Take a bath and call me from there. I think to myself. I know a way to take your mind off of all of this.

“Alright, I just got inside the hotel. I’m safe.”

“When you get to the room,” I say.

“Huh?” she asks.

“We’ll wait until you get to the room,” I tell her and Kevin nods emphatically.

“Guys…”

“No, Jacob is right. What if someone is lurking in the hallway or something?” Michelle says.

“Fine. Not a whole lot of good you guys will do for me in California though.” She grumbles and I already know just how I’m going to get rid of her bad mood. The thought pisses me off that she’s right in that I can’t protect her from here. I should have gone with her. Fuck. “There’s a line. How was your guys’ date anyway? JP getting married anytime soon?”

Not to anyone but you, my mind thinks automatically.

Michelle snorts. “Not to Georgina, he behaved like a jerk.”

“Thanks.” I roll my eyes.

“Oh…?” Whitney says and I hate that she’s about to find out this information without letting me have some fun with her first.

“He barely paid her any attention and probably said ten words to her the whole time.” I can picture Whitney’s smile from here. Her eyes lighting up at the fact that she’s the only woman that has my attention. Even when we were in mixed company, my focus was always on her even if my eyes weren’t.

“Oh, well… I’m sure there’s a woman out there for JP somewhere. He’ll find her eventually.”

Chapter Fifteen

I drop to the king-sized bed in my hotel room, the weight of not having a relaxing moment all day taking over. I felt out of control. Nervous. Anxious. Scared. Alone. I hate to admit it but I was somewhat grateful I was forced to leave the hospital to grant me some alone time and away from Parker’s cold gaze. He’d never been like this with me before. It’s like he changed overnight. I rack my brain trying to understand what could have caused this change in demeanor. It can’t just be about not answering their initial calls. To my parents’ point, he’d always been a little aloof and stoic at times but he had never been that way with me. He had never been so cold with me. I feel like I’ve been walking on eggshells since I got here and now that I’m alone I feel like I can breathe.