Page 58 of Moonflower

“What the hell are you gonna do about it?” he says, laughing. “You live five hours away.”

“Fine,” I say coldly. “You want to do this the hard way, then we’ll do this the hard way.”

I hang up, still staring at Cora. She’s twisting her fingers around her curls, shifting from one foot to the other.

“What are you gonna do?”

“Make sure he leaves you alone.”

“I don’t think he’ll do anything,” she says, but her tone is unconvincing.

“If there’s even the slightest chance, I’m not risking it. Wild will feel the same way. I don’t want you to have to worry about him harassing you.”

“But it’s not like you can do anything,” she says. “You guys are going to be back home. If he tries something, then . . .” She shrugs.

Placing her phone in her hands, I lean my forehead against hers. On Friday, I was jealous when I saw Cora’s friends at the Halloween party. But now I couldn’t be more grateful that she’s not alone. “Then I guess it’s a good thing you have people here you can count on, Moonflower.”

Chapter twelve

Cora

When Wilder gets back, we eat breakfast while we catch him up on the phone call. As Wilder listens, his shoulders tense up, and his fists clench at his sides.

“We’re not heading home until we know he’s going to leave you alone,” Wilder says, tucking me under his arm.

I relax into the warmth of his body. I don’t think Matt will do anything more than be a nuisance or an inconvenience, but I still feel safer knowing it’ll be taken care of. Still, I’m a little lost on what they’re planning on doing.

“How?”

There’s silence for a second. Then Wilder asks Ezra, “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Considering how they acted at the Halloween party, I’d say it’s a safe bet they’ll help.”

“Who?” I ask. Ezra mentioned my friends, but Imani, Liling, and Brooke couldn’t do much. Unless they mean . . .

“Blaze looked like he’d do anything for Brooke. Same with DeAndre for Imani. And I don’t know about that Ryan guy, but he was certainly watching Liling for most of the party. I bet he’d help out if it meant impressing her.”

“Help out how?” I pull away from Wilder to look at his face, but I don’t find many answers in his expression. “What are you going to do?”

Wilder shrugs. “Threatening him got him out of your apartment. Don’t see why it wouldn’t work again. Those three guys seem intimidating enough.”

“You have no idea,” I mutter. Blaze and Ryan work in private security. And DeAndre is an actor who’s starred in a lot of action movies. I’ve seen his home gym—it’s intense.

“Can you get me their numbers?” Wilder asks me.

“I . . . I guess, yeah.” Pulling out my phone, I go to text the girls to ask, but a notification stops me.

Matt: I’m coming over once they’ve left. We need to talk.

My phone is at the right angle for Wilder to read over my shoulder. He lets out a low growl. When he tries to grab it from me, I hold it away from me.

“Cora!”

“Just let me try to figure out what he wants.”

Cora: We’re done.

Matt: Yeah, no shit. But you shouldn’t’ve done it like this.