I scoffed, but he did have a point. He could probably make Ben see more reason than I could, and frankly, I really didn’t want to think about this more than I had to.
At least for a little while.
“Thanks,” I eventually said.
Vanya squeezed my hand. “Then we can go, yes? To hotel? Then I will talk to my sister and my brother, and we can figure out a place to live.”
“Uh,” Jonah started.
“Yeah, okay. That’s fine.” This whole “we” business wasn’t something I wanted to address in front of a crowd, and I was eager to get the fuck out of Caleb’s house and away from my well-meaning but suffocating friends.
The silence was thick and heavy, but one by one, I got pulled into hugs, my ears filled with whispers of offers to help me. They all had tender hands and kind words, and it did help.
Even Caleb was a little less sharp as he squeezed the back of my neck. “This should have happened a lot sooner. And also, next time, tell me if you’re fucking some guy I’m trying to pull.”
“Fuck off,” I said, pulling back. The idea of Vanya and Caleb was still pissing me off, but I trusted now it wasn’t going to happen.
And the other man in question was standing right behind me, his massive hands falling to my waist as if to remind me of that silent statement. Vanya squeezed me gently before letting go, and I breathed a little easier when he and Caleb didn’t exchange more than quick words of goodbye.
I grabbed what little I’d taken to my brother’s, then unfolded my cane as we stepped past his front door. And then I froze.
“What’s wrong?” Vanya asked.
“All my stuff. Everything I took to your house…”
He sighed loudly. “Yes. Is…disaster there. Big disaster. I don’t know if it’s safe.”
“Fuck it,” I said. There were things I’d grabbedthat were technically irreplaceable, but nothing was worth going to back to a place Hunter had touched.
I didn’t want to think about that, or him, or any of it. I wanted a soft bed, good food, and Vanya’s arms. And as he let me take his elbow to guide me to his car, I realized that this time, that wasn’t too big of an ask.
“Where are we?” I asked as I felt Vanya’s car begin to slow. He was taking a loping left turn, which I assumed was some kind of hotel driveway.
“Is some place my sister find. Katya only like very posh places, and—oh. She is here. She’s waiting for us.”
My nerves immediately fired up at the realization I was about to meet Vanya’s sister. Meeting any of his family seemed a little overwhelming. Not just because I’d never done anything like that before, but also because I’d been the world’s biggest shit to the world’s kindest man.
And granted, I was going through it, but Vanya hadn’t deserved any of it.
They would most definitely agree with that, and I had no idea how much they all knew about me. Were they the people he vented to when I made him feel bad?
Was I about to get verbally ripped a new asshole for my bad attitude and for ditching him the way I did?
“You’re pale,” Vanya said as the car rolled to a stop. I jumped when he touched my cheek with his palm, but the feeling of anxiety faded into an almost overwhelming comfort. “Feeling sick?”
“No, just, ah—” I couldn’t make the words come. I didn’t want to admit aloud what a shitty person I’d been, even if Vanya deserved to hear it. And more than once.
“Come,” Vanya said. He stroked his thumb over my jaw before pulling away. “We can valet the car, get some food, have nice nap. My sister won’t keep us long.”
My heart was beating in my throat as I stepped out of the car and onto the curb. I swiped the tip of my cane in a small circle around me to make sure I wasn’t all up in someone’s personal bubble, and then I waited, listening to the smile in Vanya’s voice as he talked to the valet driver.
It wasn’t long before he was at my side again, his hip brushing mine, even as he turned away from me and said, “Katya!”
I got a whiff of a very subtle, very floral perfume before I heard her delicate footsteps on the pavement. Her laugh was soft too, and beside me, Vanya leaned into what I assumed was either a hug or a cheek kiss.
“This is Micah?” she asked. She had one of those rough, lounge singer voices—her accent less thick than Vanya’s, but he had told me she was the better one at English.
“Nice to meet you,” I told her. I extended my hand in her direction and was startled to feel that herfingers were small. I didn’t know why I imagined her towering over me—some lovely Amazon right from the pages of Greek mythology.
