She nods slowly.
“I’ll calm down as soon asheleaves.” He’s pointing at me.
“That’s not gonna happen.” I look over at Tayler. “How could you let him in?”
The shocked expression on Tayler’s face tells me more than I need to know. So when she says, “I thought it was you,” I know I shouldn’t have said what I said. This isn’t her fault.
At that moment, Dylan lunges forward, reaching for Tayler.
Thinking quickly, I pull Tayler back until she’s behind me. With me between them, I glare down at him. I’ve got eight inches on this guy, so I use that to my advantage. My voice is unfamiliar to even me when I grit my teeth and say, “You touch her, I kill you. You got me?”
Holding up both of his hands, he smiles. “Whoa, dude. I just want to talk to my girl.”
Did he not hear me?
“Mygirl.” I step into his personal space. “How’d you get in the building?”
He shrugs like I just asked him about the weather. “It was unlocked.” Dylan tries to step around me, but I move with him.
Tayler’s voice is soft. “You need to leave, Dylan.”
Dylan’s demeanor disintegrates in seconds. “Fucking bitch,” he spits as he scrambles to get past me and nearly makes it. He’s gotten close enough to take a swipe at her arm, drawing blood.
I grab him by the collar and yank him back. “You fucker.” I kick his feet out from under him and slam him down to the floor. I’m on top of him right after that.
“Get. Off. Me,” he screams. “I can’t breathe.”
“Don’t care.” He’s wiggling around like a serpent, but I’ve got thirty pounds on the guy, so he’s not going anywhere.
I look up at Tayler as she asks, “Should I call 9-1-1?”
“Already did. Gage is on his way.” And like it was choreographed, we hear urgent knocks on the door. “That’s him.”
Tayler rushes to the front door, opening it fast. “Gage. Thank goodness.”
* * *
“You’re goingto need to press charges this time,” Gage says, looking down at Tayler’s arm that’s now wrapped in white gauze. I helped her wash up and put antibiotic ointment on the wound. “You’ll want a doctor to look at that for the report.”
I nod. “We’ll get that done first thing tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll go to student health,” Tayler says.
“No, we’ll go to my doctor.”
“I can’t afford—”
“I got it. No worries.”
She shakes her head but says nothing more about it.
“Have there been any more letters? Other photos?” Gage asks.
“Photos?”What the hell?
Tayler shakes her head. “Nothing since the last one.”
“Tayler, what are you talking about? What photo?”
