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When I went to my phone in the kitchen and picked it up, my heart stopped beating. The message wasn’t from Rocky. It wasn’t flirty or fun or full of promise.
It was quite the opposite, in fact.
You can’t hide from me, lover. You will be mine. One way. Or another.
Whoever it was, wanted me to be afraid, terrified, and they had succeeded.
I couldn’t help but wish Rocky was here, and I ran to his room, burrowing myself into his sheets and letting his scent envelop my senses and sooth me.
Like a child, I hid beneath his sheets, and wished it was his arms that wrapped around me instead.
Chapter 15
Rocky
The house was quiet. Eerily quiet, and it felt empty, though, somehow, I knew it wasn’t. But something was wrong. “Peyton?” I called out to the empty house and there was no answer.
I figured she was ignoring me after Nolan’s unexpected visit last night. Peyton had stayed in her room for the duration of my son’s visit and well after, never emerging from the guest room. Though when I woke up early this morning, there were signs she’d made an appearance. Two slices of pizza were missing, and the kitchen had been tidied, otherwise she might as well have been a ghost.
“Peyton?”
She didn’t answer. With a frustrated sigh I climbed the stairs and marched down the long hall where the guest room was located and knocked. “Peyton?”
She still didn’t answer, which kickstarted my worry. The alarm would’ve sounded if someone had forced entry into my house but that hadn’t happened, which meant she was upset and hiding. Or she’d run away. I balled my hand into a fist, knocking hard and fierce until I heard the door handle twist and then open.
But it wasn’t the guest room’s handle. I turned, surprised, towards my own room, as Peyton emerged looking gorgeous as fuck in a tiny, cotton pajamas that showed off tits, a small waist, and hips that made a man think of gripping them tight as he slid deep and brought her to the brink of erotic insanity. The second thing I noticed was that she’d been asleep and that her eyes were red-rimmed as if she’d been crying.
“Rocky? What are you doing back so soon?”
“It’s after eight o’clock in the evening,” I said, giving her a concerned once over. “Why were you in my room?”
Her eyes widened. “No? Seriously, it’s that late?” She shook her head as if that move alone could clear the mental cobwebs from her late afternoon nap. “Shit, I’m so sorry. I must have slept through dinner.” She rubbed her knuckles against her eyes and yawned. “I just need a few minutes.”
She needed a hell of a lot more than that. “You’ve been crying. What’s happened?”
Her arms wrapped around her waist, and she nodded. “I’ve been tired lately, that’s all.”
“Peyton, don’t lie to me,” I warned her. “You’ve been crying, and you were dead asleep in my room. What the hell is going on?”
“You’re annoying, you know that, right?”
I tried not to smile at the accusation, crossing my arms without otherwise replying.
She sighed and wrapped her arms around her torso, mirroring me but looking a lot more vulnerable. “I got another text message that spooked me.” She shrugged, but the tight lines around her lips and the way she held herself so tight and tense told me what I needed to know. “I just… Your scent is comforting, so I slept in your bed. I was scared.”
My stupid stomach fluttered like a fucking schoolgirl’s. My scent comforts her?
I stepped towards her, but forced myself not to stroke her hair or take her into my arms. “Show me the message.”
“My phone is in the kitchen.” She motioned towards the lower level with a dismissive gesture.
“Show me,” I repeated.
“Sometimes the bossy thing is hot as fuck. Right now? Not so much.”
I chuckled, letting her break the tension as I followed her down the stairs and to the kitchen, where she tossed her phone at my chest. I shook off her hot as fuck comments and focused on the screen, which promptly made me wish I was thinking about fucking her again instead of the threatening message. “When did this come?”
“Today. This afternoon.” Peyton wrapped her arms around her body in a protective gesture that made her look beautiful and vulnerable. I pulled her close, unable to resist the urge to comfort her anymore, until our chests were heart to heart, and dropped a soothing kiss on her forehead. Peyton didn’t deserve this, and I vowed that I would make this motherfucker pay, no matter what it cost. “Right after… Right after Nolan left.”
