Page 87 of Challenge Me

“There’s an article saying you fu—” I glanced at Mal and lowered my voice. “Saying you lost her.”

His mouth dropped open, then he muttered a curse that she didn’t catch. “Is that witch tailing us? Gods, we can’t have a moment of peace. It’s like having a social worker again.”

A few of the guys came out of the building, and I pursed my lips. Nodding toward the car, I waited for Mal to get in before I settled into the driver’s seat. Remi was silent as he sat beside me, his hands folded in his lap. The way his knuckles turned white was a contrast to the relaxed position.

Nobody said a word during the drive. Mal tipped her head back and forth rhythmically as she drew in her notebook, but I knew that she’d listen to everything if we had an argument right here. She’d probably caught on to it all outside, but she didn’t show it.

When we reached the parking garage, I took her hand and held onto it the entire way to the eleventh floor. She tried to tug away from me, but I didn’t let her go, so she let out a growl and bounced on her toes in the elevator. Once we were safely inside, I let her pull away, and she took off toward her room. The door slammed, and I clenched my teeth.

That was my fault. My panic was too high, bleeding into everything I touched right now. From the way Remi leaned his elbows on the counter and covered his mouth, I figured he was going through it too.

“Give me a minute,” I muttered.

Without knocking, I opened Mal’s door. She was lying on her stomach with her face buried in the pillow. Her feet rose and fell as she tapped her toes on the mattress.

“Hey, we need to talk.”

She shook her head, but I sat anyway.

“I know you don’t want to, but it’s important.”

“I’m sorry.”

I considered how to answer. “You’re not in trouble.”

Her head shook again. “Sorry to him.”

“What do you mean?”

“I got him in trouble.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I ran.”

“Yeah, you did. Why’d you run, Mal? What happened?”

“Loud.” Turning onto her back, she stared up at the ceiling. A tear slid free from her eye and rolled down her temple, but when I reached for her, she jerked away. “A boy made fun of me.”

I ground my teeth together but took a breath to steady myself. “Tell me.”

“I did this.” She put her hands on her ears. “He got right here.” Her hand hovered a foot away from her face. “He roared like the car. I didn’t like it.”

“Was . . .” I dreaded asking the question, but I had no choice. “Was Remi not paying attention?”

“He was!” she shouted.

I held my hand up, then lowered it slowly to tell her to simmer down a bit.

“Raven,” she mumbled.

Unsure what to make of that, I decided to move past it. “You scared us, Mal. I need to know what happened.”

“Wasn’t his fault.”

“Okay, that’s good.”

In fractured sentences, she explained what had happened. When she recounted what he’d said to her, I couldn’t help but think of the despondent look on his face after he touched her at the field while she was overwhelmed. When I’d left him in the kitchen a minute ago, he was much the same.