Page 112 of Foul Territory

“Yep. He’ll be here early in the morning to pick it up and he’sgoing to call me when the new tiresare on.”

“He couldn’t come tonight?”

“He offered, but I told him it can wait until the morning. It can’t get any worse.” She pouts, looking at her car one last time.

“Come on. Let’s talk to the cops so we can get out of here.” I put an arm around her and usher her toward the officer who seems to be in charge. She tells them everything that she remembers from seeing the guy at the bar—in my motherfucking seat no less—and then walking out to her car.

He makes his notes, repeats what he told me about the video cameras, and confirms that Sydney wasn’t harmed physically. The bile in my stomach crawled up my throat at the thought.

“We’ll be in touch,” he says, leaving us to finish taking photos and examining the guy’s car.

I open the door for her and wait for her to sit down. “I’ll take you to the station first thing in the morning to file charges.” I buckle and start the engine.

“I’ll get Nash to take me. You have baseball stuff and classes in the morning,” she says, staring absentmindedly out the window. She has her arms wrapped so tightly around herself you would think she was cold. I turn down the air conditioning just in case but I have a feeling she’s cold with fear.

“Why don’t you call Lauren and let her know you’re okay? She’s probably worried,” I say.

“How does she know what happened?” Sydney picks up her phone where I dropped it in the console next to mine.

“Ineeded Hart to call the police for me. I didn’t want you to know how serious the situation was. I was afraid…” I hesitate, searching for the right words to describe how I felt.

“I couldn’t handle it?”

I shake my head. “No. You can handle anything. It’s more me wanting to shield you as much as I can. I wanted to protect your peace. I don’t think I did a good enough job.”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit,” she says, before hitting the call button on Lauren’s number.

Hearing the two of them talk brings mixed emotions out of me. It reminds me of when I didn't trust Lauren but at the same time I was glad Sydney had her friendship. Lauren was quiet and didn’t ever want to come over to our place when Sydney would visit. It wasn’t until she started hanging out with Hart and I got to know her, I realized she had the biggest heart. She's a fighter and cares about everyone. She was exactly who Sydney needed. Who we all needed.

Learning that Lauren was Sydney’s first real friend since me, wasn’t something I was happy to hear. I’ve failed her way too many times. I won’t do that to her anymore.

I stop at a drive-thru and pick up some food. I don’t know if I can eat after all of that or if she’s hungry but I would rather have it just in case.

When we get back to my place, I start wondering at what point she's going to start fighting me for bringing her here instead of dropping her off at her dorm. She's been quiet since she got off the phone with Lauren.

Sydney helps with carrying the food, while I grab her bags from the back seat. Once inside, she heads to the kitchen and sits down at the table. I follow her lead, leaving her bags by the stairs. I’m glad Nash made it to bed. I make a mental note to update him on everything in the morning.

We eat in silence. I want to ask her how she’s doing but I think the answer is obvious. She is processing tonight’s events and I want to give her the space to do that.

“How’d your games go?” she asks, as she throws away her trash.

“Good. It’s going to come down to the final games against Enzo and Marco.”

“They will love that.” She starts up the stairs and I trail behind her.

“I’m already getting texts from Enzo.”

She laughs, but it’s barely audible. “Do you have something I can wear to bed?” she asks, once we’re inside my room.

“Of course. Do you want to shower?” I glance over my shoulder, as I grab a shirt from my closet. She nods. “Come on.” I place a hand on her back and escort her to the bathroom.

I turn on the water then dig in the cabinet for an extra toothbrush, a new shower cap, and anything else she might need. “I’ll give you some privacy, but I’ll be right outside the door. If you need me, just yell.”

She nods and I leave her to wait in the hall. Ten minutes later, she opens the door and walks out in my shirt. Fuck she’s gorgeous.

“I’m going to brush my teeth and I’ll be right there. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she says. I don’t believe her, but that’s okay. She’ll break when it’s time and then she can start to heal from this experience.