Page 43 of Warrior

“I know you were busy, I’m sorry I freaked out though. I don’t get a lot of blocked number calls.”

“Baby.” I kiss her again on her lips and cheeks. “Never apologize. You did nothing wrong. We’ll figure it out. I would rather be safe.”

She nods and a new sob breaks from her throat. Every tear she cries is like a punch to the gut. I hate that she’s afraid. It tears me up that we have to wait for that piece of shit to come out of hiding before we can wipe him off the face of the earth. I almost wish I could make his death slow and painful for all the turmoil he’s caused my girl.

I carry Lyric to the living room and sit with her on my lap. All I can do is hold her and stroke her back while we wait for Zane. I feel her pocket vibrate and she pulls it out, her eyes widening when she hands it to me.

“Shit.” I lift her off of me and run with the phone to Zane.

“Nothing on the cameras?—”

“Take it,” I cut him off and hand him the phone. He takes it quickly and connects it to another fancy device he has before connecting it to the computer.

“Is it him?” Lyric’s small voice asks from behind me, and her hand holds on to my shirt.

I pull her to my side while we watch Zane work. The computer starts tracing, and a map opens. The phone only rings one more time before it stops. The green lines on the computer spit out two more lines then flash red.

“All I got was that it's definitely coming from Tennessee. He’s still here,” Zane answers us, his eyes full of concern.

Lyric’s hands ball into fists in my shirt. “What do we do?”

“We wait,” I answer. “He doesn’t know where you are so he’s trying to play games, scare you. I wouldn’t doubt if this gets worse over the next few days. It might be better if you turn your phone off, baby.”

“But my parents.” She looks up at me.

“Put their numbers in my phone. I’ll work on getting you a new number and phone so you can transfer over your contacts, but until then, if you need to contact anyone, just put them in my phone.” I hand it to her.

Lyric’s fingers shake as she takes it. While she’s busy with that, Zane unhooks her phone and powers it off. He clears his throat and looks at Lyric and me.

“There isn’t anything on the cameras. None of the sensors went off either. I’ll keep monitoring it though.”

I nod. “We’ll take turns tonight.”

Lyric’s eyes move between us and I can tell she’s about to apologize or feel sorry or some shit that isn’t her fault.

“Don’t even,” I tell her and place a kiss on her lips. “Now, are you hungry? Did you eat yet?”

“No.” She shakes her head. “I was too anxious earlier. Nothing sounds good except popcorn.”

I smirk and take her hand, leading her back to the kitchen. She stands while I open the pantry door. “Popcorn it is then.”

Lyric watches in fascination as I take a bag from the box and put it in the microwave. Next, I grab the butter and slide a slab of it into a separate cereal bowl before grabbing the salt andpepper. Memories of doing this same thing years ago dance in front of my eyes, only this time, the usual bitterness that follows isn’t there. There’s just the longing in my heart that this is what life can be like. I missed so much with her over the years. Not just dates and celebrating important anniversaries, but things as simple as making popcorn how she loves it and chilling.

“Want to watch a movie or just some junk TV?” I ask her, finally turning to her and our eyes connect. Lyric is smiling and when the popcorn is done, I melt the butter and seasonings before pouring it on top and mixing it up. Lyric helps herself in the fridge, grabbing us each a drink and an extra for Zane.

I smirk. “Making yourself at home, Taylor?”

She laughs and flashes me a real smile before practically skipping back through the living room to the office to bring Zane his. When she comes back, we sit on the couch with me in the corner and Lyric sitting between my legs. We settle for watching reruns ofFriends, which I know will relax her the most, while we drink our sodas and share the popcorn. Soon we fall easily into our old pattern of shouting lines we’ve memorized over the years, right when the characters say them. Lyric always laughs when I do an impersonation of Chandler, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep that smile on her face tonight.

“I like this,” she whispers, sometime later. The living room is now dark; Zane joined us an hour ago, after making a frozen pizza. He freezes at her words, even though I’m not sure she can see him in the dark with just the reflection from the TV screen.

My arm squeezes her tighter. “I do too, baby.”

After a few more episodes, her eyes grow heavy and they start to close. I adjust so that her body can twist and she ends up with her head on my shoulder. She’s warm and smells so damn good. It’s soothing, and for the second time tonight, I get to envision what life could be like. Eventually, she falls asleep and I hold her in my arms to carry her upstairs.

“I’ll set an alarm for two hours. Then we’ll switch,” I tell Zane.

“Sounds good, brother,” he replies and takes the remote, looking for something new to watch.

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