Page 75 of False Idols

“He was watching me. Stalking me,” I tell him. “He knew about us.”

Beau growls but doesn’t stop walking. “Do you think he told anyone?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. But who would have listened to him?” I ask and clear my throat. “And even if they did, what would it matter? We weren’t doing anything wrong together.”

“Not entirely, no,” he says and stoops to pick up my bag. He shrugs it on his shoulder and grabs my hand. “Let’s go. I’m taking you back to my apartment.”

“I have to tell Sunny where I’m going first. We have to go back to the dorm.” As much as I hate the thought of going back to the dorm, I have to. I can’t let her wonder what happened to me and there’s no way I’ll be able to explain what’s happening over text.

“She’s not there,” Beau says and I stare at him in surprise. “Good timing really. They won’t be able to ask her where you are. By the time anyone realizes you were here, it won’t matter.”

“What? How do you know that? Where is she?”

“She’s on the way back to Texas right now.” We’re in the parking lot now. My car is just a few feet away and Beau holds his hand out to me when we’re in front of it. “Keys. Where are they?”

“How do you know she’s on her way back to Texas? W-when did you talk to her?” I reach in my pocket and hand them to Beau.

“Went by your dorm to find out where the fuck you were, because I knew you weren’t there. You don’t like attention. Figured you would have made a run for it but I didn’t think you were going to be this fucking reckless,” he says and sweeps a hand out over the graveyard behind us.

“I wanted to be alone!” I argue.

“You were a sitting fucking duck for any half assed psycho that had half a brain cell out here, Nevaeh!” Beau explodes back and grabs my throat. He slams me back against my car door. “The Reaper is out there hunting for you. He wants you and you came here to be alone? This is the stupidest fucking thing you could have done!”

Tears fill my eyes and I sag in his hold. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I didn’t think.”

“No, you didn’t and now we have that dead fucker out there. If I hadn’t come looking for you, he would have killed and raped you.”

“I know,” I whisper and grab onto Beau’s hand. He’s squeezed my neck and it’s hard to breathe, but I know he’s right, so I don’t fight. I relax in his hold and take what Beau’s giving me. “You’re right. I know. I’m sorry, Beau.”

Beau’s hand tenses and my air is cut completely. Just as my panic rises, he lets go. “Goddammit, Nevaeh. Don’t you ever do that to me again. I’m not losing you now and definitely not to some wannabe killer like that jackass.” He wraps his arms around me and pulls me to his chest in a bear hug.

He kisses the top of my head. “You should have let me kill him when I wanted to the first time and none of this would have happened.”

I smile because Beau would say that, but in his fucked up way I know he cares. “You’re sweet.”

“No, I’m not. I hate everyone but you. I’m not fucking sweet, but I love you.” He leans back to look at me and brushes my hair back from my face. “I love you, angel.”

My breath catches and I forget about the rope burns on my neck, The Reaper’s attack on me, and Dean’s dead body in the graveyard. Nothing else matters anymore. I don’t care about any of it. The only thing that matters are those four little words, Beau just said to me.

“Say it again,” I whisper.

He leans close, presses his forehead to mine and does as I ask. “I love you, angel,” he says softly. “Now, get your ass in the fucking car before the cops show up and we both go to jail.”

27

BEAU

The fact that I’ve almost lost Nevaeh twice in twelve hours doesn't sit fucking well with me. In fact, it pisses me the fuck off. I glance over at her to see how she’s doing and she seems fine. She’s looking out the window, eyes on the sign for the Burger Shack we all went to in high school. Even though it’s the afternoon, the neon red light shines bright in the window and reflects on her face. It’s hard to tell with her though. Nevaeh is good at keeping her feelings close to her. We’re in her car because I didn’t drive. The cemetery Nevaeh went to was close enough to her dorm that, after I saw Sunny, I walked. At the time it seemed smarter to head over on foot than doubling back to my apartment to drive, but so much could have gone wrong today because I took my time.

I fucking walked.

I should have ran, but I didn’t know what would be waiting for me in the graveyard. If I had shown up any later that motherfucker would have killed her. I can’t believe I fucking walked. I squeeze the wheel tightly and take in a deep breath before I let it out. I have to calm down. It’s not like I can kill him again, but if I could? Done deal. I’d do it again and again. As many times as Nevaeh wanted me to do it. I’m her weapon, the only thing she has to do is point me in the right direction and pull the trigger. Whoever gets in my fucking way to give her what she wants is dead.

“You okay?” Nevaeh asks. She’s not looking out the window anymore when I look at her. She’s watching me. She’s probably been watching me for a while.

“Fine,” I tell her.

She frowns and reaches over to put her hand on mine. “Everything is fine. I’m not hurt.”

---