Page 30 of The Pass Protection
Clearing my throat, I take the envelope out of his hands and push open the door. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You sure?” JP asks as they follow me inside. I can feel their silent questions.
“I said I’m fine.” Moving through the hallway, I grip the envelope tighter as I step inside my room.
As soon as I step into my room, relief and security wash over me, as false as it may be. I could feel the panic wanting to pull me under like waves crashing in a hurricane. The midnight blue comforter and vibrant, jewel-toned floral pillows on my full-size bed seem to absorb my distress. The greenery from my faux plants offers some semblance of peace. The drawn blackout shades block out the chaotic world, allowing my room to be the haven I’m desperately searching for.
Tossing my duffel bag on my floor, I take off my sneakers before climbing into bed. Cocooning myself between my soft sheets, I close my eyes and practice a few breathing exercises. I can feel the heaviness of not knowing what’s inside the envelope weighing down on my safe place. But I’m not ready to open it. I’m not ready to face the reality that I’m not safe here. He’ll always find me no matter how many miles I put between myself and Arizona.
A knock on the door startles me as I flicker my eyes open. The breathing exercises must’ve done the trick. I didn’t realize I had dozed off.
“Come in.” Clearing the sleep from my voice, I bring my arms over my head, stretching out the stiff muscles.
Familiar blond hair is the first thing I see as the door opens. “Damn, it’s like a cave in here. Are you secretly Batwoman?”
“Shh, don’t tell my secrets.”
His lip tips up in a smirk, but he hesitates to step inside the door. I follow his movements as he places his hands in his khaki shorts pockets sans shirt. Reaching over, I flip on the lamp from my bedside table. The light cascades the room in a warm glow.
“Holy shit,” I gasp as my eyes land on the enormous black and purple bruise on his rib cage underneath his cross tattoo.
He hisses as he glances down, running a finger over the bruise. “Yeah, that last hit hurt like a bitch.”
Late in the fourth quarter, Crew jumped to catch a high throw from Tyler when the defender came out of nowhere and drilled him in the rib cage. It was a brutal hit, and Crew hit the ground even harder. He was on the ground for a few minutes as he regained the wind that had been knocked from him.
Crew shifts his weight from one foot to the other before running his hand down the back of his neck. I’ve noticed that’s a tell of his when he’s feeling nervous or uncomfortable.
“Just spit it out, Crew.”
His eyes bore into mine, and I fight the urge to cower underneath my asylum of blankets. “What the hell was that earlier? What was in the envelope?”
Shit, the envelope. I fell asleep and never opened it.
Scanning the room, I find it on the floor beside where I tossed my duffel. Crew’s gaze follows mine as it lands on the white paper.
He’s bending down and picking up the tainted letter in two strides. Flipping over the envelope, he inspects it as if he has x-ray vision and can see inside the sealed envelope. Crew’s long legs eat up the space separating us, and before I know it, he is hovering above where I am still sitting in bed. White envelope in hand, he stretches his arm out for me to take the letter. With jerky movements, I do just that.
Nibbling on my lower lip, my fingers tremble as I slide one between the sealed paper. The crinkling of the seal breaking has my nerves completely frayed.
Breathe, Bret. Breathe.
The mattress dipping has my attention snapping up. Crew is sitting opposite me, watching me. There’s comfort in knowing that I’m not alone. When my mind is screaming to run and not trust any man, Olivia pops into my head, reminding me that they aren’t all like him and that I need to listen to my gut. If I get the ick from someone, then I need to trust that, but if there’s the tiniest bit of spark, I need to listen to it.
Being in Crew’s proximity is like igniting a volcano. My emotions pour over like hot lava. I can’t get enough of him. There’s something deep inside of me that is tethered to him. I knew it at Christmas, and I knew it when I saw those mocha eyes the day I showed up on this doorstep.
The seal gives free, and hesitantly, I slip a finger inside. Pulling out the contents, my body sags when I realize it is nothing—absolutely nothing to be concerned about. A tri-fold pamphlet with all of the details surrounding the intramural basketball league I applied for and our game schedule sits inside. There’s a sticky note attached to the pamphlet explaining that the student in charge of intramural sports lives in the complex, and he decided to tape it to my door to save a stamp and the delay in mailing it.
“Okay, I’m going to go ahead and assume that’s not what you thought was inside the envelope?” Crew’s deep voice startles me. I was so concerned in my head that I forgot he was sitting in front of me.
I shake my head but don’t say anything else. I know what’s coming, and I don’t think I can avoid it now after my reaction. And the thingis, I want to trust Crew. I mean, I do trust him. I wouldn’t have slept with him the other night if I didn’t feel an emotional connection.
“How much time do you have?”
He glances down at his smartwatch. “We need to leave for family dinner in an hour.”
I nod. An hour, I can purge my fucked-up story and still have time to get myself together before I’m forced to attend a dinner with a bunch of people I don’t know or barely know.
“My ex-boyfriend has been a bit of a bastard since we broke up in the spring.”
