Ryan only glances at him once, a look that isn’t aggressive or hostile on his face, but apparently there’s something there that makes Toby second-guess himself. He pauses long enough to let Ryan and me pass, and tension crackles in the space between us.
I feel like I can breathe again when we reach Ryan’s car, and I blow out a heavy breath. “Jesus Christ, that guy.”
“You okay?” Ry asks as he starts the engine.
I’m nodding just as he pulls onto the road, staring out the window and trying very hard not to think about Chode more than I have to. It’s very obvious he knew where I’d be, stillsomehow finding ways to trace me despite me changing my cell and number. I shouldn’t be surprised, but a part of me wonders how he keeps managing it.
We’re halfway back to the studio when my phone rings, and I fish through my purse for it. Mom’s name flashes on the screen, and I answer immediately.
“Hey, Mom,” I answer, putting a little more energy in my voice.
“Hey, baby. How’re you doing?” she asks, though there’s something a little hesitant about her voice.
Looking over at Ryan, I frown and shake my head at his questioning glance, answering Mom. “I’m good. Is everything okay? You don’t sound like yourself.”
“Well, I just wanted to ask if you were keeping in contact with Toby,” she wonders, and my stomach drops instantly. “I’m only asking because he paid us a visit yesterday. Your father and I weren’t home, but the cameras tracked him pulling up outside and then walking to the front door. He waited a while before he left.”
I pause. “Wait, security let him through?”
“Apparently,” she answers, sounding as baffled as I am, because if anyone other than my best friends knows about the shitshow Toby put me through, it’s my mom. She knows better than almost anyone how I feel about that guy, so her asking if I’m keeping in contact with him seems so alien to me. “I’m pretty sure you guys didn’t end on good terms, and the last we spoke, you were praying the guy caught a bucket full of STIs that I’ve never even heard of. So, what’s going on, baby?”
Knowing I can’t keep it from her forever, I groan before reluctantly spilling the details, Ryan listening in silently as he navigates us back to Static. It doesn’t take very long to explain everything to Mom, who listens intently from the other end of the phone right down to my very last sentence.
When I’m done sharing the drama, she sighs deeply. “Well, this one turned into a clusterfuck, huh?”
Shocked laughter bursts out of me, startling Ryan, and I slap a hand over my mouth. “Definitely a clusterfuck, Mom. Where did you even learn that?”
“I’m on the internet too, baby. I’m old, but not that old,” she volleys, and I relax in my seat, instantly soothed by one conversation with my mama. “Anyway, back on topic. What are the police doing?”
“A whole lot of nothing right now,” I answer, just as impressed now as I was yesterday after my latest visit to the station. “I’ll call them tomorrow to let them know he’s disturbing you and Dad, though. The more evidence I get, I think the bigger the case I’ll have against him. They won’t be able to ignore it if I provide more evidence that he’s lost his mind.”
“All right, baby. If there’s anything you need from Dad or me, you call straight away, okay?” Mom demands, and I nod even though she can’t see it.
“You got it, Mom,” I tell her, smiling as she hums through the phone. “Just make sure you let me know if he shows up again. And tell security not to let him into the neighborhood. It wouldn’t surprise me if he tried to show up on your doorstep again.”
“I’ll call them as soon as we hang up,” she assures. “Just be safe, baby. I wish you’d move back home. I hate that you don’t live with me anymore.”
She says it like I haven’t been living on my own since I was seventeen. Not that I didn’t love spending time with my parents, but they were gone for work so much that I practically had the house to myself by the time I hit sixteen. And then I found my career calling and I was out of the house just as much as they were.
“I’ll visit more often, I promise. Let me know when’s good for you and Dad next,” I swear.
I hear the smile in her voice when she replies. “You’ve got yourself a date, baby. Now I’m going to go explain everything to your father, so brace yourself for the text messages he’s going to send you. Sorry in advance. Love you, Maddie.”
I huff a laugh. “Love you, too, Mom.”
The line goes dead the next moment, and I send Ryan a smile. “Did you hear any of that?”
“I caught the drift. I’m glad your mom knows about everything,” he gently tells me, and I hum in agreement.
The rest of the drive to Static is done in comfortable silence. Just as we park and I’m about to climb out of the car, Ryan stops me with a hand on my arm and promises, “Everything will be all right, trouble. We have you.”
My smile is warm and full of emotion as I nod. “I know.”
And, just like that, my worries fade into the distance and I go straight back to work, Ryan hanging out in the lounge until the end of the workday. By the time I’m done with work, I’m exhausted, ready to sleep, and more than appreciative when Ryan drives us home.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Ryan
