Page 127 of Speechless
TRINITY
Two days at home elapsed in glorious, delicious, delightful fashion. I had some nightmares, but I didn’t have any more flashbacks. The guys picked up on something, but accepted that I still wasn’t ready to talk about it.
What could I say?
That my father’s pack didn’t like me and that I was a coward? That sometimes I still couldn’t quite talk, because it was better to be quiet? I didn’t want them to know that about me. Not that they would judge me, but I didn’t want them to see me as broken, damaged, or weak.
Now, Logan was leaving, and I didn’t like it. “How long?”
“Just the weekend,” he said. Damp hair from his shower after he got back from the beach. “I’ll be back before you know it. But I need to pack so I don’t have to do it at midnight. I hate packing.”
“I also hate packing,” I said. “Which is why I still haven’t gone back to my apartment to get everything.”
Theo stood up from the couch in the living room. “We can have someone pack everything if you want.”
“Hmm. I say yes, but I still want to be there, because there’s stuff that’s destroyed and I’d rather not sort through that here.”
“Good point. I’ll look into getting someone to help.”
“Thank you.”
He kissed me on top of the head and trapped me against the kitchen island. “You’re welcome.”
Logan tugged on my ponytail. “Dibs on you in my bed tonight. So I can survive the weekend.”
“I thought you’d be back before I knew it.”
“I will.” He stole me from Theo. “Butyouhave four other Alphas to distract you. I’ll be all by myself dreaming about you riding my face. The least you can do is give me some fresh memories.” I laughed with him before he kissed me. “I’m going to pack.”
“Kay.”
As soon as he disappeared, I turned on Theo with a grin. “Think I can hide and scare him?”
He chuckled. “Absolutely. Good luck.”
I sprinted toward Logan’s room and paused outside the door, peeking around the corner. He was in the bathroom. Perfect. I practically dove into the closet before he could come out and spoil the surprise.
All our rooms had deep walk-in closets. I got down on the floor and hid behind some pants and jackets. Bad memories tingled at the edges ofmy brain, as they had for the last week, but it wasn’t the same. No one was locking me in here.
Logan left his room and came back. I heard the sound of a suitcase opening. I could just see that he put it on the bed before coming into the closet. He grabbed things out of drawers and carried them out before returning for more.
I was just about to spring when his phone rang. Shit. No startling him while on the phone before I knew who it was. No guarantee the call wasn’t important.
“Hello?” Logan listened for a second and sighed. “I thought you got them to agree to do it when I get there?” Silence. “Seriously? One day is going to make that much of a difference to them?” I could hear his eyes roll. “Fine. We’ll do it now, but this is the last time I’m putting up with last-minute schedule changes because they can’t get their act together. Their calendar isn’t my problem.”
He flipped the switch right outside to turn off the light and shut the door behind him, muffling his voice. “Yeah, give me a couple minutes to get to the computer in the office.”
Darkness wrapped around me so fast it choked me. It was fine. This was fine. Logan didn’t know I was here. He didn’t put me in here on purpose. I just needed to get out of the closet.
I slowly crawled out from my hiding place and to the door, not wanting to bump into anything by stumbling blindly in the pitch black. The only light was the barest line coming from beneath the door.
There.
Grabbing the handle, chills ran over my skin when it didn’t turn.
“No,” I said out loud, my own voice startling me.
No, this couldn’t happen. I couldn’t be locked in a closet when no one knew I was in here. Trapped. My phone was where I left it, in the kitchen.
