Page 42 of The Human’s Heart

Jett let out a loud laugh. “You told me to guess, so I did.”

I snorted. “No, asshat, he didn’t do… whatever you just said with the circus, you absolute weirdo.”

“Shame. I would’ve loved watching the tightrope act with the people wearing those tight-ass jumpsuits and showing off their pretty bums.”

I laughed and gave him a push. “You’re so random.”

He shrugged. “Whatever. Sooo? What did he do this time?”

“He bought a new car.”

“Um… okay…? So?”

“So he wants me to use his old car. Actually, he wants to give me his old car.”

Jett’s eyes went wide. “He gave you a car?”

“Ugh.” I sighed. “No. I didn’t take it.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because he obviously only bought the new one so he could give me the old one! He knows I’d never take a new car from him, so he tried to go around that by… by doing… this.”

“And what’s wrong with doing that?”

“What do you mean, what’s wrong? I don’t need a freaking car, Jett. I’ve never owned a car because I can’t afford it. Why the hell would I want one from… him?” I trailed off a little when I realized Jett was tapping his foot and looking annoyed… at me. Not at Zaos, but at me. What the hell?

“Hugo. You’re being so damn stubborn. Can’t you see how much that man loves you? How much he wants to take care of you? I know you’re not used to anyone giving a shit, But you, babydoll, need to get over it. You have a viramore now. He not only wants to take care of you and protect you, but he needs to. I know you can feel the same pull for him because I feel it for Ward. You need to take care of him just as much, don’t you?”

I opened my mouth, then snapped it closed as I thought about what he meant.

Jett wasn’t… wrong.

I did feel a pull to take care of Zaos and to protect him.

So… so yeah… that made sense. No wonder Zay was obsessed with getting me to drive to work. But a car? Really? I didn’t… want one. Well, that wasn’t even true, was it? I wanted one; I just didn’t want to pay for one. Sigh.

Looked like Zay had solved that equation for me, damn him.

“I hate it when you’re right.”

Jett chuckled and winked at me, then walked away to help Quinn stack chairs on the tables since our last customers had left, and Quinn had already shut and locked the front doors.

As I wiped down every single surface I could reach, I thought about what Jett said and what that meant for the whole car situation. If I really took everything into consideration, especially Zay’s feelings—and those meant more than all the rest of it added together—then I supposed I had to accept the car gift.

Ugh.

Zay was gonna be really happy, but I hated being given handouts. I really, really hated it. I’d worked my entire life for every small morsel I had, and now, I had someone just… giving me shit. Fuck.

As I was finishing up, movement outside the window caught my eye, and I couldn’t help but squint at the woman standing there, staring at me.

Was that… was that really… I blinked. “Phia?” What the hell was Kian’s girlfriend doing outside the bar, staring at me? They weren’t supposed to come in until Friday evening. Today was Thursday, wasn’t it? Did I have my days mixed up or something?

Wait.

But where was Kian? I didn’t see him anywhere. Was Phia outside in the dark by herself?

That was unacceptable. No one should be out there in the dark alone.