“As good of a reason as any.” She laughed and settled in his arms. So, she’d finally picked a brother. Aaron. Passion over comfort. Wow, she wasn’t expecting that.
She picked one brother and was being held by the other. Such was her life.
She forgot all about asking Ray about not going to Boyd’s house, but she already had her answer. Ray wouldn’t hurt her, and he wouldn’t lie to her. Boyd was the liar. She knew it.
RAY LEFT AT AROUND eight. Sloan kissed her mother and went upstairs to finally take her blessed headache medicine and shower before bed. She took the pills with some water and smiled. Finally.
She gathered up her pajamas and change of underwear before heading into the bathroom to wash her hair.
The warm water felt wonderful sliding over her body, washing the day away. It had been a rollercoaster day. Fighting with Aaron. Kissing Aaron. Choosing Aaron.
Seeing Boyd for the first time in months. Trying to figure out the puzzle of who had stalked her.
The shower provided her with a place to just relax. To let her mind wander and not have to think. It felt so good to not think.
She sang mindlessly, not really paying attention to the lyrics. It felt good to just drift away into her own little world for a few minutes. To just be calm.
After what seemed like only a short time, the water started turning cold, and she turned the faucet off. Way too short of a shower, she sighed.
She opened the beige shower curtain and grabbed for the fluffy purple towel she’d left on the sink. Instead of the towel, she stabbed her hand on something. In pain, she yelled and pulled her hand inside the shower to check it out.
Tiny blood pockets bubbled on her hand in several places where she’d been pricked.
“No.” She gasped. As fast as she could, she opened the curtain. On top of the towel lay two roses.
CHAPTER EIGHT
SHE HEARD THE SCREAM BUT DIDN’T know it had come from her. It sounded so far away. So foreign.
“Sloan!”
Her bathroom door opened, and Aaron tripped in. He looked scared to death. That made two of them. Sloan didn’t care that she was dripping wet or that she was naked. With a shaking finger, she pointed to the roses lying on the towel she had just laid down there thirty minutes ago.
“Oh… man!” Aaron grabbed the towel, causing the roses to fall onto the floor along with a folded white piece of paper. He wrapped the towel around her and pulled her out of the tub. Holding her tightly, he moved her toward the closed commode lid and eased her down. Kneeling, he put his hands on either side of her face and made her eyes find his. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
Sloan couldn’t talk. All she could do was shake.
“Sloan,” Aaron said more firmly. “Sloan, calm down. You have to talk to me. What happened? Did he hurt you?”
She found the ability to shake her head no. She wanted to talk. She really did, but she knew if she could, she’d probably just sit and scream.
He’d been in the room with her. While she was in the shower. He’d been with her, and she hadn’t known it.
“Okay. We can do yes or no questions, baby. Okay? Can you do that for me?”
Sloan had never heard Aaron so concerned, and it worried her. She had no idea how he’d gotten there, but she knew she was glad he was. She forced a nod, praying she could hold it together long enough to give him yes or no answers.
“Did someone hurt you?”
She shook her head. She hadn’t even known he was in there.
“Good.” He collapsed a little in front of her. “Good. Thank you, God. Good.” His voice trembled too. “Did you see who put the roses in here?”
Again, she shook her head.
“You just opened the curtain and found them?”
She held up her shaking hand and showed him the tiny bloody marks.
“You grabbed the roses when you were reaching for the towel and stabbed your fingers on the thorns?”
Sloan nodded. Her breath caught, and it felt like a thousand-pound weight was sitting on her chest.
Aaron started to get up, but she pulled him back down. He couldn’t leave her. Not like this.
“I’m just going to look around to see if I can see anyone, okay? I promise. I won’t leave you. I promise.” He gently brushed his fingers across her cheek and stood before she could answer.
First, he looked out the window. “Your mom’s downstairs. I guess she didn’t hear you scream. I was on the way up here to tell you I was sorry for storming out when I heard it. Scared the daylights out of me.”
“Me too,” she said through chilly lips. She’d finally found her words.
“Good to hear you speak again.” He smiled for a brief second before bending down to get the folded up piece of paper next to the two red long-stemmed roses.
“What… what does it say?” she eeked out.
He read it to himself at first. The anticipation killed her. Why wouldn’t he just spit it out?
“Aaron.”