Page 111 of Foul Territory

I keep my head focused on what’s in front of me. This guy doesn’t deserve a second glance. The only thing I can think about is getting to Sydney.

As soon as I’m parked, I’m out of my car and rushing over to her. She’s frozen, sitting in her car.

“We tried to get her out but she didn’t respond,” an officer says as I pass him.

“Thanks. I’ll give it a go.” Even with my gentle approach, she flinches when I make it to her window. I place my palm against the warm glass. It’s something we used to do when we were teenagers.

If one of us were grounded and trapped in our bedroom, we would put our palm against the window and wait for the other one to hear our call. It was our way of letting the other person know we were there for them.

Her arm lifts and her palm presses against mine. The lock on the door clicks and I whip it open. For a second I think I should approach her with caution, but I need to feel her in my arms. I know this whole situation scared her more than she’ll let on.

Hell, sitting alone in a dark parking lot is scary enough without having some creep watching you across the lot, and then banging against your car and yelling obscenities at you.

Before I get a chance to scoop her up she is unbuckling her seatbelt and climbing out of the car. Silently she collects her book bag and cleans the back seat of her car, throwing miscellaneous items into a large reusable shopping bag. She pulls out her phone and begins to type furiously.

“Let me put these in my car.” I take her bags and put them in the backseat of my Camaro. “Is there anything else you need?”

She shakes her head, placing her phone to her ear. She sighs in frustration and then starts scrolling on her phone again.

“What are you doing?” I ask, approachingher.

“Trying to call for a tow. I need to get it to a shop. I need my car.”

Reaching for her phone, I say, “Let me—”

“I don’t need you taking care of me,” she snaps, cutting me off. “I don’t need you looking out for me. I can do this myself. Soon I’m going to be living alone in a state hundreds of miles away. You won’t be there to swoop in and save the day every time,” she says, frantically.The fuck I won’t.I cover my hand over hers and slowly remove her phone from her hand.

She is independent and strong. I love this about her. It isn’t her fault I’m the one with this overwhelming desire to take care of her. I also hear what she’s saying underneath her armor.

She feels alone. Her life is changing faster than she can blink at the moment and she’s feeling the impact. I want to reassure her I’m not going anywhere. If she thinks I’m not going to try everything I can to get drafted to North Carolina, she would be dead fucking wrong.

“I know you can do this by yourself, but I also know someone who can help.” I look up the contact on my phone and hit the call button.

“Kind of late for a call, man,” Milo says, tapping away on his keyboard.

“Don’t act like you were about to go to sleep. I can hear you gaming.”

“You know me well. What can I do for you?”

“I’m going to pass the phone to Sydney. She’ll tell you what she needs,” I say, my eyes focused on her. She rolls her eyes with a hint of a smile.

“Milo is Gage’s older brother. He runs the garage in town with his dad.” I hand over my phone.

While she’s working out the details with Milo, I seek out answers from the police officers who have been walking around casing the place and noting details from the incident.

“Hi. I was wondering if we were okay to leave or if you needed to talk to her tonight?” I ask the officer who has been searching through the guy’s car.

“I would like to get her side of things tonight for my report but she can make a formal statement at the station tomorrow. I’m sure she's ready to call it a night. Ray has cameras filming the parking lot. We’ll come back and get the footage from him to see if we caught him on tape.”

“Thank you,” I say, shaking his hand.

“Here’s my number if you need me for anything,” he says, passing me a small white card. “Stay close to her tonight. She’s lucky he wasn’t able to crack her window.” The officer nods toward Sydney.

“I don’t plan on letting her out of my sight for the rest of my life.”

He nods and I take that as my cue to leave and check on Sydney.

“Is everything all set?” I ask.