Chapter 24
Sasha
When Sasha woke up in the morning it took her a minute to realize where she was. Then she remembered she was on Conner”s bed and all the things they had done last night came flooding back to her. She stretched and unfortunately also remembered the reason she was here. Her stalker had found her. She was able to push away all of it last night, but here in the cold light of day she was going to have to figure it out. She turned to reach for Conner, but he wasn”t there. She got out of bed and pulled on the clothes he had let her use and went to find him.
When she got to the top of the stairs, she could smell coffee and bacon. As she headed down the stairs, she heard two voices talking in the kitchen. She didn”t want to meet anyone looking the way she must look, but she thought she recognized that voice. When she rounded the corner, she saw she was right. There at the kitchen table sat Conner and Cash.
Cash looked over at her and cocked an eyebrow. “Lovely to see you this morning, Sasha.”
“Cash, I”m a little surprised to see you,” her eyes darted between him and Conner.
“How do you like your coffee and eggs?” asked Conner as he came over and pulled her into an embrace.
“Cream and Sugar and scrambled,” she said, still trying to figure out what was going on.
“Cash lives two houses down,” Conner said as he went to start making her some breakfast. She looked over at Cash who was sitting at the table with a giant plate of eggs and bacon in front of him. “I told him about everything that happened last night.”
Sasha prickled at this. That was not his business to be telling. She hadn”t decided how she wanted to handle it.
“I know you don”t know how you want to handle it yet,” he said, looking over at her with a careful look. “I told him because I needed to tell him. I need someone else to know what”s happening to keep you safe while you figure it out.”
She nodded and took a deep breath.
“I won”t tell anyone. Don”t worry about that. Are you okay?” Cash asked.
“Yeah, I”ll be fine. I just wish this wasn”t happening.”
Both of them nodded. “Still though, we have your back,” Cash said.
“That’s reassuring. Thank you. It”s a good thing that I work for a place full of tough guys who are big softies at heart,” she said as she walked over to Conner and slipped her arm around his waist.
“Don”t let the word get out. I have a reputation to uphold,” Cash said to her with a cocked eyebrow.
“Your secret”s safe with me.”
Sasha took the plate from Conner and moved to the table. She sipped her coffee while Conner and Cash talked about the power play and how they were hoping to tighten it up before playoffs. Sasha absent mindedly put her bacon onto Conner”s plate and finished up her eggs.
“So, Sasha, any idea on how you want to deal with this?” Conner asked.
She sighed and then took another long sip of coffee. “I think I really only have two options. Quit and try to find another job.” Conner bristled next to her. She knew that wasn’t what he wanted, and truth be told that was not what she wanted either. Not at all. “Or I can fight this time. I”m not sure what that looks like, but I think I should talk to Hillary and see what she thinks.”
Conner and Cash looked at her waiting for her to decide. She knew both of the men at this table would back whatever decision she made and that felt good. She liked her job here. She liked the people she worked with, and she was even starting to feel like she could make Glendale into a home. It was time to deal with this once and for all.
“I don”t want to leave,” she said with finality. Conner”s hand found her knee under the table and squeezed it. “So, I guess that means I have to go and talk to Hillary.”
“Do you want me to talk to her with you?” Conner asked with concern written on his face.
“No, I can talk to her. I need to get my car and go to my apartment.”
“You are staying here,” Conner said with such certainty that it pulled at her heart.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I told you. I’m not leaving you alone until this is over.”
“You can”t be with me all the time,” she protested.
The glare he shot at her warmed her heart. Was he being unreasonable? Maybe. But did it make her feel good? Yes. She had always dealt with this on her own, it felt good to have someone she trusted to help her.
“What am I supposed to do, Conner? Be on the ice with you?”
“There is a creep after you. You’re staying with me.”
“Okay, I’ll stay with you. But when we”re in the Magic Center, I’ll do my job.”
“Okay, but I’ll take you to and from the Magic Center.”
“I do need to get my car and some things for my apartment though.”
“The three of us will go. Cash can drive us, then we can swing by, get your car, and I’ll drive it back here.”
Sasha sighed. As much as she wanted to fight for her independence, she knew she would feel safe here with Conner.
“Let”s do this,” Cash said as he waggled his eyebrows.
“Let her finish her breakfast first,” said Conner, his hand still on her knee rubbing it gently.
After she was done, they all loaded up into Cash”s truck and went to her apartment. The jitters were bubbling up inside of her. She’d been living with that anxiety since she got that weird email, but those jitters had turned into straight anxiety when she realized that he knew she was here.
They pulled up to her building. Sasha got her keys out of her clutch, and they walked into her apartment building.
“I still hate that people can just walk into your building,” Conner scoffed.
“The lock broke last week.”
“And they haven’t fixed it yet? What are you paying rent for?” He grumbled.
“Believe it or not, I don”t make quite as much money as you.”
“I know, I”m just saying. It could be safer.”
“I agree, let”s just get what I need.”
The three of them climbed the stairs to her apartment. She unlocked the door, and they went in. This week she had finally finished unpacking so her apartment was actually put together.
“Do you need any help?” Conner asked.
“No, I just need to figure out what I need and pack. You guys have a seat, I’ll get things together as fast as I can.”
When she got into her room she looked around. Something was off. She couldn”t figure out what. She went to her dresser and all the pictures were there. Everything was just like she had left it, but something didn”t feel right. She pushed away that thought and started to pack. She went to her closet and got out two bags. Her suitcase for road trips and bigger bag to take a few more changes of clothes. She was hoping this would be done soon, but right now she didn”t know, and Sasha wasn’t exactly known for being low maintenance.
As she opened her closet, she once again felt like things had been touched and moved around, but everything was in its place. She tried to ignore the feeling as she shoved things in her bag. She grabbed what she needed from the bathroom before finally going to the living room to pack up everything she needed for work.
“Okay, I think I got everything.”
“You sure? It looks like you could need another bag,” Conner joked at the amount of stuff she had.
“Shut it, McPhee. This doesn”t just happen,” she said, gesturing to herself.
He smiled at her as he picked up the bag. Cash took the other and Sasha grabbed her work bag before they headed back down to Cash”s truck. When they made it back to the hotel where the gala had been held Sasha”s car was alone in the giant parking lot.
“Keys,” Conner said, extending his hand to Sasha.
“There”s something on the windshield,” Cash pointed out.
And sure enough there was. It was a rose and a note. Sasha”s heart was pounding in her chest.
“Stay here,” Conner almost growled at her. And that was just fine, she had no intention of getting out. First Conner took a picture with his phone. Then he took the note out from under the windshield and glare covered his face as he came back to the car.
“What do you want to do, Sasha?” he asked. “Should we call the police?”
“Is it him?” she asked, feeling like she was going to spin out.
Conner nodded.
“No, let”s just get back to your house. I’ll talk to Hillary on Monday, and we’ll figure it out from there.”
“Are you sure?”
She just nodded. Conner tapped the hood of the truck. “Get her home,” he said to Cash. Cash nodded to him and put the truck into gear.
Once they were on their way back to Conner”s Sasha was trying to stay in control, but it was hard. Her hands were tightly fisted in her lap, and she was focusing on her breathing, trying not to cry.
“Are you okay?” Cash asked her, concerned behind his eyes.
She gave a rough chuckle. “I’m trying to be, but I hate this.”
“Understandable. You know we have your back.”
“I do know that, and it”s the only thing that is keeping me here and not hightailing it back to hide at my sister”s house again.”
“This has happened before?”
“Yeah, I thought he was gone, but it would appear he followed me.”
“At least this time you have a team full of brute force behind you.”
She just nodded and looked out the window. Cash just let her be and she was glad. She was scared, but then she was embarrassed and angry that she was put in this situation. As much as she didn”t want to rock the boat at her new job, she couldn”t do it on her own.
They pulled into Conner”s driveway. Conner pulled in behind them, pulling her car into the garage next to his. Her and Cash got out and Conner joined them to bring in her stuff. They took it all up to Conner”s guest room where she would be staying until this was all figured out.
Sasha sat on the bed as Cash left, giving them some space. Conner turned and looked at her. She released a shaky breath.
“How are you?” he asked.
“Honestly, not great.” He walked over and cupped her face. She leaned into his hand as he smiled down at her.
“You”re safe here.”
She nodded. She did feel safe here, but this was a lot.
“I’ll let you settle in. I need to go talk to Cash real quick.” She nodded and he leaned in and kissed the top of her head before heading into the hallway. She fell back on the bed. This is not how she imagined the day after the biggest event of the year going, but here she was.