“Yes.”
“Holy shit.”
I laughed. “Our friend’s halfway to Ohio already. Cole’s got some catching up to do.”
Hayden looked confused. “Wait, wouldn’t he notice my car is still here? In the parking lot?”
I shifted nervously. “We uh… moved your car. Temporarily.”
“Holy shit,” she said again.
“It’s parked a block away from our place,” I told her. “I’ll drive you over to get it in a minute. But first, you needed to know you were being tracked. Plus, it seemed like a good opportunityto send Dickwad Thunderjaw on a multi-state goose chase, while we were at it. Gives you a little bit of a breather.”
Hayden heaved a long, full-body sigh, and I felt her relax. Likewise, the last of my worries about coming here were falling away.
“And the three of you followed me too?” she pulled back to ask.
I swallowed. “Well… yeah.”
That pretty mouth twisted into a knowing smirk. “And how did you—”
“We have a Tile on your car, too,” I admitted. “Ours is in a much better spot though.”
Hayden sniffed, and grinned up at me. There were still tears in her eyes, but they were joyful ones.
“Andwhywere you following me?”
“Why do you think?” I shrugged. “To make sure nothing happened to you. To keep you safe.”
Her glassy eyes softened. I wanted nothing more than to lose myself, staring into them.
“Hayden, come home to us.”
The words tumbled out. We’d all thought them, we’d all said them. We just couldn’t bring ourselves to ask her.
Not after the pain of losing her that first time.
“I… I can’t,” she murmured. “I won’t watch Cole hurt you again.”
“Fuck Cole,” I snarled coldly.
She lowered her eyes and shook her head.
“Nothing he can do would hurt us more than you did by storming out of our lives,” I told her quietly.
“But the bar,” said Hayden. “Cole got it open again.”
“Wegot the bar open again,” I corrected her. “Bodie filed for an injunction. The judge granted us a temporary stay of license, while the repairs are being made.”
I could tell by her expression that she didn’t know. Either she’d assumed, or this asshole had taken credit for backing off on us.
“We’ve been going out of our minds, worrying about you,” I went on. “You’re not safe like this. This guy is obsessive and violent. And he’s vindictive, Hayden. You’ve seen it first-hand.”
She bit her lip and looked away, seeming even more adorable than before. I could sense the conflict raging in her mind.
“But if I do what he wants, he’ll eventually go away!” she offered, weakly. “If I just keep—”
“Hayden, come on. Listen to yourself.”
