Aspen hung up, immediately wishing she hadn’t. God, she wished she had her best friend by her side. But she hadn’t been lying…she didn’t want Callie anywhere near Amber Ridge if Dylan was here.
Dropping the phone to her mattress, she rose and walked to the front door, where she looked through the peephole. Luke’s back was toward her, and he wasn’t in uniform, but her laptop hung from his hand.
She flicked the lock on the door and opened it. “Hey. Thanks for—”
He turned—and terror hit her in the belly, knocking the air right out of her. “Dylan…”
“Hi, Aspen.”
She tried to shove the door closed but he slammed his palm on the wood, pushing against her.
“Really?” he said in an almost humorous tone. “I don’t even get a hello?”
He was too strong. He forced his way inside and she jumped back, fear making her head swirl.
“Get out.”
He lifted a brow as he tossed her laptop onto the side table. “Out? I just got here.”
“You’re not welcome. You shouldn’t even be in Amber Ridge.”
“I can be wherever the hell I want.” He stepped toward her. “And if you hadn’t run like a fucking rat, I wouldn’t have needed to come.”
“I wouldn’t have had to leave if you’d left me alone.”
He laughed, but this time, there was no humor in the sound.
His gaze caught on a photo on the wall. One of Jesse and his siblings. “And do you know what makes me even angrier? That you’re living withhim. Have you had sex with him?” He didn’t wait for her to respond. “Of course you have, because you’re a fucking whore.”
As he continued to move forward, she stepped back, getting closer and closer to her room, where there was a lock on the door and her phone on the bed.
“What I do with my life is none of your business,” she said firmly. “We broke up.”
Fury darkened his eyes to black. “Youbroke up withme. You never stopped being mine.”
He lunged, and she turned and sprinted down the hall.
The second she was in her bedroom, she slammed the door and flipped the lock. A loud thud of a body hitting wood sounded, making her jump.
“Open the door, Aspen,now.”
She stumbled back, her heart catapulting into her throat. Her gaze rapidly shot around the room. Phone. She needed her phone. She sprinted to her unmade bed and ran her fingers over the sheets.
Shit. Where was it?
Another bang, what she assumed was a shoulder slamming into the door, caused her to flinch.
Come on, come on! It’s here somewhere.
Finally, she felt the edge of the cell.
Thank God.
Another slam of a shoulder on the door. The wood creaked, the lock groaning at the weight of his body. He was going to get through. She knew that with every fiber of her being, and the thought was terrifying.
The tremble in her fingers made it hard to unlock her phone. Twice she keyed in the wrong numbers. And when she finally had it open, it took her far too long to find his name.
Finally, she hit Call, and it rang.
