“You called me,” I remind him.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I did,” he says, and I think I understand, but Jack doesn’t deserve my frustration.
“Macy called you, didn’t she?” I ask, my tone as bleak and tired as I feel right now. “What’d she tell you?”
I haven’t worked up the nerve to ask Jack about the guy who came up to him, too afraid it will open the door to a discussion about Bradley, and I don’t want to talk about him with Jack. I like how he doesn’t handle me like I’m made of glass.
“Something about you biting her head off, and she’s worried, so she asked me to check in with you,” Jack says, and I hate that she brought Jack into it.
“I’m fine, but it’s nice to know she thinks I need a babysitter.”
“You know that’s not it. What’s wrong?” he asks, but this isn’t something he can fix.
I suck in a sharp breath, starting up the stairs. “Nothing. Absolutely fucking nothing.”
“Nothinghas put you in a pissy mood,” Jack remarks.
“Maybe I don’t want to talk to anyone right now. It’s none of your business, Jack. Macy had no right to bother you with this.”
“If you tell me what this is, maybe I can help?” he asks, and I’m sure some people might find his tenacity a charming quality, but it’s just annoying right now.
I know I’m overreacting, but I want to sulk before I pull myself together for tonight. “I don’t want your help.” I’m his friend, not a bird with a broken wing for him to rescue with the savior complex I’m beginning to suspect he has.
“I thought we were good?” Jack asks, and I let out an exasperated sigh.
“Wearegood. This has nothing to do with yesterday.”
I turn to go down the walkway on my floor as Jack finally brings up his game tonight. I’m so busy listening to him ramble again about how I don’t have to go if I don’t want to until I’m a few doors down from my apartment, and notice the large figure waiting next to the door.
No. Please tell me this isn’t real.
My grip on my phone tightens, and it takes everything in me to keep my voice steady when all I want to do is run in the opposite direction. He’s already looking at me, though.
“Dad, I said I’d be there soon. I’m just stopping at my apartment to get changed,” I say, loud enough for Bradley to hear.
The grin on his face makes my bravado falter because there are so many ways this could go wrong. He knows where I live.How?
I can hear Jack’s confusion, but my brain isn’t processing anything he’s saying. “Hey, Alondra. It’s been a while,” Bradley teases, stepping closer to me, and I feel like I’m going to vomit.
“No, you don’t need to send Jack and Dylan to deliver me. I’m perfectly capable of making it there by myself,” I continue, trying to add an extra bite to my tone to make it believable.
“Al, what is going on?” Jack demands, and I grab the pepper spray hanging from my keys.
“I’ll see you soon,” I say, swallowing the bile creeping up my throat.Keep it together, Al.
“Don’t hang up—” Jack starts to say, but Bradley knows too much about my relationship with my dad to know I wouldn’t stay on the phone with him longer than necessary. I hang up, wishing I could do nothing more than keep him on the phone.
Fuck. I can do this. I’m not his victim anymore.
“What are you doing here?” I ask Bradley, trying to keep my voice devoid of emotion. Bradley wants a reaction.
He seems unfazed, but his cheeks are red from the cold, and I wish I knew how long he’s been waiting out here. If I had stayed with Macy, maybe he would have left before I got back. “I was waiting for you.” Or Ellie would have found him if she had come home before us. I don’t think he’d hurt her, but I know from first-hand experience how fucking convincing he can be of his ‘nice guy’ routine when he tries.
“Why?” I ask, keeping my hands tucked inside the sleeves of my coat. My phone vibrates in my hand, and there’s no doubt in my mind it’s Jack. I decline it by using one of the side buttons.
He looks me up and down, and I stand my ground, even as my heart rate quickens in my chest. “I heard you’ve been screwing around with Jack Schultz. What happened to wanting nothing to do with hockey players?”
I shrug, and as much as I want to look away, I know better than to take my eyes off of him right now. I decline another call, hoping Jack understood what I meant.
