“No.”
“Calix!Now!”
“No, because you’re going to get your ass hurt.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“No, I’m not.I promise that I won’t go anywhere.”
“I’m not letting you down.”
I flared my nostrils.“I hate you.”
Instead of entertaining me, Calix continued to walk until we reached his car.He opened up the passenger door and deposited me on the seat.After he buckled me in, he crouched beside me, his features softening.
He tucked some hair behind my ear.“You ok—why are you crying?Who hurt you?”
I opened and closed my mouth a handful of times, the tears beginning to fall down my cheeks.I bit my lower lip to stop it from trembling and tried my best to hold back a sob.But every part of my body was shaking.
“N-no-b-body.”
“If someone touched you, tell me,” Calix said, jaw clenched tightly.“Now, Astrid.”
A sob left my mouth, and I gripped on to his wrist because I didn’t want him to leave me here in his car.I didn’t want him to go back out there and learn that stupid little Astrid had gotten herself played by the guy who wassupposedto be her boyfriend.
Calix had warned me, and I had thought that I had it all under control.
“Please, don’t go,” I sobbed.“Please, bring me somewhere else.Anywhere but here.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE
ASTRID
“Areyou sure it’s smart to bring me here?”I whispered as I walked up the walkway with Calix’s hand on my lower back, guiding me.It was the first thing I had said to him since I’d slipped into his car.“Diya was here when I left.”
When we reached the front door, Calix pushed his key into the lock and quietly turned it.“I’m not leaving you anywhere alone, especially with how you are right now.”
“I’m fine,” I said.
“You were sobbing in my car.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
“Yes, you were.”
“No, I was?—”
The door clicked open, and Calix shushed me.He took my hand and stepped into the house.I swallowed the lump in my throat and followed in after him.If Diya saw me here with her brother, I would never hear the end of it.
We made our way to the stairs, and the first one creaked.
“Shit,” Calix cursed under his breath.“Stay quiet.”
“You’re the one swearing!”I said into his ear.
Another step, another creak.
