without a bra, I decided to pay our stalker a visit.
“Phoebe!” they all shouted as I closed the door behind me.
The Texas breeze was chillier than I anticipated, and I pulled the t-shirt away from my chest to prevent him from getting an eye full. The man lowered his sunglasses as I approached. Without hesitation, I walked straight up and knocked on the driver window. The window lowered.
“Yes, Ma’am?”
“What are you doing here? I mean, is he paying you to stay for some reason?”
The man’s jaw ticked to the side. “Ma’am, I…”
“Phoebe. My name is Phoebe.”
“Yes, Ma’am. I know your name. I am here to protect you.”
I glanced around the parking lot. “From what?” I asked, raising my hands out to the side.
“Mr. Falsone could answer…”
“I’m asking you. Protect me from what?”
Two guys pulled up and parked in a car, looking over at us. Staring at me. Without answering my question, he opened the car door and I stepped back and watched him walk to the trunk of the SUV and get a blanket. Unfolding it, he handed it to me.
“What is this?”
As he sat back in the front seat, his eyes roamed to my lower half and said, “Mr. Falsone wouldn’t want you out here dressed like that.”
I glanced down and realized I wore only Austin’s t-shirt and a pair of panties. Mortified, I quickly wrapped the blanket around my waist, covering my legs as blood tinged my entire face pink.
“What are you protecting me from?” I asked again firmly.
“Whatever might take you away from Mr. Falsone. That wouldn’t be good.”
A funny sensation rippled out across my chest. A fluttery feeling. All I could do was stare into his mirrored sunglasses. Obviously, he stared back at me too.
“He won’t answer my texts,” I said like the guy was my therapist or confidante.
“I’m sorry.”
Awkwardly, I stood there not knowing what more to say. “Could you take me to him? I mean is that part of your job or is that not ok to ask? Never mind, I can drive over there.”
Uncomfortably, I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. Following an uneasy silence, he lowered his sunglasses and said, “Mr. Falsone left town.”
Chapter 16
AUSTIN
Two Reds
HEAVEN. SITTING ON the deck, the cool breeze blowing through my hair, sweatshirt on and the waves crashing in the distance…this had to be the closest thing. Except Phoebe wasn’t there. The sometime violent crashes of the ocean waves were indicative of the way we’d crashed a few days ago. The last couple of days were some of the hardest in my life. Phoebe turning her back on me, on us, crushed me. When Emma and I broke up, I knew there was someone out there for me even though I was hurt. Hurt hurts. But this… this never-ending, relentless ache in my chest. The continual replay in my mind of Phoebe’s smile, her damn nose scrunch, the beautiful face she makes when she orgasms—though she was self-conscious about it. No matter what I did, she was in the forefront of my mind. Even when I fought to focus on something else, to concentrate, she was there. She was in the wind. She was in the crashing waves. She was in the mirror. The girl was inside of me. A part of me.
Ignoring her texts was the hardest thing I’d done since walking away that night. She needed to think. I needed to think. Not about her. She was everything I wanted. Nothing I expected.
When I saw the flash of red hair and the hand waving crazily in the air, my pulse soared unhealthily. As she got closer, I realized it was different red hair. It wasn’t the perfect mess I loved. Emma must have been visiting.
“Hey you!” she shouted.
“Hey back. What are you doing here?” I hollered back.
She pointed back at their house. “Zach and I came up for the weekend. He’s watching some football game. I decided to go for a walk. What are you doing here? Phoebe here?”
I slid my sunglasses on to hide my eyes. Emma’d know if I was lying.
“No. Not this time. Just me.”
Casting me a sideways scowl, she said, “All ok?”
Slowly, I nodded and shrugged.
“What’s wrong?” she asked softly and sat in one of the chairs.
“May I ask you something?”
“I’m here, goofy.”
“Did you ever wonder what my parents did for a living?”
Brushing the red mane out of her face, she shrugged. “Well, we all joke around that it’s mafia since he goes to Chicago all the time