so explosive that they shook that wall way over there?!”
Well, fuck me.
“It’s possible!” I snarled at her. I mean, I knew there were dicks in the world bigger than mine, but…fuck.
“Was there anything else on the shelf that…shifted?” she asked, and her voice told me everything I needed to know. She was still scared, but now she was pissed, thinking I didn’t believe her. And it wasn’t that I didn’t believe her, I just wanted to explore all other possibilities before zooming in on the worst one.
I walked over to the shelf and, making sure not to touch anything, I looked over the miniature potted plant and picture frame of my parents on the shelf and saw that they hadn’t been moved. In that moment, I knew Fallon’s concerns were valid.
Her fear was justified.
I turned to face her, and it amazed me how difficult it was to say the words that would bring her entire world crashing down again. We knew this was a possibility. We knew it’d be easy for him to find her as soon as she had started putting down roots in Brant. We had known this.
We. Knew. This.
“Fallon, I need you to list-”
“It’s just the rabbit, isn’t it?” she asked, though she knew the answer already. I’m sure it was written all over my face.
I walked back towards her on the counter until I was standing in between her legs. I cradled her face in my hands. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Fallon.”
“How did he get into your house, Xander?” she asked, and even though I knew she didn’t mean to, it made me feel like shit. I promised to protect her and, yet, it’s possible that someone’s been in my house. I never had the needs for cameras because…well, this was fucking Brant; crime was minimal. But looking back, I should have had them installed the second Fallon had agreed to move in with me.
Arrogance is a motherfucker.
“Baby, I don’t know,” I told her honestly. “But I’m going to go throw some clothes on, and we can go to the store and buy some cameras. I’ll install them immediately.” I had thrown on some sweats I after pissed and brushed my teeth because the crashing of the coffee mugs had caused me to run out of the room half dressed. “Let’s get dressed, Fallon.
“No,” she whispered, and I was sure I heard her wrong.
“What?”
“I said no,” she repeated.
“Why the fuck not?” I was getting whiplash here. She was scared, but she didn’t want me to buy any cameras. What the hell?
Fallon shook her head, dislodging my hands, and jumped off the counter. I didn’t miss her wince as her feet made contact, but she didn’t complain about the sensitivity. Tomorrow her feet were going to be more tender and that was going to suck.
She looked up at me and fucked me up further by stating what was running through my mind not minutes before. “This was expected, right? We knew there was a chance he’d come after me. Cameras don’t help, Xander,” she said. “Or, at least, they haven’t helped in the past.”
“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t get them,” I argued. “They’re good to have for a million different reasons, Fallon.”
Fallon reached out and wrapped her fingers inside the waistband of my sweats. It was an oddly intimate thing to do. It was something couples did, and even though we slept together last night, I hadn’t expected her to become so comfortable and affectionate so quickly.
“Xander, I’m tired,” she replied, her lips trembling, but her voice was tired sounding as fuck. “I’m scared, but, God, am I tired.”
“Fallon, I…know we agreed that…I knew why you chose to stay and make a life here. I knew you were ready to stop running, but…” Christ, I wasn’t ready. Even if she was ready to stop running, I wasn’t ready to face this so quickly. “Fallon, baby, I need the cameras,” I told her. “There’s no way I’ll be able to go to work on Monday knowing he’s here.”
“Cameras don’t help, Xander,” she repeated.
“Well, then let me call the police,” I replied. “If nothing else, they can be on the lookout for strangers new to town.”
“Why don’t we-”
The sound of shattering glass had me racing towards the back of the house. I looked back over my shoulder and yelled, “Get in the fucking attic now, Fallon!”
“Xander-”
“Get in the goddamn attic now!” I needed her safe, but when I heard another window shatter, it turned