(Do Not Read Back Up Copy)

Chapter XIV

Caleb

I couldn’t figure out what to say to her. Not a goddamn word.

Usually, I don’t say much but seeing Hailey look at me for the first time since she’d come to, had me thinking about saying something.

To tell you the truth, it’s kind of hard to say too much of anything when you’re holding on to a girl with nothing but your boxers on. I tried not to think about it too much.

I don’t know what was going on in her head. Usually she says everything she’s thinking, and I mean everything. You don’t even have to ask and she just spills her smart-ass comments all over the place.

But she was quiet.

Dead quiet.

Eyes wide open but nothing going on behind em’.

I thought maybe she was gonna pass out again so I pulled her a little closer to me to keep her warm. I was so cold I couldn’t really feel if I was making a difference, but she could, ‘cause all of a sudden she got this look on her face like nothing I’d seen before.

She didn’t really seem scared or anything—she never has around me—but all these creases started popping up in her forehead, and her eyes got big and wild like some kind of feral animal. So I figured I’d say something. I had a feeling she’d get crazy if I didn’t.

“I didn’t do anything to you…if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Hailey didn’t blink. She just kept staring at me like she hadn’t heard a word I’d said.

“Nobody touched you. You can check if you want.“

“What’s there to check, Caleb? The first time’s the only time it counts.”

I didn’t say too much to her after that. Trying to figure out if she meant what I thought she did was awkward enough to shut me up for the night.

“Did Liam take the keys?” she asked.

“What keys?”

“The cop’s?”

She pointed to the frozen red trail lining the side of the room leading to where Marcus and Cillian had dumped Rusty’s body. I couldn’t get past his hands. Seeing Russ’s fingers all blue and swollen like that wasn’t something anybody could look at for too long.

“I don’t know. Nobody said anything about any keys to me. Why? It’s not gonna open that door.”

Her face scrunched up around the corners again. The longer she glared at me the less I wanted to look at her. Whatever make up she had on was either smudged or had rubbed off somewhere along the way. Her cheeks were blotchy red from frostbite, and I figured she’d probably be pretty devastated if she could actually see the way her hair looked right now.

Hailey tried getting to her feet but it took her a while. Swimming around in my jeans and tripping all over the place made her look like a toddler. I don’t know where she thought she was going, but she walked over to Rusty, pocketed something, and started pacing around the room. I stayed put. I wasn’t even sure if I could stand yet, but I’d be damned before she figured that out.

“Can you sit down or something? I’m getting dizzy from watching you go around in circles.”

“So stop watching me.”

“You’re distracting.”

“I’m trying to figure my way out of here. ”

“There isn’t one princess, so sit down.”