Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
“Why the fuck are you avoiding me?” Colton hisses, his voice hoarse. He’s caught me sneaking into the gym after practice. He was waiting for me to arrive. “I’ve been messaging you all day.”
I run a hand through my sweaty hair and shrug, trying like hell not to let my gaze eat him up. I can’t help but let my eyes sweep up and down his muscular body, his tan skin, the bulge at the crease of his thighs. He looks so fucking nice.
My mouth waters, and I feel a pang in my chest.
I have been ignoring him, trying like hell to process what his stepfather told me about him and reconcile it with the man I’ve come to know.
“Yeah, take a good fucking look because if you’re fucking around with my feelings, this may be the last time I give you anything. Least of all my dick.”
That makes me swallow, and I set my bag down. We’re in the small nook of the gym, the place where we’ve kissed, and where we’ve done a lot more than kissing.
And here we are having our first real fight.
I don’t want to fight. I just want to understand. I want the truth.
“I’m not fucking around with your feelings. I’m just…I’m working through shit in my head.”
“What shit?” he asks, stepping closer to me. I smell like sweat, like grass, but he’s not deterred. He only seems to inhale deeper. “Tell me. You’re messing with my mind.”
“It’s been half a day.”
“It’s been a long fucking half a day, especially when you normally message me right back. Today it’s been silence. In fact, since meeting my shitty stepdad, you’ve been cold.”
“I haven’t been.”
“Yeah? Since meeting him two days ago, we haven’t fucked.”
“Yeah, well, maybe my ass needs a rest.”
He huffs in annoyance. “No, it doesn’t. Tell me what’s going on. I need fucking closure if this is ending.”
The thought of ending this has me in a slight panic. My skin grows slightly too tight, and my vision blurs.
“I’m not ending this.”
“Then what? Why the cold shoulder?”
He folds his arms across his chest and glowers at me.
I need to talk to him, to open up. I can’t just keep it all in.
Doing that, mulling it over alone, is only making me spiral.
It doesn’t help that Maya called earlier and said she had some new information for me about Colton. And now she’s not answering her phone.
That, combined with not fully understanding Colton, is making me slightly crazy.
“Let me shower, and we can talk at my place.”
“No. Mine. Hamish will be waiting outside.” His icy tone has me shivering slightly, and I watch him walk away, his shoulders slumping as he turns the corner.
To say I shower quickly and put on clean clothes is an understatement. I almost fall twice trying to move faster.
By the time I’m in the car on my way to the frat house, my leg is bouncing up and down.
“You okay, sir?” Hamish asks me.
“Yeah,” I murmur. “Thanks for asking.”
He nods, and then the car slows. “I’m overstepping boundaries by saying this, but I know his stepfather stopped by the other day.”
My breath stills in my lungs.
“Mr. Cavanaugh hired me specifically because he doesn’t trust many people. His stepfather and mother included. Mainly because the people they hired to drive him would report back to them on where he was going and what he was doing. He wanted freedom from that. From Erick.”
“Shit,” I murmur, knowing that the vibe his stepfather gave me made me feel gross. I should never have let his words seep into me, to make me doubt, but I did. I’m only human.
“Whatever he told you, take it with a grain of salt. I’ve met the man several times, and he’s scheming.”
With that, he turns his gaze back to the road, and his hands flex on the wheel.
I’m left to sit there, unsure if I actually heard what was just uttered or if I was hallucinating, but when he opens the door for me, he nods.
“Take care of him, Mr. Witkoff. He doesn’t have many people in his life he can trust.”
I don’t know how to respond to that so I just turn and walk toward the house, where Colton is waiting for me. When I get to the front porch, though, my phone rings. Maya is finally calling me back.
When I enter Colton’s bedroom, I see him pacing the floor. When he hears me, he stops and meets my stare.
“You came.”
“Yeah,” I say, feeling ashamed for the dark turn my thoughts have taken over the past few days. I can’t help it, though. I am so fucking confused.
“I didn’t think you would.”
“I’m here. Sorry, I had to take a phone call outside…”
He stares at me intently and then squares his shoulders, almost like he’s going to battle. Battle for me.
“Talk to me.” When I say nothing, he sighs. “Please. Talk to me, Myles.”
“I just got in my head about what that asshole said about you,” I finally admit, feeling my heart crack slightly when he winces.
“I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner, but I thought maybe I was overreacting, and I needed a minute to think.
On my own. Without you. Because when you’re with me, I can’t fucking think of anything else but you. ”
“Yeah, same,” he grumbles.
We’re silent a moment, and then he asks. “So, what were you stuck in your head about?”
“Well, I know some of what he said is true. You do steal things. My things.”
He bristles at that. “Yeah? So what?”
That makes me scoff in disbelief. “Are you serious right now?”
“What?” he asks, growing defensive. “It doesn’t mean I’m lying about everything. It just means I like to take things sometimes. It’s a bad habit.”
“It’s a very bad habit where you take things that don’t belong to you.”
“You really mad about it?”
“I mean…” I run a hand through my hair, growing frustrated. “I’d like that coin back. It was from my grandma. You can keep anything else.”
He gives me a small nod, but makes no move to return it, just acknowledges that I want it.
“What else? What do you want to know?”
I try to form my questions, but my inability to communicate immediately puts him off. “You don’t believe me, do you? Fuck! I knew it. No one does.”
“I didn’t say that—”
“No, you do. You fucking believe that shit he said.”
“I don’t believe it.” But he’s spiraling, his hands tugging his hair, his eyes slightly wild. He doesn’t hear me.
I have to grab his arms and shake him slightly, jarring him out of it.
“Stop it!” I shout, and when he just blinks at me, I soften my tone. “Stop it. I’m not saying I don’t believe you. I’m saying we need proof. It’s why I took that phone call outside…”
“Wh—what?”
“I’m saying no one is going to believe you unless you have proof. Maya called me just now and she says she has what we need—”
“I thought you were breaking up with me.” He’s surprised and confused and relieved all at the same time. He’s not processing what I’m saying.
“No, I’m not breaking up with you. Actually, are we together?
Fuck, are we?” I shake my head, not wanting to get sidetracked.
“We can talk about it later. I’m just…we need a plan.
” When he just stares at me in disbelief, I shake my head.
“Maybe I shouldn’t tell you the plan. I have a feeling you’ll blow it. ”
“I’ll blow nothing, except you.”
That makes me laugh, and his lips quirk up. “I’m serious, Myles. I’ll blow you. I was so fucking worried. Don’t do that to me. I really like you.”
“I don’t want to be blown. I mean, I do, but not right now. We need to talk.”
“Oh shit. Not again. Talk about what?”
I move him toward the bed and help him sit down, my hands landing on his thighs and tightening slightly.
“When are you going home next?”
“Why?” he asks, still not following. Of course he’s not. I haven’t actually discussed any of this with him. I mean, I’m not even sure this is a good idea, but Maya is sure, and so here I am, going along with it.
“Like I said earlier, I spoke to Maya,” I tell him.
His shoulders tense, but I reach out to comfort him. “I went to her first thing after this all happened.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s nosy and good at her job. She said she’d help.”
“What?” His confusion is palpable. He’s never had anyone believe him before, to be on his side.
“Okay, let me start over. When your stepdad said all that shit, I did start to wonder about you. You’re so fucking mysterious, Colton, stealing things, making me feel different than I have my whole life.
I don’t understand you at all. But I think I’m getting there.
Anyway, I went over everything he said again and again, and then I called Maya.
I asked her to do some digging, to help you out. ”
“Why would she do that?”
“She likes you, and I like you, so…” I shrug and then reach out, grabbing his hand. Our fingers link, and I stroke the back of his hand with my thumb.
“She said she’d give us the tools we need. She said she has them right now, actually. It just took her a minute to gather them.”
“What kind of tools? For what?”
“To prove him wrong and you right. To make sure you’re done with them once and for all.”
He swallows, his eyes watering slightly.
“Do you mean she’s acquired a gun?”
I huff a laugh. “No, not that. Just cameras and shit like that.”
He blinks rapidly and sniffles. “You really believe me?”
I nod, holding his hand tighter. “I sure as fuck do. And that means I’m going with you this weekend. And when we get there, we’re going to take those sons of bitches down. You and me, Colton. We’re going to make them regret ever hurting you.”