Page 127 of Twins for Three Bad Boys

Bolt sighs dramatically but settles halfway between us, resting his massive head on my thigh. He’s decided I’m fragile cargo.

Rex pulls back onto the road. We drive in silence for a minute, the town sliding past in warm evening light.

“Talk to me,” he says softly.

I stare at my phone in my lap.

“My ex won’t stop,” I whisper. “New numbers. Threats. Begging. Telling me I owe him. Telling me I was nothing before him.”

“That’s not love. That’s panic.”

I nod, staring out the window as the trees blur past.

“I don’t understand,” I say. “If he didn’t want me to leave, why make it impossible to stay?”

Rex glances at me briefly. “Because leaving means losing control.”

“Well, he might have control again.” My voice thins. “He might have emailed Wayne, telling him I’m unsuitable to be around kids.”

Rex sucks in a sharp breath. “He did? Damn, what have I missed while on the road?”

His hand leaves the wheel, settling warm on my knee.

I swallow.

“Well, Wayne got an anonymous email last night,” I tell him, “saying I was fired by the school I worked for because some parents had complained about my “inappropriate conduct. The school called me a liability. Which is true in a way. I was fired because of some complaints, but I never did anything wrong. Not at all.”

Rex’s hand tightens slightly on my knee before he forces himself to relax it.

“And?” he asks carefully.

“And now I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know what Wayne will do.” I blink hard. “He said he believes me. He does. But the email was detailed. It looked official. It planted doubt in his mind about me being safe around Evan.”

“And that’s the obviously the point,” Rex says quietly.

I nod.

“I keep thinking about Evan,” I continue. “About how easily someone can just… send something like that. Start something. And suddenly, I’m the risk. Again.”

Bolt shifts, sensing the change in my voice, and presses his head more firmly against my thigh.

Rex’s thumb brushes back and forth once across my knee.

“Listen to me,” he says gently. “If Wayne had real doubt, you wouldn’t be in that house.”

I let that sink in.

“He asked because he’s a father,” Rex continues. “Not because he thinks you’re dangerous.”

My chest aches anyway.

“I hate that this is bleeding into everything,” I whisper. “Into us.”

Rex’s expression softens.

“Hey,” he says. “This doesn’t scare me off.”

I glance at him. “It doesn’t?”