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“I need to go, but I got you this,” Nick said. I looked up and he pulled a cell phone from his pocket. He placed it on the counter and slid it towards me.
“For me?” I questioned, confused. I didn’t get the impression he even liked me. Why would he buy me anything?
“It’s nothing fancy, just a burner I picked up from the gas station earlier. I programmed our numbers in already, just in case you need to get any of us,” Nick shrugged.
“Thank you, Nick,” I told him, still taken aback slightly by the kind gesture.
He nodded, but didn’t meet my eyes, then he jumped down from the counter, grabbed his coffee cup and disappeared, slamming the door behind him without a word.
“He’s not as much of an asshole as he seems,” Kailan told me. “He’s just dealing with a lot. Once you get past his grumpy outer shell, he’s a good guy.”
I nodded. I kind of saw that already. He reminded me a lot of my brother Kyle in some ways. He carried so much pain in his eyes, just as my brother did. They had both obviously been through, and seen, too much. But I felt like I could see under all of that and I was pretty sure Kailan was right – Nick was a good guy, even if he was the type who’d never admit it.
CHAPTER 12
EVIE
“I’m not so sure about this,” I gasped as Harris pulled his truck up into the center of a bustling little town, about thirty minutes from their home. He had parked on the street and people were milling past the car, the sidewalk pretty busy considering the town seemed like little more than two rows of stores and cafes. “I…I’m not great in busy places. I don’t like too many people near me….not since…since I got away,” I admitted, my eyes glued to the people bustling around right outside the window.
“We’ll be with you. We won’t let anyone get too close,” Kailan spoke up from where he sat in the passenger seat. He had tried to give the seat to me when we got into the car, but I refused. His legs were way longer than mine and he needed the space up front.
“We don’t have to do this, Ev. Just say the word and I’ll take you home. We can order what you need online. I just thought it might be better if you could try clothes on. I’m guessing you’ve lost weight. Do you even know your sizes right now?” Harris asked.
“Not really,” I sighed. I had bought a few items from discount and thrift stores when I got my first paycheck months ago, but I had been that nervous in the stores, I hadn’t lingered. I’d just grabbed what would work, paid and gotten the hell out of there. Most of the clothes I had were pretty ill fitting, hanging off my too thin frame.
“Let’s just try, okay? There’s a sort of department store right over there, where we should be able to get most of what you need.” Harris pointed across the street to an old-fashioned looking department store that seemed to span two floors of the large building.
“Just tell us if it becomes too much for you, and we can come right back to the car,” Kailan added.
“I still don’t think I need anything. I can manage with everything I have. I have been managing, for months,” I pointed out.
“I know, sweetheart, but I don’t want you to just manage. You’ve been through hell. Please, just let us take care of you a little.”
“He’s right, Evie. We’d all feel so much better if we know you at least have all of the things you need right now. It’s not much in the way of helping, but it’s something we can do,” Kailan agreed.
“Okay,” I gave in. “But I can pay you guys back when things calm down.”
“Let’s not worry about that now,” Harris said. Before I could argue or push the point, he and Kailan were both out of the car. They rounded it and came to the back door just as I opened it. By the time I stepped down from the tall truck they were both there waiting for me, sheltering me from the busy street.
Harris held out his hand, and I happily slid my shaking one into it, needing the comfort of having him close. As we moved across the street to the department store, Kailan remained at my other side, and between them they kept people from getting anywhere near me, which I appreciated.
I knew I could manage without them there. I had been doing it for months in Boston, moving through the hectic city center and going on packed buses to get back and forth to my cleaning job. But every single one of those trips outside of my crummy apartment, had been a struggle, that usually resulted in me having a panic attack. I could survive alone. I knew I could. But that didn’t mean I wanted to.
Having the guys at my sides gave me the security I had been wishing for during all of those months, and I wasn’t going to let my pride take that from me. I felt safe and I needed that.
***
“This is way too much, Harris. I don’t need all of this,” I complained as he ushered me into a changing room with a huge stack of clothes he had picked out for me. He’d started to grab things when I refused to look at more than a couple of pairs of jeans and some sweaters. I didn’t need a lot. As long as I had a few days’ worth of clothes, I could just wash them. It would be easy now that I had the luxurious use of the guy’s utility room. But Harris and Kailan didn’t agree. They had checked the sizes I picked up in the jeans and sweaters, then gone crazy picking up almost one of everything, it seemed.
“Evie, either you pick what you like, or I do, and I don’t think you’ll enjoy my tastes in ladies’ fashion,” he sighed as he leant back against the wall opposite the huge changing room.
“But…”
“No. Enough. You need clothes. I can afford to buy you clothes. Now try them on,” he said flatly, cutting off my next argument.
“I don’t remember you ever being this stubborn.” I sent him a glare as I dropped the armload of clothes that I held, down onto the chair, which sat in the corner of the space.
“That’s funny, because I do distinctly remember you being this stubborn,” he chuckled.
