My body shook harder at his words. I knew he didn’t mean that because of Callan, which meant Jason was here, and he’d clearly staked his claim.
“Come on,” he said, strict command behind his words despite the relaxed image he tried to put on for any prying eyes around us. Everyone was so distracted with the fair, though, that I doubted anyone would catch on to what was really happening between us.
“Please don’t do this,” I begged as he steered us back in the direction of the food trucks. “H-he’s a bad man. Whatever he’s paying you, I can double it. Please.”
“He had my back for years. I’m not about to betray him for some bitch like you.”
I glanced up at the guy to see if I recognized him, but still, no recollection hit besides the two interactions I’d had with him prior to right now. Were they friends in prison, and now he was helping him out?
“Whatever he’s told you—”
“Is the truth,” he filled in, tightening his hold around my shoulders. I had no choice but to press into his side. “Women like you always manage to get away unscathed while us men suffer. Same fucking shit with my ex. I’m not letting the same happen to him.”
My fingers felt stiff as my body wanted nothing but to freeze and fold in on itself. This man hated women to begin with, and after the stories Jason probably spun to him, I had no hope there was any getting out of this.
He steered me past the alley I was originally going to cut through, heading to another about fifteen feet down the way. As soon as we were in the opening, he dropped his arm and shoved my back. I tripped, holding a hand out to the wall to catch myself.
The buzz of the generators filled my ears as I righted myself, but as soon as I looked up, all the noise drowned out as the pounding in my chest beat a rhythm I had no chance of escaping. My eyes narrowed in on the familiar smirk in front of me.
Before I could blink, I was shoved up against the metal, my head snapping back with a clang. On impulse, my hand released the money Callan had given me, the bills falling to the ground.
“It’s not all of it, but I’ll take it,” his deep, scratchy voice said.
In the shadowed alley, I focused in on Jason directly in front of me.
And my heart sank.
38
Callan
The goldfish in the bag Lettie held swam around in the few inches of water the worker gave her.
“What about Goldie?” Lettie said, offering up what had to be the fortieth name suggestion.
“How about we give it to Avery?” Bailey was not a fan of keeping the goldfish, regardless of him egging her on as she played.
“Already giving her a horse,” I told him. “I don’t think Sage needs a fish on top of that.”
Bailey held his hands in front of him like he was weighing the two options. “Goldfish, horse. I think the fish wins out on the easy factor.”
“I want to keep it,” Lettie complained. “They’re not that hard to take care of.”
“Lettie, you can barely take care of yourself. Now you want to add a fish to your to-do list?” Bailey questioned.
He had a point.
“I promise to take my iron pills every day,” she pleaded.
Bailey scoffed. “That’s not up for argument.”
“Oh, come on!” Lettie whined.
“I’m going to go find Sage,” I interrupted. I loved hanging out with the two of them, but listening to them argue over a goldfish was not how I wanted to spend the rest of my night.
“Take me with you?” Bailey muttered jokingly to me, which earned him a frown from Lettie.
“You signed up for this,” I told him.
Lettie turned her scowl at me now.
I parted ways from them as they went back to their bickering, heading in the direction of the rides. It hadn’t been too long since Sage went looking for Avery, so I hoped she wouldn’t already be on her way back.
Weaving through the crowds of people, I made my way past all the food trucks and booths, rounding the corner to where it opened to a less crowded part of the fair. The rides were a decent amount of space apart from each other, making it easier to look for Sage and Avery.
After passing the bumper cars, I spotted my mom standing at the fence blocking off the funhouse.
“Hey,” I said, coming up beside her.
She glanced at me before turning back to the ride, her eyes focused on the bridge going across the second story. “You having fun, sweetie?”
“I am,” I admitted with a grin. “Is Sage in there with Aves?”
Charlotte shook her head. “Just Avery and one of her friends she found running around earlier. They’ve been bouncing from ride to ride all night.”
I turned around, scanning the crowd for Sage. “Did Sage find you a few minutes ago?”
“I haven’t seen her since the parade. Was she supposed to come find us?” my mom asked.
