Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Liam
“Jenna, please call me back as soon as you get this. Or text me even. I need to know you’re okay.”
I felt like a possessive ass leaving that message after only one date, but the feeling that something was wrong sat like a boulder in my stomach.
Between callouts and a training session, I’d barely had a free second all day, and Jenna couldn’t use her phone easily at work, so I didn’t think anything of it when I only got one text from her this morning.
She should’ve been home hours ago, though, and she hadn’t answered any of my calls or texts.
Her texts last night and this morning gave me every hope that she wanted to keep talking.
I couldn’t think of any good reason why she’d suddenly start avoiding me, which left me with a hundred bad reasons swirling in my gut.
I didn’t want to be unreasonable, but we could be called out any second and that could put me out of pocket for hours, so I needed to know she was safe.
“Yo man, what’s with the pacing?” Ryan asked.
I sighed. Let him call me crazy. He wouldn’t be wrong. “I can’t get hold of Jenna.”
“You think something’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. We haven’t been talking for long, but she’s always so considerate of everyone. It doesn’t seem like her to leave me hanging.”
“She could just be busy.”
“Too busy to answer the phone or acknowledge a text?”
“Maybe she’s nervous. Could be making you wait to slow things down.”
Damn, I hoped not. She certainly was skittish enough for it to be possible. I’d feel horrible if I came on too strong, if I made her feel like she needed to hide from me.
“Why do you guys look so serious?” Brady asked as he came into the common room.
“Lover boy can’t get in touch with his girl,” Ryan answered before I could.
“Asshole,” I said without any real heat. If I wasn’t so worried, I’d appreciate how right it felt for Jenna to be called my girl.
The phone in my hand finally rang, Jenna’s name lighting up the screen. I jogged to my bunk room, answering as I closed the door behind me. “Jenna, hi—” I stopped myself and waited to hear what she had to say. I wanted to feel her out.
“Hey! I’m so sorry I missed your calls! I left work late, and then I felt bad I was gone so long, so I, um, took Thor out for a long walk, and I just realized how late it was.
” Jenna finished her overly cheerful excuse before swallowing hard and tacking on a poor attempt to change the subject.
“How was your day? Anything interesting?”
Why the fuck was she lying to me? I closed my eyes for a quick moment and let instinct take over. I felt the shift like it was a physical transformation. When my eyes opened again, they were the eyes of a soldier. Clear. Focused. Assessing. “My day’s been fine. Everything okay with you?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m good.” Her breath sped up, and the pitch of her voice rose. Another lie.
“I’m starving, though. I haven’t eaten yet, so I’m just going to go heat up a quick meal, but I wanted to call you first. We’ll talk tomorrow?” Another swallow and a hitch of her breath. Fuck, not only was she lying, she was on the verge of crying.
“Jenna,” I said gently.
“I have to go. Goodnight,” she rushed out, probably hoping she could go before I figured out she was crying.
“No.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Don’t hang up, Jenna. Please,” I begged. “You can tell me anything, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Just don’t go like this.”
“I’m okay, really. I promise. It’s just been a long day, and I want to go to sleep.” That last part was the first honest thing she’d said.
“I don’t want you to go when you’re upset. Can we talk a little more first?”
“I don’t want to talk to you like this.” Fuck, she was breaking my heart with the little crack in her voice that she tried so hard to hide.
“I’ll talk, then. You just listen. Okay?”
She let out a long breath. “Okay.”
Thank fuck. “So, I told you my family owned a restaurant, right?”
She made a little hum of acknowledgement, and I racked my brain for any interesting story.
“Yeah, so there’s a lot of craziness that happens in restaurants.
One time, I was in the kitchen on a busy Saturday night when the restaurant suddenly went silent.
I grabbed my phone and a knife and stealthily made my way out there only to find a guy kneeling on the ground in front of a girl.
She was crying and everyone in the restaurant was watching with shocked expressions.
I got there just in time to hear the tail end of what sounded like him breaking up with her, loudly running through a crazy list of complaints.
A woman yelled at him from across the restaurant for embarrassing the girl, and others joined in.
At first, I relaxed when I realized the silence wasn’t due to any danger, but then I started to worry a brawl would break out. ”
She sniffled, and my gut twisted at the sad sound. “What happened?”
“Finally, after his long rant, he said, ‘and that’s why I don’t want to be your boyfriend anymore.’ Then he pulled a ring out of his pocket and proposed.”
“Did she say yes?”
“Yes, she did. But the crowd was still mixed. One older woman even walked over to smack him on the head and warn the girl not to trust a hooligan like that.”
“Was the girl happy?”
“Very happy.”
“That’s good.” Her voice sounded more calm, and an unfamiliar warmth washed over me. I tried to quickly think of another story to tell, anything to keep her like this.
“Do you like ice cream?” I asked instead.
“Of course. Doesn’t everyone?”
“Probably. My parents might open an ice cream shop near the beach. If they do, I’d love to take you down there with me. I think you’d make a great taste tester.”
“That sounds good.”
“Yep, you can help me and my family come up with all kinds of concoctions for sundaes. Fun flavors. Weekly specials.”
“Your family would do that together?”
My heart hurt at the wistfulness in her voice. What was her family like? Who’d hurt her so badly? Had anyone been there for her?
“Oh yeah. Chris and Emma—my brother and sister—and I used to get super competitive coming up with specials at the restaurant, especially for holidays. My idea to use jack-o’-lantern cookie cutters on cucumber slices was the best. We eventually caught on that our parents would play us against each other any time they needed fresh ideas, but that didn’t stop us. ”
She huffed out a little chuckle, thank goodness. “Your family sounds amazing.”
“They are. I’d love for you to meet them.”
“I’d like that too.” She paused for a long moment. “Liam?”
“I’m right here.”
“I’m going to go to sleep now. Thank you for staying on the phone with me.”
“Anytime. I mean that. If you need anything, even if it’s just to talk about nothing, call me.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t call you earlier.”
“It’s okay. I was just worried.”
“Thank you for worrying about me,” she whispered.
Unease tightened my gut again. Was there something to worry about?
“I can’t wait to see you tomorrow, Jenna. I wish I could give you a hug right now.”
“I’d like a hug from you.”
“Tomorrow. Remember, call if you need me.”
“Thank you. I will. Have a good night, Liam. Be safe.”
We hung up just in the nick of time before the tones went off. I hurried out to the bay, glad she didn’t hear them. She didn’t need anything else to worry about. She knew I was working, obviously, but it’s different to know that someone you care about is actually out on a call.
I’d known she cared, but I felt it even more now. She’d let me see her vulnerability, and that wasn’t easy for her.
I wished I could’ve been there, comforting her in the safety of my arms. If she’d want that.
It was odd to feel so connected when it was still so new between us.
I didn’t know where her boundaries were, but I knew I had a big mountain to climb to get past her walls and earn her trust. And once I did that, I’d have everything.
“Jenna okay?” Ryan asked once we were on our way.
“Yeah, I think so. She was upset, but she seemed alright after we talked for a bit.”
Ryan looked thoughtful for a moment, and I braced for what he would say. If it was anything bad about her, I didn’t know if I’d be able to hold my shit together.
“That’s good,” he finally said with a nod.
Then we pulled up to the wreckage of a car versus a pickup truck and my attention was squarely on work.