Oh good, cue the concern.
"Don't you make me call the granny mafia. I just have to say that you're being mean to me and they'll take you three down in minutes with their purses," I promised.
"Did you really just threaten us with grandmas?" Apollo asked, incredulous. He looked like he was teetering between laughter and thinking I was ten shades of crazy. I wasn’t exactly giving them the best impression of myself.
"Yes, plus my besties and their packs, too," I answered. "Now where are my underwear?"
Ezra pulled the lacy material from his pants pocket and spun it on his finger. "These are trash. You got a little wild and ripped them off."
My cheeks flushed at the scrap of lace that was obviously unwearable now. "Fine. What about my phone? Purse?"
"All on the counter. We told you that we aren't going to push you into anything, but I wouldn't complain if you stayed," Corvin told me. I hated the gentleness in his tone. I wasn’t a cornered animal.
"This is all just too much, I'm sorry," I told them. "I need to get out of here. Thank you for your help with the heat."
I raced to the counter, grabbed my stuff, and ran out. The walls were closing in on me and it was getting hard to breathe. How did I go from having a fun night out to scent-matching with three Greek godlike firemen? My feet carried me outside and three blocks before I stopped and caught my breath.
Once my heart rate slowed, I pulled out my phone and dialed Taryn. She answered on the first ring as tears slid down my cheeks.
"Bea, answer me. Are you okay?" Taryn yelled into the phone.
"Yes, no. Fuck," I finally answered.
"Take the day. Dani and I can hold down the fort. Whatever you need," she told me.
"I don't know what I need," I said as I wiped my face.
"Shower and come to work, then. You can hide in the back and Dani and I will be there for you. I'll have Holt cater lunch," she promised.
"Damn, you know how to bribe me," I laughed, though it was a pitiful, needy sound.
"Anything for you," she said. The sincerity in her tone didn’t help my jumble of emotions. Everyone had to stop being so fucking nice.
"Thanks for talking me through this. I’m going to shower and then I'll grab some frappes before I head in. Think Holt will do burgers and fries? Oh, maybe fajitas?" I asked, getting excited for his cooking. That was one way to earn my heart… good food.
Taryn laughed on the other end and said, "I'm sure he can do either. Go take care of you and we will handle the rest."
"How'd I get so lucky with you?" I asked.
"Because I'm cute and persistent," she told me before we ended the call.
I started to walk again and headed in the direction of my apartment. I was doing just what I always did, overthinking everything. Cameron had fucked me up and I knew that I needed to work past that. The nightmares didn't help and with them so recent, it messed with my head even more.
My phone started ringing just as I was about to pocket it.
The name that popped up had a smile forming on my lips.
"Hello, Dolly," I said as I accepted it.
"Do I have some firemen that I need to beat down?" she asked, skipping a greeting.
"What? No. They were gentlemen," I promised her.
"Good, you deserve that," she told me.
"Why do I need them when I have you?" I countered.
This got a laugh from her, "I just wanted to check in. Are you going to be at the bookstore later?"
