Rugged Daddy

“Who is it?” I whispered.

“I don’t know. I don’t recognize who it is. We’re going to stay in here until they leave.”

“So it’s not Charlie?”

“Not homeboy, either,” she said.

“What did he look like?”

“Not like either of them. Now hush,” she said.

The pounding continued as she and I hunkered down in her closet. I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around my stomach, putting yet another barrier between whatever was outside and my child. But after what seemed like an eternity, the pounding finally let up, and we heard footsteps retreat.

“Stay here,” Nikki said.

I reached for her to keep her with me, but she moved too quickly. I heard her footsteps falling against the floor of her home. My heart pounded so quickly, I thought I was going to throw up. I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes, trying to conjure Cameron’s arms around me. His strength against my chest. His lips on top of my head.

If he was here, he would know what to do.

“He’s gone,” Nikki said. She turned on the light in her bedroom before helping me up from the closet floor.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive. And if he comes back, I’m calling the police.”

“Something isn’t right. This isn’t good,” I said.

“You need to calm down. Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to get us some snacks from my kitchen, and then we’re going to resume our Ryan Reynolds movie marathon in here. We’ll pile in my bed, eat until we can’t speak, and then pass out and dream of his muscles all through the night.”

“Okay,” I said. “Can you get my phone, please?”

Nikki shot me a look, and I held my hands up.

“I won’t call him tonight. But I do think I’ll want to call him in the morning.”

.

I walked over to her bed and sat on the edge, waiting for her as my hands shook. Who had been at the door? What had they wanted? And how had they found us?

“You’re safe here,” Nikki said as she patted my leg. “Remember that.”

But as she handed me a bowl of chips and salsa, I wasn’t sure I was convinced of that anymore. I did know who I did feel safe with, though.

I couldn’t keep my eyes from panning over to my phone repeatedly as Nikki turned on the television.

CHAPTER 29

CAMERON

“I’m so sorry I ran,” Heather said as I caressed her hair. “I’m so scared and overwhelmed. I don’t know what to do with myself.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m just glad you’re back here and alright.”

I held Heather in my arms as she trembled against my body. She’d done such a wonderful job of being strong throughout all of this. I was honestly surprised she hadn’t run sooner. Hudson eyed me from the kitchen as he bit into an apple, and I shot him a look. Heather had called me early that morning crying her eyes out, telling me someone had come pounding on Nicole’s door the night before and scared the two of them to death. I’d tried calling her all through the night, especially when Hudson got to my place and told me Heather was at Nicole’s and not her own apartment.

I hadn’t wanted him to scare them, though. That had pissed me off.

“I knew something bad was going to happen to us,” Heather said. “I just knew it.”