Don't go there. Not right now.
I force myself back to the conversation, catching the tail end of Camile describing how Beast apparently showed up to a formal event in tactical pants.
"In his defense," Allison says, "Truck wore his combat boots to our first dinner together."
“That's... oddly charming," I say, and they both look at me like I've passed some kind of test.
Allison gets a text message that makes her scramble off the floor. "Girls, Truck wants us to go to the safe room. Now."
No explanation. No context. Justnow.
The temperature in my blood drops ten degrees.
Camile's already moving, taking my arm and pulling me from the couch. "It's okay. This happens sometimes. It's precautionary."
But her grip is tighter than her voice is calm.
We move fast through a hallway I haven't been in before. Allison punches a code into a panel and a heavy door swings open, revealing a windowless room with reinforced walls, monitors, and enough supplies to stay for days.
"Inside," Allison says, pulling the door shut behind us. The lock engages with a heavy thud that rattles through my chest.
The monitors flicker to life—security feeds showing the perimeter, the driveway, the tree line beyond.
Nobody says anything. We watch the screens.
My eyes burn from not blinking. Every shadow on those feeds looks like a man. Every flicker of branch movement looks like someone approaching.
Trevor's face keeps surfacing in my mind. The casual way he merged into traffic after hitting me. Like it was nothing.
He found me once. He'll find me again.
A half-hour later, we get the all clear. Allison's phone buzzes with a message that makes her exhale and press a hand to her chest.
"We're good. False alarm on one of the perimeter sensors."
Camile squeezes my hand. "See? No big deal."
But the damage is done.
I smile at them both because they've been nothing but kind, but there won't be any sleep for me tonight.
When I finally settle back into the twin bed in the room Ryker put me in, I pull the blankets to my chin and stare at the ceiling.
The stuffed frog from my car is on the nightstand. Someone brought it in.
Ryker.
My eyes sting as I reach over and tuck it under my arm.
The only question left is whether this feeling in my chest—this terrifying, gravitational pull toward a man I met hours ago—is the safest or the most dangerous thing that's ever happened to me.
CHAPTER 7
Seven Hours Later
My boots haven’t hit the porch when Mako’s ringtone stops me.
I step away from the door, keeping my voice low. "Give it to me."
