What if he comes for me?
What if he finds me?
What if?—
Fuck, I need to calm down. My heart is beating so hard, it feels like it’s trying to leap out of my chest, and every ragged breath I pull in feels harder than the last, like the air is too thick for my lungs to take in. I claw at my neck and try to ground myself by taking slow and steady breaths, but it’s no use. My mind won’t stop racing.
Lightning strikes, and a second later thunder rattles the windows, making my head snap up instinctively. A wall of rain-streaked windows stares back at me, and I’ve never felt more exposed in my life.
I race to lock the door, flip the open sign to closed, and then pull the curtains shut over the front windows, sealing myself off from the street. I retreat to the back room and close the door, pressing my forehead against the cool wall as I try to breathe through the panic blooming in my chest.
I pull my phone out again, and my thumb hovers over Fallon’s name, but I hesitate. She’s working and telling her now will only make her worry.
Then I glance at Echo’s name, and without thinking, I call him. It takes a second for my brain to catch up, and when it does, I quickly end the call before the second ring.
Calm down.I think to myself.You’re not thinking clearly.
I slide down the wall and sit on the floor, folding in on myself, and breathing slowly with my head between my knees like I’ve done a hundred times before.
My phone vibrates in my hand, but I can’t bring myself to look at it right now. I don’t want any more bad news, and I don’t want anyone to hear me like this.
Eventually, the vibrations stop, and the silence that follows is deafening, but I allow myself to wallow in it and cry.
Once I’m finally able to breathe again, I wipe my face with the back of my sleeve and force myself to stand.
I can’t hide back here forever.
I step back into the store, and the first thing my puffy eyes see when I glance at the front door, is the tall man standing outside of it.
Echo is here.
He’s standing there, completely soaked, with rain streaming down his face and splattering against his dark gray suit. He’s standing perfectly still beneath the torn awning, staring at me.
He could’ve knocked or forced his way in. But he didn’t. He justwaited for me.
Our eyes meet through the glass, and something inside me breaks open.
I cross the distance in three long strides, but as soon as I get there, I feel myself freeze.
If I let him in, if let him see me like this, with my walls fully demolished by ghosts of my past, there’s no going back to how we were before. He’ll see every vulnerable part of me, and I won’t be strong enough to hide it.
The rain drums against the glass between us as I look up with my hand hovering inches from the lock, debating what to do.
For his part, Echo doesn’t ask me to open it. He doesn’t even imply that I should. He just watches me withthose amber eyes of his that see way too much, and I realize, without a doubt, what I want to do.
Cold, damp air rushes inside as I open the door, carrying the smell of rain and asphalt and him. Echo steps just close enough that I can see the water clinging to his lashes, the darkened fabric of his suit jacket, and the way the muscles in his throat are working.
“What are you doing here?”
“You called me.”
I swallow hard, my throat burning. “I didn’t mean to.”
He nods his head in quiet understanding. “I know.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Echo
