“He had turned into somebody else, Jake had—a total asshole. He—he tried to force me to have sex with him.”
“Holy shit,” Maggie said loudly, flushing as she looked around to ensure no one was eavesdropping. “My God, Peyton, are you alright?”
“I’m okay,” I said quickly. “Korbin got there just in time. He’d come to confront me.”
“Did he call the cops?” she asked.
“No. He beat the shit out of him and sent him on his way,” I said with a sigh. “I think we should have called the cops, though.”
“It sounds to me like this douchebag has prime motivation,” she said, dropping her hand from her lips to fold her arms across her chest, shaking her head. “Do you think he did that to your car?”
“Maybe,” I said with a slight shrug. “He’d be the obvious choice. But Korbin feels pretty confident that Jake wouldn’t have the balls to do it. I don’t know what he said to Jake the night he threw him out, but I didn’t think we’d have any more problems with him. I have the feeling he wouldn’t think it was worth the energy. But who knows?”
“Peyton, that’s crazy.” Maggie reached for her third cookie and nibbled on it, running a hand through her curly black hair. “I hope you’re going to be safe. I hope they catch this guy.”
“Me too.” I stood from the table, tossing my empty water bottle into the recycling bin as Maggie got up to hug me.
“Congratulations to you and Korbin both,” she said softly, squeezing me tight. “Though I’m shocked he didn’t just flat out ask you to marry him again.”
Knowing that Maggie would be one of the first to find out in our little town, I giggled. She must have seen the heat on my cheeks because her eyes went wide.
“Well,” I said, and she gasped, grabbing my hand but not seeing a ring.
“Where is it?” she demanded, giddy. “Where’s the ring?”
“I—I haven’t really broken the news to many people yet,” I admitted. “And I told Korbin I wanted to see if this would work, you know, before I got too excited.”
“Oh, Peyton.” Maggie smiled sympathetically, holding my hands in hers. “I get it,” she said. “I really do. But maybe you should just try to be excited, you know? This is what you’ve always wanted.”
“Thanks, Mags.”
“That’s what I’m here for.”
“I have to run,” I said, heading for the front door. “I need to get some groceries for Korbin and me.”
Maggie followed me to the front door, peering out the window as I started to step out. “You have a ride?” she asked, and I nodded.
“Korbin’s truck. He got a ride to work from a friend.”
Maggie nodded, twirling her hands anxiously. “Be careful out there,” she said. “And call me if you need me, yeah?”
“Of course! I’ll see you soon.” Waving over my shoulder, I got into the truck and blasted the heat. It seemed to be colder now than it had been twenty minutes ago, but there was still no rain, only thick, overwhelming clouds of black. Shivering, but not necessarily from the cold, I backed out of the parking lot and headed to the store for groceries.
On the seat beside me, my cell phone rang.
And then again.
Unknown number.
Chapter29
Korbin
“Okay, out with it,” said Hansen as we pulled into the station for work. “You’ve been brooding the entire ride, and you didn’t even tell me why you needed a ride in the first place.”
I leaned my head back against the passenger’s seat and rubbed my throbbing temples with a sigh. Then I gathered up my bag, stepped out of the truck, and headed into the station. Hansen followed me, and I knew he wouldn’t give up that easy. None of them would.
“Hey, hey,” said Paisley as we walked into the lounge. She frowned when she saw me, suspicious. “Who pissed in your cheerios?”
