Page 6 of Crossroads

“If you only knew, girl.”

“I’m not that much younger than you, Bodhi. You don’t get to play the old man card.”

“I don’t think you know exactly how old I am,” he growled before shaking his head. “Just let me know one thing.”

I met his gaze, knowing I had to be grateful, yet terrified of what he would ask. “Okay.”

“Are you safe here? Will whoever did this follow you here?”

I held my breath, trying to formulate an answer, before my shoulders finally sagged. “I don’t know. I don’t think he’ll follow me here.”

“Who is he?”

I swallowed hard, and I looked down at my hands. “My ex. Jeremiah. We broke up over a year ago, but he didn’t really believe me.”

“I take it Teagan gave you the security code?” he asked after a few moments of silence, and I looked up at him, surprised that was what he had said of all things.

“Yes.”

“Okay, then. Keep the alarm going, and I have cameras all over the property.”

“Then how did you not know I was here?” I asked, confused.

He ran his hand through his hair, his biceps flexing as he did so. “Because Teagan must have given you the main security code, that wouldn’t alert me completely. I’m going to have to have a talk with my sister about that.”

“Don’t be mad at her. I asked for help, and she gave it, and I’m sorry.”

“I’m not mad at her, Kiera,” Bodhi whispered, his voice so kind that it made me want to cry.

“You sure sound like it.”

“I’m always angry, so I always sound like it,” he said honestly, and that confused me even more. “You’ll be safe here. Safe as I can make it.”

“Thank you.” I paused. “I don’t like asking for help.”

“You’re not the only one. But just breathe for a minute. Okay? That’s all I can do for now.”

“Thank you,” I murmured.

“Don’t thank me. Now put this ice on your face, and I’m going to go make you something to eat. You’re far too pale.” He studied my face a little bit longer before pulling out his phone and heading toward the other end of the kitchen. He pulled out a pan, and then bread and cheese from the fridge, and I had to wonder if he had known that was there, or if he had just guessed that Teagan would’ve filled up the fridge with a few things.

I did not understand the Ashfords. I never had. But Bodhi? He confused me more than the rest. I watched as he moved around the kitchen with such efficiency that it surprised me. He pulled up his sleeves, and I saw the ink there, as well as the burn scars. So many burns. I held back a gasp, wondering why I truly couldn’t notice them before. Then again, he always wore long Henleys or flannels when I was around. But this was the first time I’d seen him in a warm environment.

Whatever had happened to him must have hurt because his burn scars were thick and yet fully healed.

I wanted to reach out, just to make sure he was okay, but that was stupid. So stupid. I wasn’t a safe space, and it was just now dawning on me that perhaps I never had been. And it scared me that perhaps Bodhi had never been able to have a space of his own.

And for some reason, the idea that this grumpy, asshole of a man wanted to keep me safe without saying the words let me relax for the first time in too long.

I wouldn’t stay in Ashford Creek for long. I couldn’t. It wouldn’t be safe for long, and I needed to face the real world soon. The paparazzi would find me. They always did. And when that time came, the world would know that I had failed.

That I was weak.

That I was exactly what they had called me when I had first joined the band.

A female drummer. A girl.

With the wrong voice.