Page 11 of Chasing After You
Oliver’s eyebrows rose in shock as he let out a small gasp. “Josh… I didn’t know you were adopted. Or, aren’t… anymore?”
I played with my earlobe, rolling it between my thumb and pointer finger—a nervous habit I had from childhood. “I’m sorry for hiding it from you,” I said dejectedly. “But, that’s kind of the point. I changed my last name and everything.”
Hudson hummed, looking at me with a calculating gaze. “Alright. So, you’ve been in hiding from your old family.”
“Just my little brother. Victoria—she’s his mom—she’s always known where I went and everything. But I promised her I’d never get in touch with Dori—sorry, Dorian—again.”
Oliver blinked, mouth slightly open, clearly trying to process everything at once. His grip on my hand tightened. “Wait, so… your mom’sokaywith you disappearing from their life?”
I nodded slowly. “It wasn’t… she’s not my mom,” I murmured. “Even if the adoption hadn’t been dissolved, she was never a mom to me. Or to Dorian, really.” I laughed sadly, the sound brittle in the air. “But she’s the one who helped me leave after… after some stuff went wrong. She’s never reached out since then, but she at least knows my new last name and who I went to live with and where.”
Hayes looked at Hudson, some silent message passing between them that I absolutely didn’t understand, but that made my stomach drop. The look predators give each other before deciding which one gets to chase the rabbit.
Hudson cracked his knuckles. “How long has he been tracking you?”
I shrugged, my shoulders curling inward. “I don’t really know. I think… years, maybe. It’s been like eight since I left. But he started making contact again about four months ago. At first, it was just weird wrong-number texts. Then there were calls. Now it’s voicemails. And the last one was just… breathing. Like he was standing too close to the phone… It was like horror movie level.”
Oliver’s face twisted in sympathy. “Josh, why didn’t you say anything sooner?”
I gave a helpless shrug. “Because this all sounds insane? Because I didn’t want you to worry. You already had so muchgoing on… And also because your boyfriends scare me and look like they were engineered in a lab to kill people?”
Hudson gave a low chuckle at that, not entirely denying it.
Hayes rubbed a hand over his mouth, eyes narrowing thoughtfully. “You said he might know where you are now. Why do you think that?”
I pulled my phone from my backpack, unlocking it with shaking hands and flipping to my voicemails. “Oh, uh… because he said this,” I murmured, then hit play.
Dorian’s voice filled the air.
“You know, I saw someone who looked just like you outside that coffee shop on Main. You still put too much sugar in your drinks.”The message ended in a long silence, then a soft laugh.“It won’t be long now, I promise.”
Oliver looked horrified. Hayes sat straighter, and Hudson looked me up and down. I suddenly felt way too big in the space, like an elephant in a…what was it? A tea shop?
“Alright,” Hayes said, standing up. “Here’s what’s going to happen.”
Oliver shot to his feet. “Hayes—”
“Pet,” Hayes said, firm but not unkind, effectively silencing Oliver, before turning to me. “You were right to come to us. You’re annoying, but Oliver’s attached to you, so…” He shrugged.
Hudson continued, “We’ll help. Not for you. For Oliver. Got it?”
I nodded quickly.
“You’re not staying at your place anymore,” Hudson added. “You’ll move in here. Today.”
“What?” I squawked.
“Today,” Hayes repeated. “We’ll handle the rest.”
Oliver looked between them and then at me. “I know they’re intense,” he said gently. “But theywillkeep you safe, Josh.I promise.” He then whispered low just to me, “If you’re not comfortable here, though—”
“No, it’s okay. Thank you. I just didn’t expect that.” I stared at them all, heart racing.
Oliver gave me a soft smile. “Tell me if they do or say anything weird to you, okay? I know you don’t know Lane that well, but that would be another option. Greyson scares me… but I think Lane would probably keep you safe.”
I nodded, perplexed at the “probably” in that sentence.
Oliver paused, as if realizing something. He turned to look at Hudson. “What about… you know?”
