Page 54 of Echoes of You

I blew out a breath. “Just memories.”

“Your dad?”

“Adam,” I confessed. Just saying his name reminded me that I hadn’t told Nash about the latest barrage of texts. But, honestly, what good would that do? It would only piss off my best friend all over again.

Nash’s jaw tensed. “He doesn’t deserve a single second in your brain.”

“I know that. But that doesn’t mean I can stop it.” My words had a bite to them. Annoyance that he’d think Iwantedto think about Adam combined with hurt at him taking off.

“Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I just hate the idea of you thinking of him at all. I want your mind to be a clear and happy place.”

A little of my frustration bled away. “I want that, too, but I think it’s going to take time. Knowing that my dad might be out on parole just makes things harder.”

Nash toyed with the edge of my blanket. “Talked to Law.”

I looked up from Nash’s hands, needing to see his eyes.

“Your dad was granted parole. There’s been an overcrowding issue, and they’re looking to release prisoners with good behavior.” Nash’s words sounded mangled, as if he could barely get them out.

And what he said hit me like a physical blow. I’d come back to Cedar Ridge to feel safe, and now that might be taken from me, too.

“He’s not out for another two weeks, and Law has the paperwork ready for an order of protection. He’ll have to keep one hundred yards from you at all times.”

“And how the heck is that going to work in a town the size of Cedar Ridge?”

“If he enters somewhere you are, he’ll have to leave.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache coming on.

Nash slipped his hand under my hair and kneaded my neck. “I picked up the papers at the station. All you have to do is sign. It’s a level of security you need right now. If he screws up and breaks it, he’ll go back to prison and have to serve his full sentence.”

I rolled my lips together, my teeth biting into them. It would be worth it for that. It wasn’t as if my dad wouldn’t know where I was living. He could find out in two seconds. “Okay.”

Nash’s brows rose. “Okay?”

The shock on his face startled a laugh out of me. “You’re shocked at me being agreeable?”

“Honestly? Yes. You’re the most stubborn person I know.”

I pinched his side. “I am not.”

Nash’s lips twitched. “Do you remember what happened the first day of middle school when you were determined to carry all your books?”

I’d filled my backpack so full that I’d fallen right over. I glared at Nash. “It’s rude to bring up embarrassing moments.”

He snickered. “You almost knocked yourself unconscious.”

“You have a few zingers, you know. How about the time your mom found thespecialmagazines under your mattress and—”

Nash clamped a hand over my mouth. “We never speak of that day. Ever.”

I couldn’t hold in my laughter. Soon, tears were streaming down my face, and Nash had to let me go. “She got you condoms.”

“It was the most traumatic sex talk imaginable. She tried to use Grae’s old Barbies to demonstrate things.”

The tears only came harder as I tried to get myself under control. “You couldn’t look at her for like a month.”

Nash threw up his hands. “Would you have been able to?”

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