Hooked (TKO 2)

Raegan looks up from her phone, and gives me a nod. As badly as I want to get information from her, I walk over to Garrett. He’s standing in the kitchen pouring Raegan a glass of tea. He grabs two beers from the fridge for us, and leads the way to the couch where Raegan is still focused on her phone. Her fingers move swiftly across the screen, not missing a single beat. She glances up to thank Garrett for the tea, but it sits untouched on the coffee table.

We sit in silence except for the constant tapping on the screen of Raegan’s phone. Garrett clears his throat, causing me to startle, and Raegan looks up smiling politely as she sets her phone on the table. Reaching for her tea, she takes a sip or two. Her phone lights up, and Hilary’s name shines brightly. I want to reach over and grab the phone to find out everything I want to know, but I don’t. Garrett would probably lose his shit. It’s bad enough he may not be pleased with Raegan or me when all the messages are revealed.

“Did you order the pizza, babe?” he asks, breaking the silence.

“I sure did. It should be here any minute now,” she says.

“Good, I’m starving.” I chime in, hoping to make this seem like a normal conversation. I want to jump into everything else, but I have to remember to take baby steps with this. I have no clue what the hell those messages say. Am I ready for it?

“I knew you two would be hungry so I ordered right before you got here. Happy to be back, Lance?”

All attention is on me, and I know I should just smile and say yes. Speaking may not be in my best interest right now.

“You know it. Seems these assholes had a bet going on me.”

“Garrett, you lost the bet?” she asks, wearing a frown.

“You were betting on me, too? Geez, Raegan, I thought you and I were on the same page.”

“We are, but it was just a bet. A bet Garrett lost.”

“Enough, you two,” Garrett says, just as the doorbell rings. “That would be dinner. I’ll be right back.”

As he walks to the door, Raegan reaches for her phone.

“You’ve been talking to her?” I ask impatiently.

“Uh, yeah. We’ve been talking a lot, actually.”

Before I can pry, Garrett returns with two boxes of pizza. My stomach growls, and for a moment, I’m able to forget what Raegan and I were just getting ready to discuss. Garrett opens the first box of pizza, and we all dive in like a pack of wolves. The first bite taste heavenly as the marinara dances across my taste buds. As I finish that piece and reach for another, Garrett begins to speak and I almost wish he hadn’t.

“So…Raegan, Lance tells me the two of you are on some sort of mission of goodwill, or whatever you want to call it.”

Raegan reaches quickly for her glass of tea as she nearly begins choking on her pizza. Even I begin to gag as I try to swallow the bite I just took.

“Mission of goodwill? What are we, superheroes?” she jokes.

“You tell me.” His tone is serious, his eyes locked on the both of us, narrowing in.

“I sure as hell know I’m not a superhero,” I retort, trying to lighten the mood. His gaze shif

ts to me, and my laughter stops. He’s clearly not joking.

“We’re both a little concerned about Hilary,” Raegan says. “I wanted to talk to her and find out what’s really going on. I needed a friend when I went through this same thing for myself, and I couldn’t open up to anyone. I wanted to be that person for her.”

“It’s not her dad doing it, though. It’s Travis. This is something you two probably have no business meddling in,” Garrett says gravely. “This isn’t the same thing you went through, not by a long shot. What do the messages even say? I want to know what you’re in the middle of.”

She glances at me with sad eyes as she opens the messages and begins to scroll up to the very beginning.

She takes a deep breath as she begins rattling off the beginning of the conversation. Raegan didn’t play around. She immediately expressed her concern for Hilary. When Raegan tells us the truth, the words twist in my gut.

After a friendly exchange, Hilary admitted that Travis threatened to kill her if she tried to get help. Hilary explained he had a terrible temper, and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Sex is something she dreads now, and she feels she has no way to escape him.

My veins throb in my neck, and I can feel my blood begin to boil. Garrett’s face looks the same and I know what he’s about to say. This is more than Raegan needs to be involved in.

“No more,” he snaps. “I know you feel bad for her, Raegan. Call the cops and report it. Let them deal with it.”

“Yeah, I’ll call James right now,” she says sarcastically, referring to her ex-boyfriend. Oh, our little fireball Raegan. She’s not going to let this go without a fight. She’s already become emotionally involved.