Page 14 of Entangled By You
Lately… that’s whatshethinks.
“I’ve been keeping an eye on her since that cop showed up at your place. Did she mention they’ve been harassing her at work?”
He stiffens against the door. I guess that answers that.
“Well, that makes this request even easier. She’s worried Evan is hiding out, biding his time.”
I scoff a chuckle at that. “Well, we both know that’s not happening.”
“Right, but she doesn’t, and while knowing the truth would settle her nerves, she can’t know. If what you say is true and the fucking cops are still sniffing around her, then she really can’t know. But that leaves us in a predicament.”
“And what’s that?”
“She doesn’t feel safe.”
“But she is.”
“Maybe, but what if the cops take it up a notch?”
“So, have her move in with you and Harlow. I’m not sure how this involves me.”
His unblinking stare tells me he knows. He’s not oblivious to my behavior around her. Well, that or Harlow opened her big mouth. She gets extra chatty when she’s high.
“She refused when I offered and then threatened me if I pulled another sneak move like I did with Harlow.”
That doesn’t surprise me. She wouldn’t get away with shutting herself in at home if she moved in with them. There’d be no more hours spent in a heap on the couch. No more, drinking herself into oblivion every night. Not that she should be doing that anymore in her condition. Fuck, that’s another reason she likely said no.
If she’d told them yesterday, there’s no way Si would be here asking me this. But it’s not my business to share with her brother.
So, what am I supposed to do?
“Okay?”
“You need to move in with her.”
I choke on a surprised breath. “Nah, man. That’s never going to happen.”
“She’ll get over it, whatever it is between you two. Harlow refuses to tell me, but I know it’s something.”
Yeah, it’s fucking something, alright. She ripped my heart out, tossed it through a meat grinder, and then made me watch for a whole year while she cozied up with Mr. Golden Boy. Graduation couldn’t come fast enough. I kept my head down, hung out with Branson and Lo, and faded into the background like I never existed to her in the first place. Then months meshed into years with Lexi out of my everyday life, and the sting of losing her started to lessen. When Harlow called me up that night, told me what he did to her, and what she’d done in return, all those repressed feelings about her came flooding back in.
Evan was an asshole even back in high school, yet she left me for that piece of shit, and he almost stole her light from this world. That was the wake-up call I needed.
Silas waits expectantly for an answer, but I need a minute to process what he’s asking of me.
Storming into the bathroom, I slam the door behind me, rifling through the bottom drawer for my stash that’s hidden in an old breath-mint tin. I just need a little something to take the edge off. The small plastic zip lock only has three pills left. I shake one free, crush it under the empty glass on the sink’s edge, and snort the powder quickly.
It burns, but the effects should hit quickly and last for what the rest of the day has in store. There’s still something there between Lexi and me. It’s messy, unstable, and one hundred percent based on her mood in the moment. If she’s already pissed off at Si, my showing up at her door, bag in hand, isn’t going to be pretty.
But everything he’s said is true. She’s scared. She needs someone to look out for her, because she sure as fuck has been doing a piss poor job on her own. And the cops are only likely to amp up their badgering the more the mayor leans on their necks.
It looks like Si’s getting his way after all. I’m moving.
Shoving the bag in my pocket, I wipe the leftover powder from under my nose and walk back into my room, finding Si exactly where I left him.
“You done having your little moment?”
“You’re a fucking asshole, you know that, right?”
