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I sit back and stare at the texts, and I feel strange. Beyond strange. Because one day ago, I was the obsessed pining girl who was hopelessly obsessed with her brother’s best friend. And now, I’m… I don’t know what I am any more, but I can’t go back to who I was.
Twenty-Four
SAVAGE
I walk out of the back door of the ranch house, along the flooded path that leads past the greenhouse. The rain has stopped, thankfully. The path is flooded, but my sweats are protected by the thick rubber boots I keep next to the back door.
“You hear me all right?” I press the phone against my ear, angry at myself and the situation, and the fact that I caved.
“Yeah, it’s way clearer now. Cell signal not great out there?”
“It’s been spotty since the storm started.” I glance up at the sky, then out over the greenhouse and the distant fields, the trees rearing up on the border of the fence. I love it out here. It’s quiet and hidden, fog drifting between the trees.
“Yeah, I’ve been worried fucking sick about June and Alex,” Cash says. “Turns out, this wasn’t a great time to take a trip out of Heatstroke.”
“Have you heard from them?” I ask.
Usually, I wouldn’t. I care about my friend, but I don’t pry unless he asks for input. But it gives me a second to bring my thoughts to order.
Hannah’s in there, irritated at my hesitation.
She thinks we can keep this quiet, emotion and complication-free, but I don’t believe it for a fucking second. Maybe she can keep her heart in check, but I’m already falling into a state of obsession, and it’s dangerous for her.
“—so they’ve been holed up at Ganny’s. Apparently, the backyard is flooded. Alex is excited about it, of course.”
“Sure,” I say. “I’ve heard that about teens.”
“She’s the exception to the rule,” Cash replies. “She gets excited about things like that. But she’s always willing to tell me how cringe I am.”
I hum a noncommittal answer.
“Anyway, how are you? How’s Hannah?” There’s a sharp edge to his tone.
“She’s fine,” I say. “She’s indoors. Power is out at the ranch house. Not sure how long it will take to restore, but the rain has stopped.”
“That’s good. She’s safe?” Another loaded question.
“Yeah, she’s fine,” I say. “But we did have a problem the other night.” I tell him about the person we caught on camera.
“You’re fucking kidding,” Cash says. “That’s weird.”
“Why?”
“Because I came out here to find this Fucklin asshole, and he’s here. He’s at his place,” Cash says.
My shoulders sag. Tension leaks out of them, and I release a breath away from the phone. Fuck. “Then it must have been someone else looking for shelter.”
“Hmm. Maybe.”
“So what happened?” I ask, and I pace further down the pathway, away from the house, to the glass greenhouse that is one of my favorite places to be.
“I came out here to find him, and I did. I told the little asshole that if he talks to my sister again, messages her, or even thinks of coming near her, I’ve got a bullet with his name on it.”
“The picture of calm as always,” I say.
Cash laughs. “Yeah, well, fuck that guy. He thinks he can threaten my family? I won’t let anyone mess with Hannah.”
“Hmm.”
