“Come sit down.” It’s an order, and that sets my teeth on edge.
“Goodnight, Cobi.” I place my hand on the doorknob and start to turn it.
“I’m not leaving, Hadley. You might be too stubborn to admit you don’t want to be alone, but I know you don’t want to be. Not right now. Not after what happened last night.”
“I’m not stubborn.”
“You are.”
“I’m not.”
He smirks. “Come sit down.”
“You need to leave.” I open the door, but he still doesn’t move; his muscles don’t even twitch as he stares at me.
“I’m not leaving, baby, and although you look adorable in that robe, I doubt you want the image of you in it to be all over the news tomorrow,” he points out. I look outside then slam the door when I see there are two news vans parked on the street. God, I really hope they didn’t see me in what I’m wearing. I hear Cobi laugh, and my teeth grind together as I glare at him. “Come sit down.”
“Is it normal for a police officer to show up at someone’s house and then refuse to leave when they are asked to… repeatedly?”
“You don’t really want me to leave, Hadley.”
“You’re wrong, Cobi Mayson. I really do want you to leave.”
“How do you know me?”
For some reason, that question makes my pulse beat so hard that I feel it in my throat. “What?”
“How do you know me?”
“I don’t know you.” It’s not a lie; I don’t know him. Even when we were in school together, I didn’t know him—I just knew of him.
“Why are you lying?” He frowns, and I let out an annoyed breath. If he thinks I’m stubborn, he should look in the mirror.
“We went to school together.”
“We did?” His frown deepens as his eyes roam over my face and hair like he’s trying to place me.
“I was a freshman when you were a senior. We didn’t know each other. We didn’t even have any classes together. I knew of you, because everyone knew of you.”
“I see, though I can’t believe I don’t remember you. Even if you were a freshman when I was a senior, there’s no way I’d forget a face like yours.”
His words are sweet, but he has no idea the girl I was back then. I was not just chubby; I was about sixty pounds overweight. I had acne, glasses that were three sizes too big for my face, and my hair was crazy. I was a nerd. I still am a nerd, but now I’m just a nerd on the inside.
I was teased all the time when I was in school, and I only ever had one friend—that person being Brie. I don’t know how or why Brie befriended me way back in fifth grade, but she did, and we stayed tight, even though she could have easily been in the popular crowd. At the beginning of our friendship, I thought she was nice to me because she felt sorry for me, but with time, I learned that was just Brie. She’s nice to everyone, she doesn’t judge, she doesn’t make assumptions, and she never thinks she knows someone’s story just from hearsay.
“I don’t look like I did back then,” I tell him when I notice he hasn’t taken his eyes off me. “At all.”
“Were you one of those kids who walked around in baggy clothes and all black all the time?”
“No, I was one of the girls who was overweight and awkward. Believe me, if you saw me in the hall, you wouldn’t have given me a second glance.”
“I doubt that,” he mumbles. “I bet you were beautiful even then.”
He’s so wrong, but I don’t think without proof he will believe me. Also him seeing the mess I was back then might scare him into leaving.
“Be right back.” I go to my spare bedroom and open the closet. I pull out one of the large plastic totes I have stored there then dig through it until I find what I’m looking for. I take it with me to the living room, sit down in the middle of the couch right next to Cobi, and open the yearbook in my lap. When I find my photo, I point at myself, thinking I’m glad the media chose to use my old Facebook photo instead of the one I’m looking at.
My hair is more frizz than curl. My purple plastic glasses take up half my face and make my nose look scrunched at the end from the weight of them. I’m smiling a weird smile that shows off my crooked teeth, and my cheeks are dotted with acne. Looking at the picture, I know that if I didn’t have Brie, I wouldn’t have made it out of school unscathed. Kids can be mean, and they were sometimes mean to me, but having Brie and her unwavering friendship, I never felt alone. I always had someone to sit with, someone to hang with, and she never made me feel like I didn’t belong.
“You were cute.” My head flies around to look at him, and I study his expression to see if he’s lying. “You were,” he says like he knows what I’m thinking. “Do you still wear glasses?”
“No, I had Lasik surgery a few years ago.”
“Bummer, those glasses were cute on you.” He taps my picture.
“Are you messing with me right now?” I narrow my eyes on his.
He tips his head to the side. “Messing with you?”
“I don’t know. I’m trying to figure out what the heck is going on. You being nice, sending clothes for me, and then showing up here and demanding to hang out to make sure I’m okay.”
“Not sure you’re ready for that much honesty.”
Okay, what does that mean? I don’t ask. Part of me doesn’t want to know. Really, I don’t think I could handle his honesty right now. “Maybe we should just watch some TV,” I mumble.
His eyes turn knowing and he smiles. “Good idea, baby.”
I don’t say anything more. I set the yearbook down, pick up the remote, and turn the TV back on. I flip through channels for something to watch and end up stopping on a show about treasure hunters. We sit in silence through two episodes, and never, not once, do the guys looking for treasure ever find anything more than some old pottery. Still, I can’t seem to stop hoping they’ll find what they’re looking for. When the third episode starts, my eyes get heavy, but I force myself to keep them open, not trusting that I will be able to keep the memories at bay if I fall asleep.
“Hadley.” At my name, I look at Cobi and see his expression is soft and filled with understanding. “You’re safe. Lay down and close your eyes. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I—”
“Promise,” he cuts me off. “You’re safe with me.”
Safe with him.
Lord, Cobi Mayson is seriously sweet—and seriously observant. I lick my lips, and without a word, I lie down, resting my head against the arm of the couch. I tuck my legs up close to my chest so my feet don’t touch him, then let out a breath when he pulls the blanket from the back of the couch and places it over me. My eyes start to feel funny, like I might cry, but I refuse to give in to the feeling. I lie there for a long time, not expecting to fall asleep, but apparently I do.
And with Cobi looking after me, I sleep peacefully.
Chapter 3
Hadley
“TIME’S UP.” AT BRIE’S statement, my eyes go from the paperwork I’m filling out to her. I watch her shut the door to my office then walk across the carpet and take a seat in the chair across from mine. She pauses, running her hands down the top of her pants before looking at me. “We need to talk about Cobi Mayson.”