Page 31 of Embers in the Dark

“No, this is really the highlight of my day.” I smile back.

“When do you watch my videos?” Hunter asks, with a confused expression.

“Yeah, Abby, when do you watch Hunter’s videos?” River and Clay ask at the same time as they walk up to the counter, Ella cooing in River’s arms. I guess River won the battle once again.

“I think this conversation is done. Clay, why don’t you show me around? I don’t think I’ve seen the firehouse since you came back from leave.” She’s already pulling Clay away from the kitchen, but not before she shoots me a murderous glare.

I throw a huge smile her way and another wink to solidify how much I adore her.

“Oh, but Abby, this conversation was just getting good. When again?” River won’t drop it.

She makes her way back to put her belongings down on the chair, all while glaring at her future brother-in-law.

“When I’m breastfeeding. You happy now, you assholes?” She looks at me and River. “You’re not an asshole, Hunter. You seemabsolutely lovely. It was wonderful meeting you. Don’t hang out with these dick pickles if you know what’s good for you. They’ll just corrupt you.” She gives him a sweet smile. Then she looks over at River and I one more time and points at us both, giving us the middle finger.

“Abby, come baby. I’ll show you around a bit. Maybe we can make out in a dark corner while River has Ella.” He chuckles.

“Oh, sounds hot,” she says. The minute she catches up to him, he slaps her ass and laughs.

As much as I give her shit, my heart squeezes because a part of me aches for a love as pure as what she has with Clay. I hope at some point I can find what she has. I long for a love that ignites all the corners of my life, even after it gets enveloped in darkness.

CHAPTER 11

Baylee

I’ve been avoidingTucker since that day he dropped me off on campus for orientation. Is it immature? Yes. Do I care? Absolutely not. I just don’t feel like dealing with my emotional freak out with him right now. I don’t want to have the conversation with him regarding how that rejection felt. It’s on me, not him.

I get it, he didn’t feel the same thing erupting between us that summer. It’s embarrassing and I don’t want to dwell on it. I assumed he was finally reciprocating my feelings back then and I was obviously imagining it. But then to hear that the date he went on was fake just set something off in me, I had to get away from him. The car felt suffocating.

So no, I don’t want to face him and have him pretty much say, “Oh, Baylee, you silly, naive little girl, I don’t see you like that. I just see you as my neighbor and my best friend’s little sister. Please don’t hate me. And you’re living with me because I also feel bad for you that your sick, monstrous ex-boyfriend hit you and you need to recover.” Blah, blah, blah.

Okay, I need to seek some help because I’m having full imaginary conversations now. But that’s how I imagineTucker talking to me. He’s a pretty sweet guy and I doubt he’d be demeaning in any way. I need to get out of this hole of self-pity I’m sitting in right now.

In all my years of crushing on Tucker, I never sat around and contemplated it like this. So why now? How is it consuming me this way? It all comes down to the timing of my relationship with Myles and the way he sucked out my self-esteem. This narrative I’ve written for myself is taking a toll on how I interpret the person I see reflected in the mirror today.

I’m walking on campus and today is the first time I haven’t been looking over my shoulder. Officer Tamos called me last night, letting me know Myles was arrested. The judge signed the arrest warrant and I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. I’m still in shock how long it took for the warrant to go through, but with his mother being a big-time attorney in the state, I shouldn’t have even questioned she would fight tooth and nail to ensure her son would avoid time behind bars. I should simply feel grateful an arrest was made.

I have to come to terms with the fact that Myles will likely be out on bail though. Officer Tamos explained the probability is high that it would happen quickly with his mother being motivated to get her son back to normal life. Luckily, he has to stay within the state of Connecticut, so being in Boston, I should be safely away from him. I sent a text to my family to give an update late last night. I also sent a text to Tucker separately, even though he was in the next room from me.

I make it to my class and I’m greeted by Jacob and Sydney. I met them at the orientation. They weren’t new to the school, but they were running the program that day and we instantly clicked. It was simply lucky they were in my kinesiology class and were all in the same major. Sydney is also double-majoring in sports medicine so she’s been helping me get acclimated into the university lifestyle and it’s been an easy transition.

I can’t ignore how much I miss my old roommates, though we’ve FaceTimed since I moved. They got back to the apartment two days after the attack. Danny was able to meet them there with the new keys. They let me know Myles hasn’t shown up at all, nor have they seen him on campus. My brother had gotten an alarm system installed that week after the attack, getting some cameras put in place for their peace of mind. They’re planning a trip out to Boston to come visit me in the next couple weeks and I can’t wait. Because of everything that happened with Myles, I’ve decided to stay here and they’ve been understanding about everything going on. I know that with the charges I had to file I’ll have to make my way back to Connecticut once we get closer to a hearing date, but I won’t do so until I absolutely have to.

My brother left my car with my parents, but I’ve been able to either get a ride or use a ride share app to get around the city. All my things are now at Tucker’s apartment, and I’m fully settled.

“Hey, how are you?” Jacob smiles up at me.

I grab a seat next to him. “I’m good. Trying to get back into the swing of things now that classes have started.”

“I know. I want to throw my alarm across the room.” Sydney moans.

“Well, maybe if you didn’t go to every frat party.” Jacob nudges her.

“You should talk. Your frat is one of the ones I go to every week.” She yawns.

“You should come, Baylee,” Jacob tells me. “They’re fun. We have a house off campus and the parties are usually Fridays and Saturdays. Friday we have a home football game, and we’ll host a party, then Saturday we’ll just have something chill at the house. I’ll admit, Friday will get a bit more rowdy though, so if you’re wanting something more laid back, Saturday is probably the way to go.”

“They’re a ton of fun,” Sydney chimes in.

---