Warning Track (Callahan Family #1) - Carrie Aarons Page 0,38
bit better, if not a bit more grounded?” he asks, ignoring my offer.
I nod, trying to check my state of mind. “I think I do. I’m exhausted, but I feel more … me, if that makes sense.”
The scruff on his jaw is distracting as he nods. “Good. Thanks for offering, but I think I need to get out of your hair. You need some alone time, and I hope you’re taking the day off. I also hope you’ll talk to someone. You should, okay?”
I gulp. I don’t want this trauma in my life. I’ve been through enough in the past six months, and this is just another thing I’m going to wrap my head around. But I know I have to do it, so I relent.
“I’ll figure something out.”
Rising to his full height, Hayes walks across the room so that he’s standing in front of me.
“Give me your number.” He fishes his cell from the back pocket of his jeans.
“Excuse me?” I’m taken by surprise.
Hayes has the humor to smirk a little. “Don’t worry, I’m not trying to hit on you. I just want to be able to check in. What you went through isn’t a light subject, Colleen, as much as you’re going to act like you’re tougher than nails. I admire that, I think we’re very similar in that way. But I’d like to be able to see how you’re doing. That is, if you’ll answer my texts.”
His explanation puts the first smile on my face in what feels like a very dark hour of my life. “Okay. And I’ll answer.”
And that’s how I end up giving Hayes Swindell my phone number.
The headlines are everywhere. They’re saying that the Pistons’ star player saved the general manager. That Hayes came to my rescue, insinuating that I’m some damsel in distress who needed his heroic hand. My personal favorite was an article that detailed how one of the players my father cheated and lied to had done the morally correct thing and saved me from rape.
As if he should have just left me to the wolves for what the Callahan family did to him in the first place.
And then there is the other speculation. Reporters have been on the news networks hourly, or blowing up my office line and my PR rep’s cell, asking why Hayes and I were together in that parking lot. Why were we the only two left at the stadium at that late hour? Why did he drive me home, and why was he there when I gave my statement to the police?
I would cry if I felt anything more than numb. The fact that they’re preying on this situation for clicks and romance gossip instead of focusing on the reality that two fans physically assaulted me …
I shouldn’t be surprised. This is what sold papers and got people tuning in. They wanted the dirty details, the sex that sells.
Of course, the minute the media got their hands on the police report and statement I gave, my family was blowing up my phone as well. Walker had already threatened to cut someone’s balls off, Whitney was breathing down my neck about her coming over to talk, and a variety of cousins and aunts were recommending therapists in the area who could help me.
The whole thing is just extremely overwhelming, and from my mental state to trying to get back on track at work, the last week has been a blur.
And then there is what’s actually happening with Hayes.
This will tie us together forever, like when you walk through an invisible spider web and are never able to wipe it off. Years from now, the trace of that night will still linger on our skin, on our permanent public file.
He’s been texting me every day for a week now, ever since he got my phone number before he left my house. He asks how I’m doing each morning, what I have planned for the day. At first, I was annoyed by his concern, but after a while, the checking in turned into actual conversations. Which is what I open up my phone to now.
Hayes: I can’t believe you watch this. There is no way people actually get married after three days of talking to each other behind a screen. This has to be fake.
Me: LOL it’s not. I may have found some fan accounts who stalked the cast members …
Hayes: Don’t tell me! I’m invested now. I hate spoilers.
Me: Spoilers don’t ruin shows for me. If anything,