Page 124 of Freefall

He taps the screen a few times and sighs. “Yep. Looks like it’s in my truck.”

The dismissal bell rings through the school, and TJ hands the phone back to me. “Hey, I gotta run, but I’ll send you the info for the shoot when I get home.”

“Sounds good,” I call to his retreating back.

I watch him disappear into the building before looking back at my phone. Just to be sure, I sign back into my account, and Nate’s picture is gone.

He was tracking me.

A flash of anger burns through my chest.

I was hurt on Halloween when he told me he needed more time, but maybe he was right. He’s clearly not ready for a relationship.

Students start flooding out of the school building, and I’m about to put my phone away when a text comes through.

Nate

Dinner tonight? I can make Daisy’s favorite again.

And just like that, I’m nineteen again, ignoring texts from the guy who’s pissed me off.

If I thought ignoring Nate wouldn’t result in him sitting on my doorstep, I was wrong. It only took an hour, four texts, and one unanswered phone call.

The second Daisy and I reach the top of the walkway, he takes one look at the phone in my hand and narrows his eyes. His anger is palpable. He knows I saw the messages.

Thankfully, Daisy bounces over to tell him before either of us can say anything, launching into a detailed recap of career day and how she wants to be a nurse like Aunt Emory when she grows up.

His expression softens as we walk inside, but when she finishes talking and asks if she can have some TV time before dinner, he stiffens.

“Hey, Daisy girl. How about you go up to Grandma and Grandpa’s house to watch?”

She happily agrees, so I text my mom to let her know. Once she’s out of earshot, Nate turns to me. “Want to tell me what’s going on?”

I cross my arms. “Not particularly.”

“Harper.”

“Like you don’t already know, Nate.”

My words are clipped, but the flash of understanding on his face tells me I’m right.

He sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Harper.”

“How long?”

“Since the night I watched Daisy for the first time. You fell asleep and⁠—”

“No.” I shake my head. “I don't mean how long you have been tracking me without my consent. I mean, how long did you wait before checking my location when I didn’t answer?”

He rubs the back of his neck. “I don’t know. Ten minutes?”

“Ten minutes?” I storm into the kitchen and yank open the refrigerator. “I didn’t answer you for ten minutes, so you checked where I was?”

“Yes.”

“Then you realized that you couldn’t track me anymore, so you came over here?”

“Yes.”