Chapter 9 #2
I twisted the handle and pushed the door open to find Aimee sitting in her bathtub, fully clothed, her knees pulled up to her chest. Her face was blotchy and streaked with mascara, her blue eyes wide and terrified.
The sight of her like that—my fierce, confident Aimee reduced to this—made something protective and furious surge through me.
“Hey,” I said softly, shaking Troy off my back so I could step into the bathroom. “I’ve got you.”
She practically launched herself at me, arms wrapping around my neck as I caught her.
Her whole body trembled against mine, and I could feel the dampness of her tears soaking into my shirt.
She was warm and soft and fit perfectly in my arms, and I lifted her easily against me, burying my face in her hair, breathing in the citrus scent of her shampoo as my racing heart calmed.
“You’re not hurt?”
“No. I panicked and threw my phone at them and sprinted to the bathroom. There were so many,” she whispered against my shoulder. “They were everywhere, Rhett. In the box, on the floor—I think one went under my couch—then the pounding on the door started—”
“Let’s get you out of here,” I said, holding her tighter. “Then we can figure out the rest. Troy, can you check the hallway?”
Troy, who was still hovering in the bathroom doorway looking like he might bolt at any second, nodded jerkily. “If I see one, I’m not responsible for my actions.”
“Just make sure the path to the front door is clear,” I said.
He disappeared, and I heard him making weird hissing noises.
“What is he doing?” Aimee whispered.
A smile twitched around my lips. “I have no fucking clue. Turns out our Troy has a snake phobia.”
She blinked. “I’m sorry. Maybe you’d better go help him? I just… I need a minute.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about, Aims. I’m going to carry you out of here,” I said, shifting to get a better hold on her.
“I can walk. I’m not an invalid,” she said, a little of the fire coming back into her eyes.
I cradled her closer. “Let me have this, Aims. Not ready to let you go yet.”
She huffed out a breath, then nodded against my neck, and I scooped her up properly, one arm under her knees and the other around her back.
“Clear!” Troy called from somewhere near the front door, his voice pitched higher than normal. “But move fast because I think I heard something in the kitchen!”
I carried Aimee out of the bathroom, moving as quickly as I could without jostling her.
She kept her face buried against my shoulder, her breath ghosting across my collarbone as she shuddered against me.
I caught a glimpse of a bigger snake disappearing behind her entertainment center as we passed and sped up.
Troy was holding the front door open, his eyes scanning the floor like a soldier in a minefield. “Go, go, go!” he urged, and I didn’t need to be told twice.
Troy slammed Aimee’s door and rushed ahead of us to unlock our apartment, and I carried Aimee inside, kicking the door shut behind us with my foot. Only then did she lift her head, looking around our space with wild eyes.
“Did any follow us?”
“No snakes,” I assured her, but Troy was already on his hands and knees, checking under our couch.
“Can’t be too careful,” he muttered, army-crawling across our floor to peer under the entertainment center. “They’re sneaky little bastards.”
There was a plaintive meow from the other room. “Troy, stop hunting for snakes and let the kittens out of the kennel.”
Troy popped up. “Right! Kittens are predators. I’ll train them to do the snake hunting.”
I shifted Aimee in my arms and headed for our couch, settling down with her still in my lap.
She curled into me, her trembling starting to ease slightly now that we were in a snake-free zone.
I rubbed her back in slow circles, the way my mom used to do when I was scared as a kid, slowly becoming aware of the soft curve of her breasts against my chest and the press of her firmly muscled thighs against my own.
“Checking the windows!” Troy announced from across the room as he reappeared with two bouncy kittens trailing behind him. Fuck, that was cute. Cheeto attacked his leg as he methodically checked each latch to make sure it was secure, muttering something about possible gaps for infiltration.
“Troy, I don’t think snakes can climb seven stories,” I pointed out.
“You don’t know that!” He moved to check the kitchen window.
Aimee hugged me tight, then leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Go help Troy.”
“I think he’s got the stealth snakes handled,” I joked.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “No. Help him with how scared he is. He’s freaking out.”
I looked over at Troy, who was now checking behind the curtains with exaggerated caution as Olive hopped up onto a low windowsill to peer out, and realized Aimee was right. His movements were jerky, his breathing shallow. He was really upset.
“Stay here,” I told Aimee, pressing a kiss to the top of her head before easing her off my lap. “I’ll be right back.”
I crossed to where Troy was peering into our coat closet, his shoulders rigid with tension. Without warning, I wrapped my arms around him from behind, pulling his back flush against my chest.
“You don’t have to be scared anymore, baby,” I whispered, not entirely sure where the pet name had come from.
“Scared? This is just appropriate caution!”
“We were both there when you climbed me like a tree back in Aimee’s apartment,” I murmured against his ear, feeling some of the tension leave his body as he recognized my touch.
Troy let out a surprised laugh, turning in my arms to face me. “I was seeking tactical high ground,” he shot back, but his voice was shaky. “Not my fault you lack basic survival instinct.”
I softened, cupping his face in my hands and tilting his head up to meet my eyes. “Hey. You can climb me like a tree any time you like, okay? Snakes or no snakes.”
His dark eyes searched mine, vulnerability flickering across his features. “Even when I’m being ridiculous?”
“Especially then,” I said, and kissed him.
It was different from our frantic kisses in the elevator—slower, deeper, meant to ground him.
Troy melted against me, his hands gripping my shirt as he kissed me back with desperate relief.
I poured everything into it, trying to tell him without words that he was safe, that I had him, that being afraid didn’t make him any less brave.
When we finally broke apart, Troy’s breathing had evened out, though his fingers were still twisted in my shirt. “Fuck,” he breathed. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Make everything feel less scary.” He leaned his forehead against mine. “I know it’s stupid. I pull people out of burning buildings, but put me in a room with a snake and I turn into a five-year-old who just saw a clown.” He frowned. “As a note, I’m also not fond of clowns.”
“It’s not stupid,” I said firmly. “Everyone’s afraid of something. You just happen to be afraid of… what did you call them? Legless reptiles.”
“Legless death noodles,” he corrected, and I grinned.
“Whatever you want to call them.” I pulled him closer, pressing another quick kiss to his lips. “But right now, we need to focus on Aimee. If she’s admitting she wants our help, she must be really fucking scared.”
Troy’s expression darkened instantly, all traces of fear replaced by protective fury as we both turned our attention back to Aimee, sitting on either side of her.
Aimee made a sound that might have been a laugh or a sob. “I’m sorry. I’m being ridiculous. You don’t have to—”
“Stop,” I said firmly, pulling back to look at her face. “You’re not being ridiculous, and you haven’t ruined anything. Someone left you a package full of snakes and a threatening note. That’s fucked up, Aimee. And terrifying. If anyone has ruined anything, it’s that asshole.”
“Didn’t help that that guy started pounding on the door right after I opened the box,” she muttered. “Do you think he brought the snakes?”
“Jordan? No. We’ve hung out with him a few times. He’s an idiot, but not that kind of idiot, I don’t think,” I said, frowning.
“Maybe we’d better have the cops follow up with him, though,” Troy added.
She shuddered, her soft body pressing close to mine. “If it’s someone in our building…”
“We’ll get the police over here and find out who did this. Make sure your apartment is secure. Do you think the snakes are from the same bully you mentioned the other day?” Troy asked.
“I don’t know. The language seemed the same, but I get those kinds of emails pretty regularly. After a while, you just learn to ignore it. There’s nothing you can really do to stop it.”
“Fuck, Aims. That sucks,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around her. There was nothing more I wanted to do right now than sit with her and hold her until she stopped looking so fragile. Aimee almost never looked unsure of herself, and it was heartbreaking to watch her fall apart.
“Clearly, I should have taken him more seriously, but I thought it was just keyboard warrior bullshit, you know? I never thought he’d actually…”
“Find your address and leave you a box of snakes?” Troy filled in. “I think it’s fair to say zero people would expect that.”
She laughed a little roughly. “Yeah. You’re probably right. I know a way to recover the ones I deleted. And they contacted me on social media, too. That leaves digital footprints. Maybe we can help the police catch this guy.”
“We will,” Troy said. “We’re here for you, anything you need.”
“What if I need my phone?”
Troy blinked. “Let me revise that. Anything except going back into your apartment before the police get rid of those damn snakes.”
Aimee laughed, then reached over and hugged Troy tight, and something tightened in my chest as I watched him melt against her, burying his face in her hair and breathing her in.
I let them hold each other for a minute, rubbing her back with one hand while I reached out and captured Troy’s hand with the other.
He threaded his fingers through mine, giving my hand a squeeze.
“We’ve got you, Aims. Okay?” I said.
Aimee smiled, blowing out a shaky breath before backing away from the hug and wiping her hands on her jeans. “All right. I guess it’s time to call the cops.”
I nodded and reached for my phone. “I’ve got a friend who just got promoted to detective. We’ll make sure they take this seriously this time around.”