“I’ve had Danny following him; he spends a lot of time in his apartment. Mostly watching porn or jerking off to pictures of girls on social media. He has a job; he’s some kind of freelance video editor. But for the last few weeks, he’s just been home.”
“And you think that he met with Sloane, because she could be his next victim.”
I see red, but I have to keep my head on my shoulders properly. “I can’t say for sure, but the pattern he was following with the others seems to be similar to what he is doing for her.”
“Does she know about this?”
“I haven’t said anything, I don’t want to freak her out more than she already is. It’s easier to have her come with me so I can see with my own eyes that she’s safe. Plus, I didn’t want to jump to conclusions. Now that I have a lot of things that connect, I want to give the case to you. I’m way too close to be able to go about this in a way that won’t keep me out of trouble.”
“You think it’s him,” he concludes, as we stop at a place for lunch.
“I think that he is involved for sure. I want to say that it is him, but I also don’t want my decision to be persuaded by what happened to Sloane,” I say. We get out of the car and walk into the burger place we picked, ordering at the front and picking a booth in the back corner.
“So what’s happening there anyway?” he asks, changing the subject and looking at me, borderline amused.
Arnold is a long-time friend of mine. He’s always hated Briar, so this would probably make him happy. I also know that I can trust him with this.
I run a hand down my face. I haven’t talked to anyone about what’s happening between her and me. I know it’s real. I don’t know if I’m ready for labels yet, but I need to say something to someone,and who better than the person sitting in front of me?
“I don’t even know where to begin,” Is all I have to say for him to go through a range of emotions. It starts with confusion, then morphs to interest, and finally, he settles on smug.
“Who would’ve thought?” he teases. I glare at him.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” I clarify, taking a sip of my drink.
“Have you guys fucked?” he asks. I inhale my drink wrong, causing it to come out of my nose, and send me into a coughing fit.
“Jesus Christ, can you be any more blunt?” I say once I’m able to get air into my lungs, covering my mouth as he laughs at me.
“You know that I don’t beat around the bush,” he points out.
“Yes,” I say as the waitress puts our food down in front of us.
“Does Briar know?” he asks, picking up a fry and popping it into his mouth.
“Fuck no, I don’t even know what he’d do if he found out,” I say, running a hand through my hair again.
“Well, if this is serious, which I have the feeling that it is because you don’t fuck around, don’t you think that you shouldtell him?” he suggests, taking a bite of his burger. I know that he has a point. I pick up my burger as well and take a bite so that I can avoid answering right away.
He doesn’t make fun of me; he just lets me eat. He knows how hard it is for me to open up, so I’m grateful that he’s not making a big deal out of this, like I feel like I would have if the tables had been reversed.
“She’s supposed to go back to Raymor in a few weeks. I’m not really holding my breath on this working out once she’s gone,” I say with a small shrug, even though just thinking about it makes my chest ache in a way that I’ve never experienced before.
“Well, do you want her to stay?” he asks.
“It doesn’t matter what I want; she’s only twenty-one. She should get to enjoy college and do whatever she wants.”
“That’s not what I asked you. I asked if you want her to stay.” He calls me out, and I take another bite of my burger. He does the same, he lets me chew, his eyes sincere, telling me that he cares about my feelings. I wash the burger down with some water before letting out a sigh.
“Yeah, I do want her to stay,” I admit. Of course, I want her to stay. I’ve never felt this way before. I never want her to leave, because I know if she does, then she’ll just move on, fall in love with someone who deserves her heart, and she’ll live a long life with whoever it is that she ends up finding.
“Then talk to her,” he says, as if I haven’t thought about it every day since I first kissed her.
“I can’t.”
“Why? Are you afraid that she’ll say no?”
“I’m afraid that she’ll say yes.”
