“Everything you do is my business, bunny,” Yates said quietly.
I couldn’t do this. Not tonight. I couldn’t deal with his intense words and overbearing attitude. Not after the messages I’d received last night. The picture of me at a coffee shop in downtown Camellia had been taken at a terrible angle… but it didn’t stop me from feeling like crap. It had made me never want to leave my house again. That was probably their end goal. If so, they were winning.
Despite being outside, I felt suffocated.
Standing, Yates locked his fingers around my wrist, pulling me to a stop before I could walk inside. I swallowed at the concern and fear I saw there, guilt hitting me hard once again. Why didn’t he understand that I was trying to move on? To forget about this? To ignore it? I wanted them to stop feeling awful about something that they should have never found out about in the first place! It wasn’t their fault, so why were they so determined to be a part of it? I didn’t say or ask any of that, though.
Tugging my wrist from his grip, I walked inside, my mom looking up at me, her brow crinkling in concern.
“Dahlia,” Yates warned, his voice a quiet hiss.
“Honey, are you not feeling well?” she asked softly. “You look pale.” I swear, the woman had such a natural intuition about stuff like this. I ignored everyone’s eyes on me when I spoke, tempted to bring my elbow back because Yates’s massive frame was essentially plastered against me. Why was he so damn large? Christ.
“I have been feeling a bit off all day. It may be the heat, but I feel even worse than a few hours ago,” I explained. None of that was really a lie.
“I felt similar earlier. It’s the August heat, always so extreme,” Lilly confirmed.
Mr. Carter nodded in understanding. “Well, in that case, I am positive you will be wanting to head home. Yates will walk you. Before you go, though, I do have a quick question.”
“Sure.” I nodded, wondering if this is what Yates had been alluding to earlier.
“I have a position in my legal office, only for a half day from around one to five, but I was wondering if you would be interested. I know we will have to work it around your classes at Silver Oak, but I figured I would offer it since your parents mentioned you getting some work experience.”
Had they? No, that didn’t sound like them, but still, they weren’t disagreeing. They were always encouraging me to try new things.
“Oh yeah, sure, that sounds interesting,” I said, nodding. “When do you want me to start?”
Mr. Carter flashed me a smile. “Monday?”
“I’ll be there,” I confirmed before hugging everyone goodbye, ignoring the overbearing shadow behind me. I could literally feel the surprise radiating off him, and I nearly rolled my eyes because I could guess what this was about.
“You’re cool with this?” Yates asked as we walked down his front stairs, leaving our parents to their dinner.
I honestly considered not answering him at first… but I did, stopping short to stare up at him, putting my hands on my hips. “Why, Yates? Why do you want me working there?”
His eyes darkened. “Maybe I was serious about wanting to spend time together.”
Liar.
Then it clicked, and our conversation from earlier melded into my thoughts. I felt my chest tighten, my temper spiking. “Seriously?”
“What?” he asked defensively, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“This is your attempt at monitoring me?” I whispered, my face heated with anger.
It looked like he was about to lie, but instead he simply said, “You should always have someone looking out for you, bunny.”
I stared at him, a mixture of embarrassment at him clearly not thinking I was capable of taking care of myself, shame for it even coming to this, and fury at his assumption forming in my chest.
“Screw. You.” I turned and walked towards my house, feeling like I was going to lose it. I could feel him following after me, so I slipped through my front door and immediately locked it, his hand coming down solidly on the handle right after I did so.
Good.
“Open the door, Dahlia!” he snarled, his voice edged with a natural dominance that made my hand twitch as if I was going to listen to him. I stopped myself from doing so and turned away, walking upstairs and leaving him standing there.
As I walked into my bedroom, I slipped off my sandals before walking towards my small balcony that hung over the side of my house. I stepped out and sighed, hoping that he would go away so that I could go hang with King and the twins. I could still hear him knocking on the door, though… so I figured it would be a bit.
“Angel face?” Stratton’s voice was quiet as I looked down at him. He was walking around the back of his property, the dusk light hiding his expression but making it clear he was wearing a zip-up hoodie and basketball shorts. Where the heck was he going?