Happy to find my room empty, I closed the door. Pressing my back to it, I released a heavy breath.

What the hell? Tyler, Justin, and Lucas were all getting to me in strange, unexpected ways.

I couldn't let them continue to corner me or get me alone. It didn't help that they were all involved with the meanest girls in school. One of which was my bitchy ass cousin.

If I let my guard down, I could easily find myself in a precarious situation, and that was the opposite of what I wanted.

I pulled out my phone, needing to hear Josh's voice.

"Ember?" Josh was out of breath.

"Yeah, who else?" I laughed. "What are you doing? Can we FaceTime?"

"Uh... I'm just getting out of the shower." Josh whispered.

I could almost see him walk out of his bathroom and down his dark hallway, passing his little brother's room. It was three hours later in Florida. So, it was well after eleven there.

"I miss you," I whispered as his bedroom door shut in the background.

"I miss you too." Josh used his regular voice this time, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

"FaceTime me, please? I wanna see you." I whined.

"I want to, but I have a stupid presentation due tomorrow, and I still have a lot to do. How about tomorrow?" Josh asked.

"Okay." I did my best to use a wounded puppy voice. "I guess."

Josh started laughing. "Fuck. I miss you so much, Em. School sucks without you."

I laughed and nodded, even though he couldn't see me. "School's awful here. Missy's turning the whole school against me. I'm literally in hell, Joshy. It's terrible."

"I can't believe you got in a fight on your first day. I'm just glad you're not hurt." Josh sounded distracted. I could only assume he was trying to work on his homework while talking to me.

A soft knock on my door made my stomach plummet. "Crap."

"What?" Josh asked.

"There's someone at my door."

"Okay." Josh chuckled. "Then open it."

"But I don't want to," I whispered only loud enough for Josh to hear.

"Why are we whispering?" Josh whispered.

"Because we're in enemy territory," I whispered.

The knock came harder this time. Damn it!

"Who is it?" I asked.

"Me," Tyler said.

Shit!

"That sounded like a dude. Who is it?" Josh was totally paying attention now.

"Nobody. Just an asshole from school. He's the boyfriend of the girl that hit me."

"What?" Josh shouted. "He's at your house?"

"Yeah, so... fun fact... the girl that hit me is Missy's bestfriend, and they're both here with their boyfriends." I admitted sheepishly.

I had no reason to feel guilty, but that didn't change the fact that I felt guilty as hell. Josh was far away, and he had no idea what kind of craziness happened today.

"How many people are there, Em?" Josh sounded like he wanted to crawl through the phone and kill someone.

"Um... just a few people from Missy's group," I said.

"Open the door. We need to talk, Ember." Tyler said from the hall, and I hated the shiver that ran down my spine.

"What does he need to talk to you about?" Josh asked.

"I have no fucking clue," I whispered. "I keep telling him to leave me alone, but he's not getting the point."

"Please?" Tyler pleaded.

"Uh... can I text you later?" I asked Josh.

"Let me talk to him, Em," Josh demanded.

My belly twisted into knots. "What are you gonna say?"

"That's between him and me." Josh was doing his best not to get angry.

"Okay." I swung my door open to find Tyler leaning casually against the wall. The desire behind his sexy blue eyes threw me off guard.

"Em?" Josh's voice in my ear made me focus.

Tyler's forehead wrinkled as his brow lifted in question.

"Josh wants to talk to you," I said robotically before I held out my phone.

"And Josh is?" Tyler's eyes flicked between mine.

"My boyfriend." I cocked my head to the side and shook my phone in his face.

Tyler narrowed his brow, took my phone, and pressed it to his ear before walking into my room. "Hello?"

"Well, go right ahead and make yourself at home, jackass." I sat on my bed.

Tyler listened to Josh speak as he shut my door and grabbed one of our abandoned plates of food, handing it to me. I grinned in gratitude, but I couldn't eat during their conversation. My heart pounded in my chest as I watched Tyler.

"Uh-huh," Tyler grabbed his plate and sat next to me, taking a bite of salad. "I hear you."

"What's he saying?" I poked Tyler's leg with my fork, but he ignored me. "Ty?"

Tyler's gaze shot to mine as a broad smile spread across his lips. "She's definitely that, man."

I'm definitely what?

"I hear you, but I can't make any promises." Tyler's gaze roamed over my face as he took another bite of food. "She's not going to make that easy."

"Okay. I'll let her know." Tyler ended the call and set my phone on the nightstand.

Josh hadn't even told me goodbye.

"So? What'd he say?" I asked, taking a small bite of lasagna.

Tyler grinned when he saw me eating and took a bite of his lasagna.

I swallowed. "Hello? Aren't you gonna answer me?"

"Huh? Oh, he said you can take care of yourself and that I needed to stay the fuck away from you, or he would gut me like a fish. When the threats started getting out of control, I hung up on him." Tyler calmly took another bite of his food.

"What the fuck?" I dropped my fork and grabbed my phone. Someone had flipped it to silent, and Josh was calling back. My blood boiled as I glared at Tyler. "Get out of my room!"

Tyler swallowed as his eyes flicked to mine. "We still need to talk."

"I have nothing to say to you. Ever!" I stalked out of my room and headed outside, realizing I already had three missed calls from Josh.

Josh's smiling face filled my screen, and I quickly answered. "Josh?"

"What the fuck, Em? That douchebag hung up on me." Josh was out of breath. He must've been pacing. "I called back over and over. Why didn't you answer?"

I groaned. "I know. I'm sorry. My phone was on silent."

"I don't want him in your room, Em." Josh barked. "Or anywhere near you."

"That makes two of us." I sat down on the porch swing.

"I told him I'd kill him if he bothered you anymore, and he said 'she's not going to make that easy' like this whole situation is your fault. If I was there, I'd kick his ass. I'm so sorry, Em." Josh huffed angrily. "Go tell your aunt he's harassing you and get him kicked out of your house."

"I'll try." I rubbed my forehead.

I could tell he was doing his best not to freak out, and I appreciated it. Josh wasn't normally a jealous boyfriend, but the distance thing was new for us. He always protected me, and I could tell it was driving him nuts that he couldn't protect me now.

"Talk later?" I made sure to keep my voice sweet, hoping to calm him down. "FaceTime tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Text me before you go to bed, okay?" Josh asked nicely.

"I'll text soon." I hung up and walked inside, nearly running into Jenny. I quickly dodged her. "Whoa, sorry."

"Walk much?" Jenny snapped only loud enough for me to hear. Okay, I guess we were still being assholes to each other.

I didn't answer when I noticed Tyler following her. They were leaving. Thank God.

Tyler's lips tipped up when he spotted me. He tried to grab my arm, but I jumped to the side and darted upstairs.

"Night, Aunt Debbie!" I hollered, hoping she heard me before locking my door. For good this time.

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