"Carla?"
"Mm?"
"That was—" He pauses."You're incredible."
I smile against his chest."So are you."
Eventually, I drift off.When I wake, it's dark outside, and Timothy is on the phone in the kitchen.
I sit up, pulling the blanket around me, and listen.
"Yeah.I understand," he's saying."Thanks for the heads-up.I owe you."
He hangs up and comes back to the couch.
"What was that?"I ask.
His face is grim."That was my buddy Jonah.I asked him to keep an eye on your car.Someone vandalized it."
"What?"I sit bolt upright.
"Broke your windshield and spray-painted your doors."
"What did they write?"
He hesitates."You're mine.Always."
I want to kick the shit out of him.But I know Randall did it to draw me out.He hasn’t seen me at the diner or out of the apartment complex.It was just a matter of time before he found out what apartment I lived in and paid me a visit."He's getting closer."
"We're going to end this.Soon."
"How?"
"I don't know yet.But we will."He kisses the top of my head."I promise."
I want to believe him.I need to believe him.
Because if I don't, I'm going to fall apart.
And I've spent too long putting myself back together to let Randall break me again.
