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I scrubbed my hand down my face. “Elodie got kicked out of the trailer where she lived with her mom.” I paused, waiting for that to sink in, then opened my mouth, but she beat me to it.
“And her mom is addicted to drugs?”
“Yeah. And last night I found her sleeping in her car in the back alley—”
“Holy shit.” Belle stepped forward. “Why is she sleeping in her car?”
“Did you not listen to what I said?” I huffed out a frustrated breath. “Her mom got kicked out—”
“And didn’t take Elodie with her?”
“Exactly.” I shuffled my feet on the floor and swallowed. When I said it out loud, I realized how bad it sounded. “So, I took her back to my place and—”
“You took her back to your place?” Her eyes were as wide as saucers. “What the hell are you thinking, Asher? She’s a high school student.” She held her hands up in the air as if she was fending me off. “Please don’t tell me you’ve done anything with her.”
I glanced to the left, not willing to answer that. I couldn’t honestly tell her I hadn’t done anything, because I had. I’d kissed her. It may have been before I knew who Elodie was, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t thought about it since.
“Oh god,” Belle groaned out.
“What?” I asked, pushing my shoulders back. “You have no right to talk. There’s twenty years difference between you and Ford—”
“I know, I know.” Belle blew out another breath, and I wondered if she realized how loud she was breathing, or maybe she needed to do it to take it all in. “Are you like, together together?”
“What?” My head reeled back, and I choked on a laugh. “No, we’re not together. Jesus, Belle. I’m just tryin’ to help her out.”
“Just checkin’,” she whispered, but she didn’t take her gaze off of me. She was trying to search for what I wasn’t saying, trying to work out the secrets I held, but she’d never find them. I was a pro at locking them away so no one could see them, and this time, I was holding on to someone else’s secrets too, so I was holding them even tighter.
“I’m making sure she has somewhere safe to stay, that’s all.” It was the truth. I didn’t have a motive behind it, no matter how much I’d wanted to slam my lips down onto hers this morning. I hadn’t been able to stop myself from staring at her behind as Jax had left. The way her jeans clung to her enticed me in a way I couldn’t explain. And she had been too. I’d seen it crystal clear. But I wouldn’t take advantage of her, not when she was in the situation she was in. She had major baggage, but so did I.
“Okay,” Belle murmured. “And she’s Leo’s friend too, so I don’t want her on the streets.” She shook her head, her lips thinning into a straight line. “I can’t believe a mother wouldn’t give two shits about where her daughter was.”
“Same.” I shrugged. “But that’s because we had an awesome mom. Not everyone is like that.” I raised my brows, silently reminding her of the stories Mom and Dad had told us over the years. We were lucky to have two parents who cared so much, but not everyone was. We were unique in that way, at least, that’s what it felt like the older we all got.
“Anyway”—I shook my arms out, trying to get rid of the tension which seemed to live deep within my muscles lately—“I need to get this apartment ready. She’s moving in after school.”
“She’s moving in today?”
“Yep.”
“Damn.” Belle glanced around the empty apartment and at the off-white walls. It was a shell of a place, but I knew with Belle’s help it would be homely in no time at all. “What furniture do you have?”
I pointed toward the bedroom. “I have a bed in there, and Jax is gonna pick up a mattress.” I pulled my cell out. “I found this sofa online earlier, so I need to pick it up.”
“We’re gonna need more than that.” Belle circled the room and headed toward the attached kitchen. She opened and closed drawers to see what was in there. “Okay, I’m gonna head to Ikea.”
I let my head drop back and groaned. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Because you’re a man?” I rolled my eyes at the smirk on Belle’s face. “What? I’m just saying.” She laughed in only the way a big sister would at her little brother. “It’s eleven now. I should be back by two, and then you and Jax can put all the furniture together while I go and get the kids.”
I winced as she said “kids.” Elodie may have only been eighteen, but she was far from being a kid. She had to fend for herself in the way no eighteen-year-old should. “Sounds like a plan.”
Belle didn’t move for several seconds, and I knew she wanted to say something. She wasn’t the kind of person who kept it inside. If she thought something, she would damn well give you her opinion whether you wanted it or not.
“Spit it out,” I finally relented, not able to put up with her stare any longer.”
“Spit what out?” she asked as if she didn’t know exactly what I was talking about. I raised my brows but stayed silent, and it didn’t take her but a minute to say, “I hope you know what you’re doing, Asher.”
The truth was, I didn’t. I had no idea what I was getting into with Elodie, but what I did know was I couldn’t stand back and watch her suffer. She meant something to me. I wasn’t sure what it was yet. “Because I’ve never seen that look in your eyes before.” Belle pointed at my face, a knowing look etched onto her features. “Be careful.”
