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“You’re staying at my place tonight.” Cash’s words break me from my thoughts and bring me to a halt, along with Toni.
Before I can even respond, Toni interjects, “She’s going to stay with me tonight. I will take good care of her, don’t worry.”
Cash looks between Toni and me. “I’m sorry Toni, but until we know what’s going on, I don’t want Rylee out of my sight.”
Toni’s glare burns into the side of my head as I stare at the ground. I don’t know what to say right now. I want to be with Toni, but of course I feel safe with Cash. But he doesn’t go about situations in the right way. Four months ago, he treated me as if I didn’t exist most of the time, and now he’s nearly getting himself arrested for me and demanding I stay at his place. To prove my thinking right, I glance up to Boh, and his eyebrows are drawn together, his gaze roaming Cash’s face for some sign as to why he’s acting like this. Toni is frowning at me, waiting for me to reply.
“Rylee.” Toni speaks up. “Are you okay with this?” She has a slight bite to her voice, probably annoyed Cash hasn’t given me a choice and told me what I was doing.
I grab Toni’s hand and give it a slight squeeze. “He’s right, Ton, I don’t want to put you in any danger, who knows where he is.” Toni has always been able to see when I’m lying or hiding something, and with her staring at me like this, I feel it’s written all over my face what Cash and I did. Is it written over my face that every time he’s around me, my heart beats a little faster and my stomach swarms with butterflies. Is it written all over my face that I’ve had thoughts of him I most definitely shouldn’t be having?
Cash is also staring me down. I shake my head at Cash and frown for him to stop looking at me. The whole moment is awkward.
“Okayyy, but can we meet up tomorrow, please? Rachel is going out of her mind.” I smile at her, thankful she let this go.
“I would love to go for some coffee.” I squeeze her hand before dropping it.
She pulls me in for a hug, but before letting me go she whispers, “We’re talking tomorrow.” Like I said, Toni always knows when I’m hiding something, and I know she won’t let this go until I tell her everything. She won’t judge me; she never does. I could do the worst thing known to man and she would somehow justify what I did and argue with anyone as to why I’m right for what I did. Toni likes to dig deep and will want to know how I’m feeling about Cash, how I’m feeling about everything, and right now, I don’t know. If someone pushes me, I may say what I don’t think I’m ready to admit out loud yet.
“Bridge’s flight lands in a few hours, I’m going to pick her up from the airport.” Boh interrupts my spiraling mind.
“Can I come with you?” Cash stiffens next to me. I don’t know what he thinks this is, but he will not have me locked up in his house like I’m some damsel in distress. I’m safe with Boh.
“Of course, you can, Ry. She is going out of her mind and will be relieved to see you.” He smiles at me. Then his eyes flick to Cash again which causes his smile to falter slightly.
“I’ll pick you up from Cash’s at three, okay?” His gaze stays on Cash. He knows something is up.
“Perfect.” I smile, shifting from foot to foot. The tension is building rapidly.
“I need to go back to my place to get some clothes,” I say, aiming it at Cash and hoping he will defuse the situation and get us out of here quickly.
“Yeah, okay. Let’s go.” He walks toward his car without a goodbye to anyone.
“I love you Toni. I will speak to you later, okay?” I give her a reassuring smile.
“I love you too, baby. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She points at me.
“Tomorrow, I promise.” I blow her a kiss, and she catches it, placing it in her pocket. I get a little lighter, and Toni’s shoulders drop, and we laugh at the same time. The girl is my anchor. She gives me one last smile before turning away and walking toward her car. I swing my gaze to Boh watching Cash walk off.
“See you later, Boh.”
His gaze softens. “Yeah, see you soon, Ry.” Cash is stopped near his car and watching me walk toward him. He scans the area like he thinks there is a threat ready to jump out and take me any minute. My heart speeds up as he watches me. Is he just being a protective person of someone who has been in his family for six years, or is it more? We haven’t spoken about what happened before I was taken. I don’t know how to approach the subject. Will I be happy if he says now that he’s had time to think it over, he realizes it was a mistake, or will I be sad? What if he says it wasn’t a mistake and he doesn’t regret it? There is so much going on in my mind, I feel like I could close my eyes and shut down. Shut myself away from it. It’s physically and mentally exhausting.
“You look deep in thought,” Cash says as I stand next to him.
“Yeah, I’m just tired.” I do not have the energy to get into this with him now.
“We will go grab your clothes and then head back to my place. You should be able to get a nap in before Boh picks you up.”
I nod, mustering up a smile before opening the passenger door and slipping in. I’m already done with the day. If it wasn’t for Bridge, I would go back to Cash’s, lock myself away in the guest room, and not come out until next year.
Chapter eleven
Rylee
Ididn’tsleepawink. Once I grabbed my stuff from my apartment and got back to Cash’s and took a shower, I was too keyed up to sleep. Cash didn’t say a word the whole way, and since walking into his house, he showed me where I would sleep and then walked away, and I haven’t seen him since.
Boh text me to tell me he will be ten minutes, so at least I can get out of here for a while. I hate when Cash does this hot-and-cold shit. He knows how guilty I feel and how much this is killing me, with everything going on, so why is he now giving me the cold shoulder, making me wonder what I did wrong, and I can only think of one thing. What I told him about James. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep up with this silent treatment before I escape and go stay with Toni.
