Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Sloan
It’s been two weeks since I found that taunting letter, and I’ve been on edge the whole time.
I constantly feel like someone is watching me.
I’ve reverted to the girl I was in college; looking around corners, waiting for my bully to jump out and torment me.
The memories of my college hell have returned to the forefront of my mind from where I buried them years ago.
Especially when I arrive at the studio and find a vase sitting on the stoop with a dozen black dahlias.
They’re just like the ones Dean gave me after the Spring Showcase my junior year, but I refuse to let myself think it’s him.
The fact that I have no idea who’s invading my space this time doesn’t matter; my enemy will always wear Dean’s face in my mind.
It’s the reason I have a picture of his face on the dartboard in my bedroom.
Any time I feel like I’m slipping back into the self-conscious girl I was in college, I throw a few steel-tips right at his—not so—ugly mug.
But I don’t think that’s going to work this time.
I’ve considered talking it through with my sister several times, but she’s been distracted with work.
She was assigned to investigate the attack on a tattoo shop owner that she responded to as a deputy over a year ago.
That day changed Becky’s life since she and her partner were hit in their patrol car by the attackers.
She spent weeks in the hospital and lost her chance to become an FBI agent as she’d planned.
It worked out for her in the end, though.
She fell in love and ended up marrying her doctor in Vegas right after being offered the role of Lead Detective of Thorngrove Sheriff’s Department’s Southside Division.
It is a new department, trying to cut down the crime rate on the bad side of our college town before it erupts into the main areas.
Her partner and closest friend, Tyler, is the junior detective working with her.
I know working the case that landed them both in the hospital is making them relive the nightmare all over again.
Anytime I ask Becky how it’s going, she changes the subject.
I’d usually push the issue until she confides in me, but this time, I’ve let her keep these cards close to her chest. Just like she did for me when I didn’t want to talk about the reason I came home after college instead of accepting the invitation to join a prestigious dance company.
Five Years Earlier
“What do you mean, you’re not going to accept it?” Becky shrieks when I tell her I’m coming back to Thorngrove next week instead of starting at the Cherokee Falls Dance Company.
“I can’t stay here, Becky.” I take a breath to stop my tears from spilling over and let it out with a sigh. “Dean will be a cop. Can you imagine the torture I’d endure, trying to avoid him?”
“Oh, Sloan.” Her voice is laced with pity and I hate it.
I’m not some wilting flower. I thought I’d be the life of the party when I came to college, but instead, I’ve spent the past four years avoiding parties because of the fear of his torture.
Because, despite what he said last year, I know that he and Riley go to some of the biggest parties.
I’m not just going home to escape him. I’m going to escape the girl he’s turned me into.
“It’s gonna be fine,” I say, putting every ounce of confidence I have left into my voice. “I’m going to use my savings to open a studio in Thorngrove. I can teach dance classes, and I won’t be tied to ballet. You know I love to mix it up. This way, I’ll be able to do that.”
“That’s true,” she admits. “I just want you to do what makes you happy.”
“Coming home will make me happy,” I say as Sheila steps into our dorm room. “I gotta run. I’ll see you next week. I love ya, little sis.”
“Okay. Love you, too,” she says before I end the call to get ready for the party Sheila convinced me to attend tonight.
“I’m so glad you’re finally coming to a party with me,” Sheila says as we walk toward the fraternity house holding the biggest party of the night. “I just hate that you’re leaving next week. I’m going to miss you.”
“We’ll stay in touch,” I promise. “Thorngrove is only an hour away.”
“That’s true,” she says as she reaches for the door and opens it to reveal exactly what I expected a college party to look like.
The furniture is all pushed against the walls, and guys are lounging as they watch girls in various groups dancing in the open space. As soon as Sheila and I have downed our first shots, we make our way back to the front room to show the sorority girls how real dancers get down.
An hour later, I’m still dancing with Sheila when two guys decide it’s a good idea to join us uninvited.
Sheila and I share a glance before shrugging as we continue to dance, facing each other with them behind us.
As long as they don’t get too handsy, there’s no harm in letting them think we’re dancing for them.
That is until a dark shadow falls over us and we turn to see Riley standing beside us with his fists balled at his sides as he stares daggers at the guy’s hand resting on Sheila’s hip.
I don’t know how I’ve known him for four years without noticing how big he is.
He towers over us, and his dark chocolate complexion only adds to his menacing demeanor as he grabs the arm of the guy standing frozen in fear.
I guess I’ve never really paid much attention to Riley since I’ve only ever seen him with Dean, who soaks up all of my attention when he’s around—no matter how much I try to ignore him.
As my errant thought conjured him from nowhere, Dean appears on my other side, pulling my attention from Sheila, trying to talk Riley down.
I lift my eyes to meet my bully’s gaze, but he’s not looking at me.
He’s glaring at the guy still standing behind me.
“Fuck off.” His voice is deep and demanding as he nods toward the door, sending a thrilling chill through me.
Wait. No. I do not like the way his voice sounds. I hate it. I hate him. Despite my inner scolding, my body lights up like a live wire when Dean wraps a hand around my waist and pulls me behind him as he squares off with my uninvited dance partner.
I run to Sheila’s side and we watch, slack-jawed, as Dean and Riley manhandle the guys out the front door before coming back to loom over us with scolding expressions.
“What the fuck were you thinking, Sloan?” Dean’s use of my real name has my fear spiking, and for the first time, it’s not him I’m afraid of.
“We were just dancing,” Sheila says weakly when Riley asks her a similar question.
“They didn’t ask us to dance,” I say, squaring my shoulders. “They just joined us. We didn’t see the harm…”
“Of course you didn’t see the harm,” Dean snaps, cutting me off. “You wouldn’t recognize real danger if it knocked you over your gorgeous little head.”
I’m still reeling from the last part of Dean’s outburst when Riley says, “Those guys don’t go to college. They’re drug-dealing gangbangers.”
I grab Sheila’s hand to stop mine from shaking.
I don’t say a word as I pull her toward the door with Dean and Riley following close behind us all the way across campus to our dorm.
After demanding that we stay inside for the rest of the night, they walked away, leaving us shaken at the thought of what could have happened if they hadn’t shown up when they did.
For the first time in four years, I’m thankful for Dean’s imposing presence in my life.
I wish I could get to know more of the protective man I caught a glimpse of tonight.
I don’t understand why he’s made it his mission to make me hate him, and I never will.
Because after tonight, I’ll never see him again.