Take Me with You (Take Me #2)(55)

“I miss him,” I said finally.

“We know. We can tell. Everyone can tell.”

My eyes shifted away from Cheyenne. I was embarrassed.

Great. Now, I was this poor sad girl, pining over her boyfriend.

Cheyenne gently put her hand on my shoulder. “He’s your first real boyfriend, who you care about, and now, you’re doing the long-distance thing. That can’t be easy. If we shut you out, it wasn’t intentional.”

“Well, I don’t want to be a zombie.”

“I suppose you’re a bit too much of a sarcastic bitch to be a zombie.”

“Oh, thanks.” I rolled my eyes.

Cheyenne laughed and shook her head. “Well, at least we’re talking again.” She grabbed something out of the kitchen. “Oh! I meant to give you this.” She placed a piece of paper in my hands. “Why didn’t you tell me Grant’s dad was in town?”

“What?” My head snapped up to hers.

“Yeah. He stopped by, looking for you. I told him you were out, so he gave me his number.”

My mouth dropped open. “He did…what?”

Cheyenne uncertainly looked at me. “Should I not have gotten his number?”

“Uh…no. You’re fine,” I forced myself to say. I swallowed back bile and tried to check my racing pulse. This couldn’t be happening.

“Well, cool. You’re pretty lucky if that’s what Grant is going to look like when he’s older.”

I stared at her in disbelief. How did she not see how crazy he was? “Thanks…I guess.”

“Welcome! Let’s hang out soon. I want to hear about all the phone sex you’re having.”

“Cheyenne!”

She just giggled maniacally and walked away. I couldn’t even muster up embarrassment at her jokes. I was too terrified over the fact that somehow Grant’s dad had tracked me down to my apartment.

How could he even have even done that? He didn’t even know my name.

Oh my God, was he really coming after me?

All Grant’s fears were coming true.

I didn’t hesitate this time. Grant didn’t want me to speak to the cops, but I wasn’t going to wait around and hope nothing happened. I had to take action, and I had to take it now for my own sanity.

It wasn’t really an emergency, so I opted out of dialing 911, and I called the local police department.

“Princeton Police, how can—”

“Yes, hi,” I interrupted before the person could finish the spiel. “My name is Aribel Graham. I’m a student at the university. My boyfriend’s father was recently let out of prison and is now stalking me. I believe he is dangerous, and I wanted to find out what I could do to get him to leave me alone.”

“Okay. Is this an emergency? Do we need to send someone over to your house?”

“No. He’s not here currently.”

“Are you safe at the moment?”

“Yes,” I answered. “I need to find out how to get him to leave me alone.”

“Hold one minute, and let me connect you to an officer.”

I waited for a solid ten minutes before a man got on the phone.

“Princeton Police.”

I repeated everything to him in a rush. I was anxious to get this figured out.

“How exactly has he stalked you?”

“I was at my boyfriend’s house, and he showed up while I was there. Then, without knowing who I am, he showed up at my apartment today while my roommate was home and left his phone number.”

“Has he tried to harm you in any way?”

“Well…no.”

“Have you tried to reach out to him to tell him to leave you alone?”

“No, but I told him to leave my boyfriend alone.”

“Has he threatened you?”

I sighed. “No! He hasn’t threatened me or attacked me or anything. He got out of prison after being in for thirteen years, and he is now trying to get a hold of my boyfriend. He keeps showing up and calling, and I don’t want it to keep happening.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but unfortunately, this seems to be a civil situation between a father and son. As long as he hasn’t threatened you or harmed you in any way, then we have no grounds to take this case forward. I would recommend speaking with him and trying to figure out what it is he wants and why he keeps showing up. If you’re not comfortable with that, then I suggest ignoring him. Please feel free to give us a call or have your boyfriend give us a call if you feel threatened.”

When I got off the phone with the police, I nearly threw it across the room in frustration. Grant was right again. The police were no use in this situation. And if something horrible did happen with his dad, then the police would be too late.

Most nights, the only time I wasn’t thinking about Ari and my dad would be those blissful sixty minutes when we were onstage. It was what made this tour worthwhile.

Other than the fact that I couldn’t handle the shit I needed to deal with at home, sitting on a tour bus with Donovan Jenkins was the worst part about this situation. I couldn’t f*cking believe I’d ever been friends with the guy. Maybe I’d been into knowing someone kind of famous or some shit, but he was a total douche and not just to me. I supposed he had a reason to act like a jackass to me, but he was that way with everybody.