He hesitated. “We could go to the coffee shop and talk. We don’t have to do this here.” Being in her room was way too intimate. He didn’t want to make her anymore uncomfortable than she already was.
Haley shook her head fervently. “No. I’d rather talk here. Come on in.”
He stepped inside, filling the tiny room with his large frame. There were two twin beds, each with its own nightstand and desk, all university standard furniture. One side of the room was decorated with posters of rock bands and half naked men and the bed decorated with a bright pink and black comforter. The other half, Haley’s side, was neatly decorated, with a couple of abstract paintings on the wall and a solid taupe comforter with a dozen brightly colored pillows all in various shades of blue and green.
They might be roommates, but they had totally different personalities.
#
Haley sat down on her bed watching Jayden glance around the room as he shoved his hands in his jean pockets. She smoothed her coverlet with her fingers, hoping he wouldn’t see the slight tremble. The incident outside had shaken her more than she wanted him to know.
“My roommate, Dana, shouldn’t be back for a while. She still has class for the next few hours. I’m assuming, since you just blew your cover, you suspect that guy you just confronted is the one that has been sending me all those letters.” Haley wrapped her arms around her chest.
“No, I blew my cover because he had his hands on you.” Jayden glanced away and ran his fingers through his blonde hair. It was longer than what she remembered in Louisiana, a couple inches past his shoulders. But his eyes, boy oh boy, his blue eyes were exactly the same, like the Mediterranean Sea.
And right now those blue eyes were aimed right at her.
“You want to tell me what’s going on?” He narrowed his gaze.
“You know as much as I do, assuming Barrett told filled you in on everything.” She shrugged and glanced away. He was acting like this was her fault, her doing. Like she was asking for this.
Jayden shook his head and his frown deepened. “I’m talking about how you manage to let someone else control your life.”
Haley’s mouth dropped open. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about how the only time you leave this room is to go to class. You don’t hang out with your friends, or go to bars, or even go to any games. Hell, you don’t even eat in the cafeteria.”Haley shook her head, a spark of anger starting to burn deep within her chest. “I can’t do any of those things. How do I know he won’t be there, watching me, waiting for me?” Did he not understand anything?
“I understand that you’re scared…”
“Do you, Jayden? Do you know what it’s like to be disowned by your family, to have no one you can talk to? Not even your roommate? Because if you tell your roommate then you might be putting her in danger too? Do you know what it’s like to have your life turned upside down? To not be able to sleep at night, constantly worried that if he is close enough to put note on my door, then he is close enough to get into my room?” Her voice started to build with each pointed question fired at him. She stood and stepped into his personal space.
“Do you know what it’s like to finally tell someone, which happened to be Barrett who isn’t exactly Mr. Warm and Fuzzy, about some psycho who won’t stop messing with your mind?” Haley gasped and slapped her hand over her mouth. She’d said way too much. Her knees buckled as she sunk down on her bed.
“You are absolutely right. I don’t know.” Jayden eased down on Dana’s bed across from her. He probably thought she was bat shit crazy.
She didn’t blame him. Lately she’d felt crazy.
“I didn’t mean to scare you.” Jayden scowled as he gazed down on the floor.
“You didn’t scare me.” She’d never been frightened of Jayden.
He looked up at her. “Why did you go back to your dorm? Why didn’t you just go on to your other classes?”
Haley shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I was shocked to see you. When Barrett said he was sending someone to watch me I thought it would be someone I didn’t know.”
“So you didn’t think I was the stalker?” Jayden cut his gaze at her.
Haley snorted. “Ah, no. It was perfectly clear when I saw you at your grandmother’s house you couldn’t get away from me fast enough. Stalkers tend to want to be near their victims.”
Jayden stared at her for so long that she had to look away. She stood and walked over to her desk and snatched up her phone. “Look, nothing has happened since I got back. Maybe I was making a big deal out of nothing. I can call Barrett and tell him that I don’t need anyone.”
He stood and grabbed her phone out of her hand. “Don’t call him. It’s only been a few days.” He set her phone down on the desk. “What time do you usually get the notes?”
“I usually find them on my door when I get back from class.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Why?”
“So you’ve never had one delivered when you were here in the room?”
She shook her head. “No, never. Why are you looking at me like that? What’s wrong?”