie’s phone buzzes on the table between us and the screen lights up. Even upside down, I can make out the name.

Michael.

I inhale a deep breath through my nose, and wait for her to explain, hoping like hell this is the first time he’s made contact, and that she hasn’t been hiding shit from me.

Her face flushes pink, and without looking at me she hits ignore.

After a moment of silence, I try to keep my voice even and ask, “That the first time he’s called?”

“No,” she admits quietly, slowly raising her eyes to meet mine. “I just…”

I sit further back in my chair. “Didn’t feel the need to tell me that your ex-boyfriend, the one who abused you, has been harassing you?”

“I never pick up or answer his messages. I just didn’t want to worry you,” she rushes out, her eyes pleading with me to believe her.

“Give it to me,” I hiss, placing my hand back on the table and opening my palm.

She nods once, picks up the phone, and places it in my hand before shrinking into herself.

“Hey,” I whisper, the anger leaving my body the moment I see her shoulders hit her ears. “I’m not angry at you. Do I wish you’d told me? Fuck yeah, but only because I don’t want you dealing with this shit on your own, baby. We’re meant to be a team. This won’t work if we don’t communicate.”

She relaxes slightly and nods again. “I know.”

“Can I look?”

Biting the inside of her cheek, she dips her chin. “Mhmm.”

As I scroll through the messages he’s sent her, my heart rate increases, and I have to fight to keep myself in my seat. The things he says to her, the threats, the names he calls her...

I let out a shaky breath and lock her phone after reading the last message, and place it screen down on the table with a thud.

“I’ll handle it,” I growl, already calculating how quickly I’ll be able to get down to the city.

I’ve been itching to punch this guy from the moment I laid eyes on him, and now he’s threatening my girl?

He’s fucking dead.

“No,” she answers the second the words pass my lips. “No, Pax. I just… I should have blocked his number, but this little part of me just thinks it’s better to know what he’s thinking, what he’s planning, than putting myself in the dark. He’ll calm down, it’ll stop. That’s why I didn’t tell you. He’s an asshole, but he’s not entirely unhinged. He’s not going to come here.”

She’s being naïve, but I don’t say it. “Blue,” I begin, but she cuts me off.

“I promise, it’s fine. I’ll tell you if he messages me again, okay?”

I shake my head, but before I can say anything else, Mrs Neil stops by the table with two pieces of banana bread and a concerned look on her face.

“Everything okay?” she asks as she slides the plates onto the table.

---