This One Moment (Pushing Limits, #1)(15)

“Look, I’m concerned about your safety.” I was one step from glaring at her to show her I meant business. “What if the attacker went after you specifically and knows where you live? You could have died. Maybe that was his intent, but someone interrupted him and he didn’t have a chance to kill you.” Way to go, Nolan, on sugarcoating it.

Hailey rolled her eyes. Literally, f*cking rolled her eyes.

I folded my arms. “I’m serious. And I can stay with you until he’s caught, or until I know you’ll be safe.”

She shook her head forcefully. “You don’t have to worry about me. Besides, I…I have a boyfriend.”

My heart sprang to my throat, practically cutting off my airway. “A boyfriend?”

“Yes, a boyfriend.” She lifted her chin in the way that was totally Hailey. “So you can go back to L.A. and let him worry about my safety.”

Anger clenched my gut in a tight fist. “Well, if it’s true, you’ve got yourself one douchebag of a boyfriend.”

She pressed her lips together, squeezing the blood from them until they were white. “He’s not a douchebag. And what do you care, anyway?” Her voice cracked at the last part, and I inwardly threw numerous curses at myself. Brandon had mentioned at one point that she had a boyfriend, and it had almost killed me hearing that tidbit, so I’d never brought up the boyfriend question again.

“So where is this boyfriend? Why hasn’t he been right here by your side every single day?”

“Because…because he was out of town.”

“Was? So he’s back now?”

She hesitated, her gaze going to the ceiling, and that was when I knew I had her. She didn’t have a boyfriend. She just wanted to get rid of me. Well, to hell with that. It just made me want to stay put even more.

“He’s due back today,” she replied.

I patted her leg and kept my smirk in check. “Can’t wait to meet him.”

Hailey shifted on the bed, almost knocking me off the narrow space. “Maybe next time you’re in town.” Her eyes gave away what we both knew was true—that I wouldn’t be returning to Northbridge after this.

A knock on the door interrupted our standoff. Before Hailey could say anything, a petite girl with long blond hair and curves that would drive most guys wild stepped into the room.

Hailey cursed under her breath.





Chapter 7


Nolan


FIVE YEARS AGO

The normally delicious smell of Mom’s chicken casserole wasn’t enough to hide the stench of fear and booze sitting heavy in the kitchen air. I grabbed a dinner plate from the cupboard. Dad expected me to serve him, just as he expected Mom to do the same. While I might not have cared if he was fed or not, I knew that if I didn’t do it, Mom would ultimately pay for my recklessness.

I placed the plate full of food at his spot on the table.

“When’s she coming home?” he asked, still leaning against the kitchen counter, whiskey bottle in hand. He made no move to sit. If I wanted to leave, I’d have to walk past him, dangerous glint in his eyes or not.

“She didn’t say.” Never, if Mom and Sarah were smart about it.

And maybe that was their plan.

Before I could do any form of rejoicing, a voice at the back of my head muttered, As if that would ever happen. Not as long as Mom believed that staying here was the only way she could provide for herself and her kids. It wasn’t a big deal for me. I was nineteen and could leave anytime I wanted. But Sarah was only eleven.

I moved away from the table, ready to make my escape.

Dad grabbed my arm. “I’m not through talkin’ to you.”

I snatched my arm back and stalked to the kitchen door. “I need to do my homework.”

As I reached to open the door, I heard a grunt behind me and instinctively spun around. That was the only warning I got. A blunt object hit my forehead, above my right eye. Whatever he’d thrown at my head shattered on contact with the stone-tiled floor.

I stood still, momentarily stunned, too dazed to fight back.

My father snatched the whiskey bottle from the counter and topped up his empty glass. His hand shook as he poured the brown liquid. It wasn’t shaking because he’d hit me. He’d been drinking ever since he got home and found his wife and daughter gone. The note Mom had left said that her friend had suffered a stroke. There was no hint in it as to when they would return.

I blinked my senses back into place and walked out of the kitchen and out the front door. Adrenaline pumped through my body and I started running: down the front path, across the street, to the back of Hailey’s house. If it hadn’t been for my sister and mother, I would have kept running and never looked back.

Blood dripped down the side of my face. I brushed the back of my hand against my forehead. It stung like hell but somehow I managed not to flinch. Blood was smeared against the back of my hand, warning me I couldn’t hide the truth from Hailey.

As I contemplated turning around and walking to who knows where, Hailey’s window opened.

“I’ll be right down,” she said through the screen. “Meet me out front.”

She was already waiting for me in the doorway when I came up the pathway. Her short shorts revealed her toned, never-ending legs; her light purple tank top hinted at the lack of a bra. And I instantly forgot what had happened at home.