I Just Need You - J. Nathan Page 0,19

knew where I lived. This wasn’t over. It was just a matter of time before they found me. “Mom, whoever sent the perfume sent it to our home. They clearly don’t know where I am. I think for the time being I’m safer here.”

“Have the police been called?” Tristan asked.

“They’re already on their way,” my mother explained.

“Good,” Tristan said. “Have security get that package out of your house.”

“Take that outside,” she ordered them.

“The police will need to check that package for bugs, tracking devices, and explosives.”

She sighed.

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Hastings. We’ve got things covered here. But your security needs to be on high alert.”

“Please keep my baby safe,” my mother said, as if I wasn’t right there.

He locked eyes with me. “You have my word.”

Tristan and I may have had our differences, but there was something about his assurance to my mother that made me believe he would protect me.

Tristan

I paced the hallway outside Kresley’s afternoon class, checking the stairwell and monitoring her social media newsfeed—the one that made it appear as if she transferred to school in New York. She’d been right when she told her mother she was safer here. She was. Marco and I wouldn’t let anything happen to her, especially now that the threat level had moved from potential to imminent.

The classroom door swung open at three on the dot. The professor stepped into the hallway and hurried toward the building exit like he always did, in a rush to get to his next class across campus. The students filed out next. I watched each of them leave, walking down the hallway to the exit—some talking to classmates, some with their eyes on their phones, and others with their earpods in.

My eyes shifted from side to side.

Alarm bells wailed in my head.

Where’s Kresley?

I rushed to the open classroom door, freezing as I stepped inside.

Kresley’s head was down on her desk, her left cheek resting on her arms and her blonde waves spread out all over the desk.

She was asleep.

Just like on the monitor, her eyelashes brushed the tips of her pink cheeks. A soft sigh escaped her lips and she looked so damn peaceful. Had the news of the package wiped her out? Had she felt safer sleeping in a room full of strangers than sleeping in a room by herself?

I glanced to the desk beside hers, contemplating if I should sit. Instead, I switched off the bright classroom lights and grabbed the door knob, closing the door quietly.

In the empty hallway, I sat down on the floor against the wall. She needed the sleep, and no one seemed to need the classroom. I wondered what Marco would say if he found out I let her sleep. Would he give me shit for ignoring protocol? Would he question my motives? If it were the other way around, there was no doubt in my mind that I’d question his.

Kresley

I jerked awake, my head springing up off the desk. The desk? My eyes shot around the dark empty classroom. How long had I been asleep? I snatched my belongings off the floor and stood, rushing to the classroom door. I threw it open and stepped into the hallway, nearly tripping over someone sitting on the floor outside. “Oh my God.”

Tristan looked up at me, his eyes softer than normal.

“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice echoing in the deserted hallway.

“Waiting for you.”

“Why didn’t you wake me? How long have I been asleep? What time is it?”

He pushed himself to his feet. Since he was a foot taller than me, I had to tip my head back to meet those teal eyes. “You clearly needed to sleep. It’s almost six.”

My eyes widened. “Six? Why’d you let me sleep that long?”

Indecision flashed across his eyes as they riveted between mine.

“What?” I asked.

He shook his head, clearly keeping something from me.

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me.”

He arched a brow. “You gonna stomp your foot, too?”

I stomped my foot.

He snorted. “So, what is this? A standoff?”

His question made my statement sound ridiculous, but I’d said it, so now I needed to own it. “Yes.”

“Well, I’ve got all night.” He sat back down on the floor.

Was he really doing this? Was I really doing this?

Damn him.

I sat down on the dusty floor a good three feet away from him.

A stretch of silence passed between us.

Too many questions rushed through my brain. What was he keeping from me? Had he heard more about the package? Why had he let me sleep?