Page 62 of Lured By Shadows

He wasn’t entirely wrong, I guessed. But how long would any of this last? I didn’t have the energy to untangle it anymore. I shook my head and glanced toward the door.

“I gotta go. My ma’s waiting for me.”

“If you need anything,” he said quietly, “anything at all, you call me.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said, brushing him off even though the words didn’t fully match how I felt. “Even if something happens, I won’t call. Enjoy your trip. You’ll probably forget I exist after a few days anyway.”

The words slipped out, edged with bitterness I hadn’t realized sat that close to the surface.

Culver didn’t react outwardly, but something in his expression changed. The warmth dimmed slightly, his eyes darkening as though a shadow had passed across them. He didn’t look angry. If anything, he looked as though forgetting me wasn’t even a possibility.

At least, that was what my overthinking brain decided.

Maybe I was completely wrong, and he really would forget me once he was gone. If he did, I’d handle it the way I always handled things. I’d brush it off, move on, and pretend it never mattered in the first place.

Right?

The thought settled heavily in my chest anyway, frightening in a way I didn’t want to examine too closely. Not tonight.

“Bye, Culver,” I said.

“Perhaps I should be asking you not to forget me,” he finally replied, his voice following after me with a knowing smile. “I will be back for you, Ira.”

As I walked away, I kept glancing back at him as though I couldn’t fully stop myself. There was something restrained in the way he stood, as though he were holding himself back from crossing the room in two strides and doing something reckless.

For one reckless second, I wished he would. Wished he’d tell me he wasn’t leaving after all.

Instead, I slipped through the door and closed it behind me, leaning back against the wood while I let out a shaky breath.

What was I doing? Seriously.

By the time I started down the long hallway toward the garage, the emotions had dulled into something heavier and harder to ignore. Fear settled deepest of all. Not fear of Culver himself, but fear that once he left, I’d stop mattering to him entirely.

Which was ridiculous.

I should’ve been relieved to put distance between myself and a walking red flag like Culver Scarbrough. A man with danger sitting quietly behind his eyes, the sort that could ruin a girl without even trying to.

But relief never came. Instead, I kept thinking about him leaving.

Just two days. That was all it had taken for me to get tangled up in him, and the worst part was how much sense it made.

I was the girl who never got attached, the one who stayed in control, who knew how to play the game better than anyone.

And now here I was hoping that when he came back, I’d still be the first thing on his mind.

When I stepped into the garage, my ma was already in the driver’s seat, the car humming softly. I paused, confused that I hadn’t noticed it earlier. I must’ve been too focused on Culver to register anything else. I climbed in and shut the door harder than necessary; my nerves were still buzzing.

“You’ve never kept something like that from me before,” I said, turning on her before I could talk myself out of it. “Why now?”

She shifted into drive, eyes fixed on the road, calm but firm. “I was asked to.”

I slumped into my seat, resting my elbow against the window while rain streaked across the glass outside. “And you just agreed?”

“Ira, what’s going on?” she asked, reaching over to turn on one of her calm classical playlists. Violins filled the car, soft and familiar. “Is he really that bad?”

I hesitated, searching for honesty without unraveling completely.

“He’s not bad,” I said quietly. “At least, not to me. But I feel… left out. Like I’m only around because I’m your kid. Like he’s doing me a favor. Like I’m some task he got stuck with.”