Chapter 43 - Sawyer
SAWYER
“SAWYER!”
I’d never heard my name cried so excitedly, so eagerly, even the time I scored the winning goal at our high school hockey playoffs. Hayden’s sad, beautiful eyes were filled with tears as she flung herself into my arms.
“Oh my God, I’m so happy you’re here!”
I was happy too. Especially since I’d dreaded her reaction to barging in like this, completely unannounced. But it wasn’t like I had a choice, really. Not after what we’d seen so far.
And my God, forget all that. She just felt so. Fucking. Good.
“Cole was just here!” she exclaimed, pulling back to look at me. Her hand went to my face, her fingers running over my stubble. Maybe to make sure I was really, truly here.
“He—He was outside. I saw him drive away, and…”
Damn, it was cute as hell.
“I know he was here,” I said closing the door behind me. “I’m the reason he went away.”
I swept into her apartment and started turning on lights. After touching a few of the switches, I realized the lights were already on.
“Energy-saving bulbs,” Hayden rolled her eyes, answering my unasked question. “Cole swapped them out when he changed everything else in the apartment.”
“What the fuck is wrong with him,” I swore, looking around.
“How much time do you have?” Hayden chuckled.
Her laugh triggered a flood of memories, instantly bringing a smile to my face. I missed it so fucking much! And shit, it’d only been a week.
The longest week of my life, though.
“Look, I know you made it clear you wanted to be left alone, but I had to tell you something.”
Hayden’s smile faded. She looked a little hurt. “I never said I—”
“Bigstick fuckhead has been tracking you,” I pointed toward the door. “He’s been following you around, practically everywhere you go.”
Her expression turned weird. Like she’d swallowed a handful of worms.
“H—How you do know that?”
I hesitated for an awkward moment, then shrugged.
“Because we’ve been following you around, too.”
There. I’d said it. It was out there, and she could be mad about it, or she could be—
Relief crashed over me as Hayden flung herself back into my arms. This time I held her tightly, feeling the warmth of her body pressed solidly into my chest. I wanted to hold her like this forever.
Even more, I wanted to pick her up and take her home; to keep her safe and protected for the rest of her beautiful, gorgeous life.
“But how?” she eventually mumbled. “There’s no way Cole could’ve followed me. I made sure I wasn’t—”
“He’s been tracking you through GPS,” I cut her off. “He put a Tile on your car.”
Hayden’s mouth dropped open. I’d forgotten how pretty a mouth it actually was.
“It was attached to the inside of your wheel well,” I went on. “Stupid place for it, really. Easy to find. A few hours ago we tucked it into a Faraday bag, and gave it to a friend of ours who runs long haul trucking routes. He just pulled it out of the bag, and it started transmitting again.”
Realization dawned on her quickly. “So that’s why Cole just took off!”
“Yes.”
“Holy shit.”
I laughed. “Our friend’s halfway to Ohio already. Cole’s got some catching up to do.”
Hayden looked confused. “Wait, wouldn’t he notice my car is still here? In the parking lot?”
I shifted nervously. “We uh… moved your car. Temporarily.”
“Holy shit,” she said again.
“It’s parked a block away from our place,” I told her.
“I’ll drive you over to get it in a minute.
But first, you needed to know you were being tracked.
Plus, it seemed like a good opportunity to send Dickwad Thunderjaw on a multi-state goose chase, while we were at it. Gives you a little bit of a breather.”
Hayden heaved a long, full-body sigh, and I felt her relax. Likewise, the last of my worries about coming here were falling away.
“And the three of you followed me too?” she pulled back to ask.
I swallowed. “Well… yeah.”
That pretty mouth twisted into a knowing smirk. “And how did you—”
“We have a Tile on your car, too,” I admitted. “Ours is in a much better spot though.”
Hayden sniffed, and grinned up at me. There were still tears in her eyes, but they were joyful ones.
“And why were you following me?”
“Why do you think?” I shrugged. “To make sure nothing happened to you. To keep you safe.”
Her glassy eyes softened. I wanted nothing more than to lose myself, staring into them.
“Hayden, come home to us.”
The words tumbled out. We’d all thought them, we’d all said them. We just couldn’t bring ourselves to ask her.
Not after the pain of losing her that first time.
“I… I can’t,” she murmured. “I won’t watch Cole hurt you again.”
“Fuck Cole,” I snarled coldly.
She lowered her eyes and shook her head.
“Nothing he can do would hurt us more than you did by storming out of our lives,” I told her quietly.
“But the bar,” said Hayden. “Cole got it open again.”
“We got the bar open again,” I corrected her. “Bodie filed for an injunction. The judge granted us a temporary stay of license, while the repairs are being made.”
I could tell by her expression that she didn’t know. Either she’d assumed, or this asshole had taken credit for backing off on us.
“We’ve been going out of our minds, worrying about you,” I went on. “You’re not safe like this. This guy is obsessive and violent. And he’s vindictive, Hayden. You’ve seen it first-hand.”
She bit her lip and looked away, seeming even more adorable than before. I could sense the conflict raging in her mind.
“But if I do what he wants, he’ll eventually go away!” she offered, weakly. “If I just keep—”
“Hayden, come on. Listen to yourself.”
She stopped. I could sense the dam breaking.
“You’ve submitted to the whims of a total psycho,” I pressed, sweeping my arm around. “I mean, just look at this place. Is this really what you want?”
She didn’t have to look. She shook her head.
“Then why in the world are you giving him what he wants?” I pleaded. “You’re not doing this for yourself. And you’re not doing it for me, or Carter, or Bodie either, because seeing you like this is killing us.”
“But the bar…”
I stepped into her quickly, letting my hands glide to her waist. It was a simple thing to lift her onto the nearby counter. It was even simpler to shove her knees apart, so I could slide my body in closer.
“FUCK. THE. BAR…” I told her, through clenched teeth.
Finally, Hayden lifted her chin to face me. Her eyes glowed with excitement now, her expression fierce as our foreheads slowly came together. I lifted my hands to either side of her warm, unblemished cheeks. Sweeping her hair back, I could feel the heat of her lips, brushing against mine.
“I’ve missed you…” she whimpered, her hazel eyes searching.
I didn’t just kiss her, I drank deeply from her full, pouty lips.
Hayden was a glass of cool water; I was a man who’d crawled out of the desert, dying of thirst. She cooed into my mouth as she kissed me back hungrily, our tongues searching, our bodies coming together.
I was rock hard in seconds, and she hadn’t even touched me yet.
But I was sure touching her, as my hands rushed to reunite with the two smooth globes of her perfect ass.
There was a sharp intake of breath as I slipped my fingers even lower, exploring the molten junction between those supple thighs.
Her sleep shorts were thankfully short, and slipping past them was all too easy.
I buried two fingers as she moaned into my neck, then traced her own neck with the flat of my tongue.
I dragged it first to her ear, eliciting a wave of goosebumps, before kissing my way down to her shoulder.
“I’ve missed you too,” I whispered. “So… fucking… much.”
Hayden jumped as I curled my fingers, deep inside her warmth and wetness. Her palm slid over my dick, her fingers closing around it through the fabric of my jeans.
“Does that bed work?” I grinned, nodding through the open bedroom door.
“Forget that bed,” she murmured. “I barely even sleep in it.”
“You sure?” I teased, twisting deeper. “Would be a shame not to Christen it, no?”
But Hayden ignored me. The hand on my dick squeezed with purpose.
“Where are the others?” she whispered.
“Carter’s away,” I answered huskily. “He’s up in Albany meeting with some lawyers. But… Bodie’s home.” I felt my dick twitch as I pulled back to look at her. “Should I call him?”
Hayden’s lips were wet and full. Her eyes swam with an unbridled lasciviousness, deeper than anything I’d seen before.
“No,” she murmured, kissing me again. Then, pressing her lips against my ear:
“Take me home.”